New SIFC campus gearing up for grand opening

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Saskatchewan Indian Federated College (SIFC) will soon have a new home and a new name that will allow everyone to share in the cultural significance of Aboriginal people within the province, and across the country.

The new First Nations University of Canada will be unveiled by Prince Edward and his wife Sofie in a grand opening ceremony on June 21, said Wes Stevenson, SIFC acting president.

A four-day conference for First Nations youth from Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba-Healing, Peace and Tolerance-is planned to start a busy week for the college on Monday, June 16.

Stevenson said a time capsule will be part of the conference. "It will be a place that the architect has reserved-it's more a hole than anything else-that will be sealed upon placing all of the articles into this hole and it will be opened in 50 years."

Stevenson said they expect about 5,000 people to attend the grand opening of the new campus on the morning of Saturday, June 21. Then, at 2 p.m., the college's 25th annual powwow will begin, where a celebration give-away will take place. "That's when we'll thank those people who have contributed to making the college what it is today," Stevenson said.

Renowned First Nations architect Douglas Cardinal designed the new SIFC building, which is a 139-square-foot, four-story curved semicircle, nestled on 32-and-a-half acres of land on the northeast edge of the University of Regina campus in Wascana Park.

Because of money shortages, some long-range plans for the college's expansion remain on hold. "In terms of the courtyard and all of the outside space, we had to drop all of the landscaping plans that were part of the building to make it work. It will come in time. We've got the building now-and that's a huge step forward," said Stevenson.

While a number of individuals and organizations have contributed to the building fund for the new campus, the largest gift is yet to be received. It comes from the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Association (SIGA) and is worth $1.2 million over six years, Stevenson said.

"That is earmarked to build the war memorial tipi. It's a partnership that we established with the Saskatchewan War Veterans and in time we will start building that tipi."

Stevenson takes pride in the college's 27 years of operation. Current full-time enrollment at the SIFC is 2,000 students. "We have eight locations presently on and around campus, and for the first time in our college's history we will move under one roof.

The project took us in actual construction months 20 months. It's worth about $30 million, and it's just a beautiful piece of work, esthetically as well as functionally."

He said SIFC would share its new campus with the department of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) for seven years. That was a deal made with INAC for their financial assistance.

"Five million dollars came from Indian Affairs, $5 million came from Western Economic Diversification, $5 million came as an increased operating budget amount from the provincial government, $5 million we raised on our own," he said. "The last piece to make a solid business plan was to find an additional $6 or $7 million and carry the rest as a mortgage. At the end of the day, Roy Bird, the regional director general for Indian Affairs, said 'We'll provide you with the lease. We pay a lot of money towards rent and if you want us we will take the upper two-and-a-half floors for whatever time it takes you to get in a position to pay the rest of the mortgage off.' So that's why there is a term of seven years on this."

Stevenson said it was "not the ideal situation," but SIFC still needed $6 million. "So the board accepted their offer, and they're moving into the top two-and-a-half floors."