Saskatchewan to play host to Excellence in Action conference

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Political and business leaders from across the country will gather in Saskatoon at the end of January to share information on successful ways to get Aboriginal people involved in all aspects of the Canadian economy.

Aboriginal, federal, provincial and territorial leaders and senior officials and Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal business executives and entrepreneurs from across the country have been invited to take part in Excellence in Action: Best Practices in First Nations, Metis and Inuit Economic Development, a symposium being hosted by the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN), the Clarence Campeau Development Fund and the government of Saskatchewan. The conference will take place Jan. 23 to 25 at the Teacher's Credit Union Place.

One of the speakers scheduled to take part in the symposium is Nova Scotia's Bernd Christmas, the first Mi'kmaw lawyer in Canada and the former CEO of Membertou First Nation's development corporation. Christmas spent 11 years at the helm of the corporation before he stepped down last year. During that time he helped to take a community plagued with budget deficits and high unemployment and transform it into a financially independent First Nation and a leader in economic development.

Marty Klyne, president and CEO of the Saskatchewan Gaming Corporation is also scheduled to speak at the symposium. Klyne has been involved with a number of economic development organizations, including the Regina Regional Economic Development Authority, Sasknative Economic Development Corporation, the National Aboriginal Economic Development Board and the Clarence Campeau Development Fund.

Dr. Wanda Wuttunee is another of the scheduled speakers. Currently an associate professor and acting head of Native studies at the University of Manitoba, Wuttunee has spent much of her academic career exploring the area of Aboriginal economic development.

Another scheduled speaker is Chief Clarence Louie of the Osoyoos Indian Band in B.C. who, during his two decades as chief has stressed the importance of economic development as a way to improve the lives of the people of his community. The band now owns and operates nine businesses.

Rounding out the list of speakers is Elson McDougald, chairman of Savanna Energy Services Corp. McDougald was co-founder, president and CEO of Western Lakota Energy Services Inc., a company that made working in partnership with Aboriginal people a priority and that had entered into 50/50 partnerships with Aboriginal communities for operation of 11 of its oil rigs. Western Lakota merged with Savanna last year.