CANDO gets the job done at awards ceremony

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CANDO, the Council for the Advancement of Native Development Officers, announced the winners of its sixth annual Economic Developer Recognition Awards Oct. 12. The award winners, chosen from a lengthy list of nominees, are the Eskasoni Fish and Wildlife Commission (N.S.); Council of Naskapi Nation of Kawawachikamach (Que.); Six Nations Economic Development (Ont.); and the Tribal Council Investment Group (Man.).

CANDO's national conference and annual general meeting at the World Trade Center in Halifax Oct. 22 set the scene for the award presentations, and it was there delegates voted for Eskasoni Fish and Wildlife Commission as Economic Developer of the Year. All four Recognition Awards recipients were eligible for the top award. CANDO's national president Angie Stewart presented each of the winners with original art by acclaimed Aboriginal artist Alan Syliboy.

More than 250 economic developers from across Canada, as well as senior government officials and highly placed corporate leaders, attended the president's dinner to congratulate the award winners for their contributions to Aboriginal economic development. Many of them also took the opportunity to accompany the pre-conference tour of Nova Scotia aquaculture facilities.

The Economic Development Officers Network and Indian Brook First Nation put out the welcome mat for CANDO. East Coast dignitaries who greeted the EDOs were Mi'Kmaq Grand Chief Ben Syliboy, Indian Brook First Nation Chief Reginald Maloney, Grand Council member and Elder Frank Nevin, and Chief Kepin of the Mi'Kmaq Grand Council, Alex Denny.

Denny enthusiastically welcomed CANDO to Atlantic Canada, noting that "CANDO has done an excellent job putting EDOs in Aboriginal communities." He went on to echo one of the main themes put forth by many of the evening's speakers-that higher education and language skills were necessary components to Aboriginal success. "Education helps us stand on a level ground with non-Native people in economic development," Denny said.

Eric Christmas, conference chairman and CANDO director, was ebullient in his praise of the Atlantic Canada venue. "CANDO has great programs and vision, and I knew that I had to bring them to the East Coast." he said.

Popular singer/song writer and television personality Tom Jackson delivered the keynote address and later provided entertainment. "The key to independence," Jackson told the rapt audience, "is economics."

CANDO, now 450 members strong, got its start in 1990 when 50 Aboriginal economic development officers decided EDOs weren't getting the recognition and support they needed in order to create opportunites for Aboriginal businesses. So the council organized to train, educate and provide networking opportunities for EDOs. Since then, CANDO has made phenomenal progress on all entrepreneurial fronts, and handed out its first Economic Developer of the Year award in 1995 to Meadow Lake Tribal Council. No other national organization fulfills the same role.

CANDO remains non-partisan, and membership in the organization is open to all Native people in Canada. It is proud to be Aboriginally controlled, community based and membership driven. An elected volunteer board of directors represents all regions of Canada.

Current president Angie Stewart, a member of the Nisga'a Nation, delivered the annual board of directors' report at the dinner, highlighting past accomplishments and future plans.

For example, CANDO's Certified Economic Development program (CED) has moved from the developmental stage into implementation and has added staff. And now the University College of Cape Breton will offer the CED program to the technician level.

Another CANDO project, Technology for Economic Capacity (TEC), is providing more than 400 pieces of computer equipment, software and training worth $1.6 million to Aboriginal communities that lack these resources.

Among the educational foundations CANDO is building, Stewart mentioned two new books for economic devlopers on the topics of partnerships and limited partnerships. The council also publishes an Aboriginal training opportunities manual every year and it publishes the prestigious Journal of Economic Development. "The content and layout of the journal did not go unnoticed as it received the Economic Developers Association of Canada Award," Stewart told the delegates.

Finally, Stewart said that although their three-year work plan would enhance CANDO's various resource and technical capacities, they would stay true to their core mission, which is "to serve the needs of Aboriginal EDOs and to build capacity to strengthen Aboriginal economies."