Delegates offered tools for success

CANDO Supplement

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The Delta Hotel in downtown Montreal was the scene of the Council for the Advancement of Native Development Officer's Fourth Annual National Economic Development Conference. Running from Sept. 24 to 27, the conference attracted more than 300 delegates from across Canada.

The theme of this year's conference was "Building Capacity for Economic Development, Building Hope for the Future" and was hosted by Grand Chief Joe Norton of the Kahnawake Mohawk Territory. The conference had more than 20 workshops on various aspects of Aboriginal economic development, with 50 speakers and presenters, and was capped off with a bus tour of the Kahnawake Mohawk territory which is just south of Montreal. This was the first year the conference had been fully sold out.

"This is a very special occasion for me and my community," said Norton, as he welcomed the delegates on the morning of Sept. 25.

Norton described the dilemma that Aboriginal communities face because of years of contact with Europeans.

"We're caught in two ways of looking at things," he said. "We're encouraging our young people to get an education - to help us with our [economic] development. It's part of the changing we have to go through. It's not something we should be afraid of."

But Norton also admitted that there must be a balance so that traditional Aboriginal values and culture are not lost in the modern world. Those traditions, he said, will give Aboriginal people the anchor they need to be successful and create a better economy for themselves and Canada.

"We are realizing that we have an important role in the Canadian economy," continued Norton. "If nothing else, Native people are a valuable resource to Canada."

Throughout the conference there were other keynote speakers, such as Grand Chief Matthew Coon Come of the James Bay Cree, and Chief Billy Diamond of Waskaganish.

Coon Come, who gave the lunch time keynote address on Sept. 25, warned the delegates to keep a watchful eye on the federal and provincial politicians trying to hammer out a new constitutional deal without any participation of Aboriginal people.

"It would be unfair and wrong for the premiers too cook up a new constitutional framework that did not include Aboriginal people," he said.

He also said that the issues of land rights and resource control must be ironed out before any real and lasting economic development can be realized.

"As I speak, most of my people are out on the land. Our main economic base is still the land," he said. "Our people still hunt. They still support themselves."

The newly-elected Assembly of First Nations Chief Phil Fontaine, Jane Stewart, minister of Indian Affairs, and last year's Economic Developer of the Year winner Chief Manny Jules were all unable to attend and give their keynote speeches. The absence of Fontaine and Stewart was due to a hastily called meeting with chiefs in British Columbia.

John Kim Bell, Mohawk composer and founder of the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation, gave the keynote address at the president's dinner on the evening Sept. 26, when the economic developer of the year and recognition awards were presented.

Bell was asked to speak about the recently released Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. His talk emphasized the need for Aboriginal people to keep up with the radical changes that were occurring in the world.

"The world is evolving from an industrial-based society to a technology-based society," he said. "New technologies are creating new world markets, eroding old barriers and natural borders."

He then outlined 10 key recommendations of the commission that pertained to change.

"Never doubt the power of a dream," said Bell as he ended his speech.

All of the awards were created by Mohawk sculptor, Steve McComber.