Investors find aboriginal business both profitable and exciting

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Pikiskwe

The climate for aboriginal business is changing. Last week I attended the Ovide Mercredi dinner in support of the Council for the Advancement of Native Development Officers (CANDO). The theme for the dinner was "doing business in aboriginal communities."

I was mildly surprised. Usually, one attends these dinners to find out what everyone else has been up to since the last time one attended these dinners. This time there were a lot of non-Natives and they were there to find out about "doing business in aboriginal communities."

Out of the 600 tickets sold, at least 500 of these were purchased by non-Natives. There was an Andrew Clarke from Clarke-Bowler Construction in Edmonton and a Gerry Bauer from Canadian Forest Products Ltd. of Grande Prairie, representative of the private business interests.

The corporations that purchased tables included the Nova Corporation, Omega Oil-field Construction Ltd., Royal Trust and the Bank of Montreal. Mayor Frank Dyck of Wetaskiwin was present. His city also purchased a corporate table. Welcoming remarks were given by Keith Bell for the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce.

Syncrude was a sponsor of the art show portion of the evening. They boast of being the largest employer of aboriginal Albertans in the province. This is an impressive record. I want to make a suggestion that maybe it is time to hire a Native for the top job as Native liaison officer for the company. Also, the video presentation could do with an up-date.

The comment about "our Natives" was offensive and extremely outdated.

Chief Ovide Mercredi was as eloquent as expected. He came out strong

against those radical sovereignists within the Native community. He affirmed Native

self-government should be within the Canadian framework. A comforting thought for

a business audience.

CANDO is an association formed to assist economic development officers in Native communities. Proceeds for the dinner will be used to provide funding for education and training programs for the officers. The national organization is newly founded and is accepting membership. Any economic development officer interested in taking advantage of CANDO services is invited to contact their head office in Edmonton.

Overall, the dinner was a success. Kudos should go to Robin Wortman, Leanne Hunter, Kelly George and Kim Ghostkeeper for their excellent organizational skills in making this evening a hit.

A suggestion may be to find some way to keep the business contacts made at this dinner open. Perhaps a Native business persons' association may be the next step.

The message is out. Aboriginal business is a profitable and exciting venture.

Now it is up to us to accept the challenge the business community is offering.