Kehewin looking at economic concerns

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Kehewin band council has been having a busy summer with a number of concerns being looked at including economic ventures, student funding for post-secondary training, an extensive review of social and medical services, agricultural developments and high school summer works projects.

Currently, Kehewin band is looking at three new economic ventures, two related to the oil industry and the other to agriculture. The band is negotiating a joint venture with Cyntech of Edmonton to build steam generators used for heavy oil extraction in the region, on the reserve. These generators are now built in Calgary. In other oil-related work, the band has hired Joe Dion as a consultant to investigate the possibility of getting involved with a project to construct a North Saskatchewan River pipeline which will transport water from the river to the Bonnyville-Cold Lake Region for use by the oil industry. Kehewin Chief Gordon Gadwa says he is encouraging the band members to

go for training in these areas, so, if the plans go through they will be better equipped to take advantage of the employment potential.

In an attempt to buoy up the agriculture aspect of the reserve, the band is looking at building a community hog barn for an approximately 160 sow operation. One of the aims will be to give grain farmers the opportunity to sell their produce for a better price than they'll be getting if they ship it, says Gadwa.

Another thing the council would like to do to help their farmers is get access to

a provincial program which provides low interest short term loans to feedlot operators. Meetings with provincal and federal agriculture department representatives are scheduled

for August.

Negotiations are also ongoing with the federal Department for Indian Affairs and Northern Development to have student funding dealt with through the band office.

Allowing them to apply through the band office would make students more aware of funding and, perhaps, give them more encouragement to take advantage of it.

This summer the band hired 30 high school students to work over the summer months. They will each work for a month, 15 in July and 15 in August as employees in various departments, some as receptionists in the administration office, others doing odd jobs and several will be involved in a research project. That project, under the guidance

of John Gladue, will try to find out why so many of their peers drop out of school.

Finally, an extensive review of social and medical services is going on at the reserve. In the area of social services, a consultant is currently working on a plan for setting up a child welfare program on the reserve and once this is complete the band will

go to the federal government to negotiate for dollars.

"What we're saying now is we want to use the technical expertise the provincial people have in setting up these policies and guidelines, but we want the money coming directly from the federal government," says Chief Gadwa. Legislation passed by the provincial government last year gives Native bands the option of providing more of their own child welfare programs.

In the area of medial services, the band is receiving $43,000 from Health & Welfare Canada to do a study on whether it should administer its own medical program. The question is whether such a program would jeopardize Native treaty rights to free medical care, explains the chief.

The federal government has been encouraging bands to look at more self-government and this is one area, which has had little study, he says.