Metis urged to enter business world

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Government funded and controlled economic development programs have failed, so Metis leaders feel it's about time they were allowed to take control of their own destiny said delegates at a Saskatchewan economic development conference Oct. 22 and 23.

"We must take a new direction in the use of funds available to Native people from government ? for the supply is limited and we, as leaders, must not waste it or squander it," said Yvon Dumont, president of the Manitoba Metis Federation.

"After the expenditure of billions of dollars by the government over the decades, what are the results? We are still in desperate poverty as a people," said the vice-president of the Association of Metis and non-Status Indians of Saskatchewan (AMNSIS), Wayne McKenzie.

During his speech Dumont pointed out that in the past Metis people were one of the first to call for free trade and in fact opened up the west for trade. But when traders were replaced with settlers "those who stole our lands for their own purposes ? those who did this to prosper did this at the expense of the Metis," he said.

"We have been shut out from significant participation in the economic activities of western Canada," he said.

However, Dumont says he has a plan to diversify the Metis economy by getting involved in private enterprise and entrepreneurship.

Dumont's plans include investment in projects, and the creation of revenue from invested capital so Metis people will have ongoing access to funding that is controlled by Metis people.

"What I am really talking about is financial freedom for economic development. We as Metis leaders, would be accountable to our constituents for the expenditure of this revenue stream ? but we would not be accountable to governments. That is financial freedom for Metis people," he said.

Economic ventures, Dumont suggest the Metis people invest in, include major developments "that provide safety of capital, growth of capital and revenue from that capital."

The federation has already put forward a proposal to participate as partners with private entrepreneurs in the planned development at the forks of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, considered by many to be last major developed property in downtown Winnipeg. Three levels of government recently formed a joint board to oversee the development.

And Dumont has suggestions for the other western provinces. IN Edmonton he notes there was the $200 million Canada Place and the $350 million Eaton Centre which could have been invested in by the Metis Association of Alberta.

While Alberta's Larry Desmeules did not have a detailed plan, he did point to several inconsistencies and inadequacies within the present system. HE noted that the Native Economic Development Program which was established to help Native people enter the business world has "not helped Native people the way it could have helped."

Desmeules cited several reasons for its failure, notably that judging from past performance "they had no clear idea of how they wanted to use ($345 million) it."

"Much of that money went to building multi-million dollar financial monuments with high paying jobs for a select few. Meanwhile, the little guy who wanted to start a service station or a mom-and-pop store had trouble getting money," he said.

Desmeules acknowledged that starting a new business is risky and entrepreneurs need sound advice as well as financial help. "It's a gamble. But then all business ventures have their risks," he said. "That's the way the big boys play the game, and if we're ever to gain that kind of success, we have to play the game their way."

"And we have to play the political game their way too," he added. "We can no longer choose our leaders because they're our relatives and our friends. We have to choose on their track record . . . on their training and experience and their proven ability to get things done . . . on their campaign platforms and our belief that they are capable of doing the things their plaforms say they are going to do," he said.

The two-day conference, which organizers hope will form the framework for getting native entrepreneurs into the business world, attracted almost 400 people from Ontario to British Columbia. The two-day summit was held in the Saskatchewan Centre of the Arts in Regina.

Although government representatives from Alberta and Ontario attended no representatives of the Saskatchewan government attended, AMNSIS officials said.