Natives win $10 M Al-Pac contract

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The Athabasca Native Development Corporation (ANDC) has been awarded a $10-million catering contract by Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries (Al-Pac) for its proposed pulp mill at Athabasca, says the president of ANDC.

Mike Mercredi says the project will "maximize Native employment in the area.

"We're always at the end of the employment statistics so this contract is a big economic opportunity for Natives here. God knows we need the jobs."

Al-Pac wanted to help ANDC as part of its overall commitment to Natives in the area, says Al-Pac's director of human resources.

"They approached us over a year ago with a proposal to employ and train Natives in the area, so it fit really well with our socioeconomic policies towards Natives," says Jim Stevens.

The ANDC and Vancouver-based National Catering formed Alberta Camp enterprises to handle Al-Pac's catering needs if it gets approval for its $1.4 billion dollar pulp mill.

Al-Pac spokesman Brian Hetherington calls the deal "a tremendous opportunity for increasing Native employment in the area of up to 50 per cent."

The MLA for Athabasca-Lac la Biche says the deal is "a major economic development aimed at combating Native poverty."

Mike Cardinal commends Al-Pac for trying to "tackle the biggest problem in the area which is poverty."

Cardinal says the mill, if approved, will create close to 3,000 jobs.

But Dorothy McDonald, chief of the Fort MacKay band, north of Fort McMurray band, north of Fort McMurray, is upset over the ANDC board and says she wasn't informed of the agreement.

Officials for Al-Pac and ANDC say the board of directors was aware of the del.

McDonald is not pleased with ANDC's association with a project she is "very definitely still opposed to for environmental reasons."

A decision on the controversial mill is expected from cabinet this month. Cardinal is optimistic cabinet will give the mill it stamp of approval.

Environmentalists and some Native groups in the area say there is insufficient information to judge whether fish, and people who eat fish from the Athabasca and Slave Rivers, are in danger from the proposed development.