BUSINESS
COVER
Metis
Artist An Old Soul
BIOGRAPHY
Gino
Odjick Looks To Golf As A New Career
BOOKS
Native
Teen Coming-of-Age Tale
Historical
Pictorial Shows Effects of Commerce on Nation
BUSINESS
Business
and First Nations Team up for Green Energy
Nisga'a
Nation Manages Salmon With Tradition and Technology
Joint
Ventures Key to Haisla Plan for the Future
Westbank
Building Self-Government and Strong Relations
CRIME
Cree Family Accuses Judge of Racism
EDUCATION
UWO
Native Studies Centre hosts Ward Churchill
HUMOUR
Bee
in the Bonnet: Aren't You Special
POLITICS
Robert
Nault Will Not Seek Re-Election
Joint
Ventures Key to Haisla Plan for the Future
Story provided
with permission by Indian Northen Affairs Canada
When a community faces severe, chronic and historical unemployment, meaningful
solutions have to be found in cooperation.
That's the approach being taken in the Kitimat region, where the Haisla
First Nation is creating partnerships that promise new jobs down the road.
"We are creating a unique series of joint ventures with the private
sector," explains Haisla Chief Steve Wilson. "We're partnering
with companies who have established markets, expertise and equipment.
We get access to capital and markets. They get access to land and resources
they normally wouldn't have."
Business
partners include Alcan, West Fraser Timber, Blue Mountain Watkins, Triumph
Timber and Delta Research.
But Haisla is looking beyond short-term employment solutions. The First
Nation is also working with Simon Fraser University (SFU) and the Skeena
Native Development Society to develop tailor-made training, education
and human resource development programs.
It is the epitome of a win-win situation. "The businesses will make
money, we'll make money and we'll gain employment and skills for our community,"
says Wilson. The ventures will also attract new investment and help expand
the region's tax base.
One of the companies that Wilson identifies as instrumental in making
this happen is Alcan.
The company "opened many doors and created a chain reaction of business
opportunities," says Milton Wong, who is both a member of the Alcan
board and Chancellor of SFU. Wong played a key role in securing an agreement
between the Haisla and the company.
Alcan has committed to negotiating land transfers, providing economic
development support and investing in the First Nation's long-term training
and capacity development. "We recognize that we are all in this together,"
says Wong. "What's good for the Haisla is also good for Alcan - and
exemplary for the whole area."
That's a relatively new perspective. For many years, the company did not
see eye to eye with the Haisla on issues such as land and resource use.
They also had work to do on their environmental record, to increase monitoring
and decrease the impacts that accompany aluminum smelting.
"Historically, it was a strained relationship," says Colleen
Nyce, Alcan Manager of Corporate Affairs and Community Relations. "But
we went through a major corporate repositioning several years ago that
included a commitment to build more strategic alliances for future growth."
Around the same time, she says the First Nation made an excellent case
that its relationships, connections and status in Haisla traditional territory
had significant value for Alcan as a partner.
Now, following Alcan's lead, each of the other private-sector players
has developed an agreement with the First Nation, based on the merits
of combining their resources:
-Blue Mountain Watkins, a value-added cedar producer, will partner with the Haisla in a new shake and shingle business, including construction of a mill on Haisla land. The company has also made a long-term commitment to training and employing Haisla people.
-Triumph Timber, which specializes in ecosystem-based management, will work with the Haisla to develop and market culturally-relevant non-timber forest products such as herbs, mushrooms and berries. It's also committed to working with the Haisla on business development, employment, training and long-term capacity building.
-Lower Mainland-based Delta Research will build a wood pellet manufacturing plant on Haisla lands, putting community members to work turning wood waste into fuel for export to a well-established market in Sweden.
-and West Fraser, which harvests timber in traditional Haisla territory, will enter an exclusive cedar salvage contract with the First Nation.
Wilson calls the breadth of the partnerships unique. "I've never
seen another venture where a First Nation, private enterprises, an academic
institution and a human resource development agency have partnered to
address issues like long-term, chronic unemployment."
Although the joint ventures are still at an early stage, Wilson expects
new jobs as early as 2004. And the ventures are designed to offer benefits
for years to come.
"The key principle here is sustainability," Wilson says. "The
new ventures use resources in ways that respect our sensitive environment."