Many moons ago, in the fall of either 2003 or 2004, I attended a sod turning for a new hotel in North Battleford.
The event took place on the east side of the casino complex, near what would turn into the Gold Ridge Centre. They had a federal cabinet minister there, with a cheque for several million dollars in hand, providing some start up money for the venture. At the time, Randy Wallace, who heads up Battlefords Tribal Council, spoke of a new hotel, a theme park tourist attraction and retail space.
The announcement came on the heels of a similar announcement made by a former mayor to build a different hotel nearby. The BTC hotel, which would become Gold Eagle Lodge, effectively killed the other project. However, it took many years before the hotel was completed and finally able to accept guests.
I've stayed there once shortly after it opened. It's a very nice place.
Now I hear Wallace is talking about another $80 to $100 million of development on the site, including either a new hotel or an addition to the existing one, plus a new casino and retail space.
It may take a long time, but it's probably not the pipe dream some people think. If there's one thing I've realized over the years is that timelines for these sort of projects can usually be doubled, tripled or more, but eventually, they come to pass. It seemed to take forever to get built, but the Gold Eagle Lodge has obviously been successful enough for BTC to consider a major expansion or second facility.
If that is the case, it speaks strongly of the success of Aboriginal economic development.
Last month, my paper, Pipeline News, focused on Aboriginal involvement in the oil patch. To be honest, we didn't find a lot. Saskatchewan's demographics is seeing a large shift to young aboriginal people, however, in one of the most lucrative sectors of our economy, they are woefully underrepresented.
For instance, the White Bear First Nation is right beside of one of the hottest oil plays in Western Canada, yet I was told that only a few dozen band members work directly in the patch. Meanwhile, nearby Carlyle is growing by leaps and bounds primarily due to the oilpatch.
I was told there are two reasons for this - a lack of willingness to hire First Nations people, and a pervasive lack of comfort by Aboriginal workers. They often don't feel "safe," was what I heard, specifically in terms of race relations. Would you want to work somewhere where you feel that there is always the underlying race card?
Things are a lot better when it comes to underlying racism in this province, but it's not gone yet. A lot of attitudes have to change if this province is see the aboriginal community reach its full economic potential.
White Bear is working hard on several fronts to build up its economic prowess, but, like BTC in the Battlefords or Onion Lake Cree Nation north of Lloydminster, these are communal efforts. Examples of independent aboriginal entrepreneurs in the oil patch are a rare find.
Perhaps it will take more ventures like this before we start seeing more aboriginal people striking out to be their own bosses. Valuable management experience can be gained in band- and tribal council-owned businesses, as well as a level of confidence.
Maybe in the next few years we'll hear of other multi-million dollar ventures planned, but the backers will be individual aboriginal entrepreneurs, not just groups.
- Brian Zinchuk is editor of Pipeline News. He can be reached at brian.zinchuk@sasktel.net
