Speaking Notes

for

The Honourable Jim Prentice

Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians

at the

Generating Opportunity and Wealth Conference

Ottawa, Ontario
November 21, 2006

Good evening, Elders, Chiefs, delegates. It is a privilege for me to be with you for the opening of the Generating Opportunity and Wealth Conference.

I would like to thank Ken Thomas, CEO of the First Nation Network, for inviting me. I also want to congratulate Ken and the First Nation Network for bringing together such an outstanding group of presenters, including First Nations economic leaders and leaders from the corporate world.

I think the title of this Conference speaks volumes. We are seeing more and more First Nations acting on their potential to generate wealth and opportunity for their community members, and for Canada as a whole. Across the country, First Nations are adding to the irrepressible spirit of entrepreneurship that continues to propel Canada’s economy.

The high-profile delegates at this Conference show us very clearly that a fundamental change has occurred with respect to First Nations’ participation in the national economy. Decisions to engage Aboriginal people, communities and businesses are no longer motivated by social purposes alone. These decisions are all about improving the bottom line.

The business case for corporations doing business with Aboriginal communities grows stronger every day. We only have to look at some of the largest resource development projects in the country to see the truth of this statement. Far from ignoring the economic potential of Aboriginal people, corporations are actively seeking it out.

In the oil and gas industry, First Nations are working in partnership with giants like Syncrude, and EnCana. They are engaged in managerial and technical capacities, in joint ventures that provide vital services to the industry, and as investors.

In Alberta, for example, ten of Western Lakota’s rigs are owned in 50/50 partnerships with First Nations communities. And the Samson Cree Nation has partnered with a wholly owned subsidiary of Western Lakota Energy Services to operate five coil tubing service units.

Through many of these oil and gas industry partnerships, First Nations members are also getting vital training and job opportunities in an economic sector that has nowhere to go but up.

As Prime Minister Harper has emphasized, Canada is an emerging energy superpower. We already rank fifth in the world in total energy production, third in global gas production and seventh in global oil production.

The production from Alberta’s oilsands—the second-largest proven petroleum reserves on the planet—now stands at more than a million barrels a day. By 2015, it will be more than 4 million barrels a day.

Moreover, Canada ranks second in the world in hydroelectric generation, a sector where First Nations have also established thriving partnerships with Hydro-Québec and Manitoba Hydro, among others.

So there is no doubt that Canada is set to enter an era of unprecedented resource development, and this includes the forestry sector, nickel production and diamond mines.

For Aboriginal people, this is going to mean an equally unprecedented era for generating the kind of opportunity and wealth on which this Conference is focused.

We are already seeing how partnerships between Aboriginal groups and BHP Billiton in the NWT, and between the James Bay First Nations and De Beers Canada in Northern Ontario, are helping to consolidate Canada’s position as a major player in the world’s diamond industry. These partnerships lead to lucrative entrepreneurial spin-offs— like CreeWest, a joint venture between James Bay First Nations and Air Creebec, which in January was awarded the De Beers contract for transporting passengers and freight to and from the Victor project site.

These kinds of partnerships between First Nations communities and private sector corporations are good news for all Canadians, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal alike. Also good news is the ever-increasing number of Aboriginal businesses in Canada—more than 20,000 at last count.

I am sure we all agree that effective partnerships are the key to unleashing the untapped potential of many more First Nations communities. And more and more blue-chip companies and multinationals are seeing the advantages of partnerships with First Nations groups.

The untapped labour market potential of the Aboriginal population, which is significantly younger and growing much faster than the non-Aboriginal population, is one of those advantages. These young people have the talent and drive to help fill the acute shortages we are already seeing in Canada’s workforce. As a large percentage of our national workforce nears retirement age, these shortages, particularly in the skilled trades, could pose real problems for the Canadian economy.

One of the cornerstones of a successful partnership is creating a win-win environment where parties have a role to play and all are accountable for success. The Aboriginal Workforce Participation Initiative, operated within my Department, secures partnership agreements with some of Canada’s major companies and public agencies, as well as with industry, professional and labour groups.

AWPI’s goal is to create corporate engagement strategies with a focus on maximizing Aboriginal participation through employment and economic opportunities.

In other words, AWPI:

• taps into the succession plans of these organisations to ensure greater access to employment;
• identifies and catalogues the goods and services that these organisations procure; and
• provides this information to all stakeholders, especially Aboriginal communities.

Let me tell you first about an agreement that AWPI helped to develop between Michelin, the Government of Nova Scotia and First Nations groups in the province to help engage Aboriginal peoples in the company’s practices.

Michelin faced a dilemma similar to many Canadian corporations: an aging workforce, nearing retirement, with no pool of replacement workers. But there were First Nations located near all three of their Nova Scotia plants.

Before the establishment of this partnership, Aboriginal people were not even applying to Michelin Tire. Today, one of every four new employees is an Aboriginal person. This did not happen on its own - it required commitment and a collective effort between all the stakeholders to achieve success.

My point is this: if parties come together in a business-oriented partnership based on mutual benefit, everybody wins. Corporate Canada wins by improving their bottom line and Aboriginal people win by increasing self-sufficiency.

Clearly, our country is about to enter an era of opportunity unlike any before in our history and the time to act is now. Canada’s new government is committed to ensuring that Aboriginal people can share in and act on those opportunities, generating wealth for their communities and for the national economy.

After all, accessing opportunities and generating wealth is what all Canadians want. The ability to earn a living that can feed their family and better their lives.

Aboriginal people look forward to partnering with many more national and local organizations, governments and especially - as you can see from the attendance and enthusiasm - working towards closing the gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal economic conditions.

To do so, we must retool our economic, human resource and business development approaches. Our approach needs to be framed around four major themes:

• To re-examine the balance of investment between passive social assistance and economic development initiatives;
• To effectively engage the private sector in creating business opportunities and secure greater Aboriginal employment, particularly for young Aboriginal people;
• To stimulate investment and create opportunities for increased Aboriginal capital accumulation; and
• To consolidate and strengthen our economic development approaches so that we have the critical mass to achieve sustainable results.

In short, we must be prepared to embrace change and to re-think the roles of government and of the private sector to create opportunities for business growth and job creation. Strong public and private sector partnership approaches are the key to success. We will need to collectively nurture the investment climate to spur these partnerships. From the review of your agenda, I understand that you will be covering a great deal of this landscape.

I invite you to share your ideas on how we can together create an ongoing climate to foster wealth generation and the realization of opportunities.

In conclusion, Canada’s economy, businesses growth and profitability and the world markets cannot afford to pass up the chance to engage Aboriginal people as partners.

I am sure that future generations will appreciate the work, and will continue to build on the leadership and cooperation shown here today. Together we are truly building a brighter future.

Thank you

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