Procurement Strategy for Aboriginal Business - PSAB Newsletter - August 2004

Français	Contact Us	Help	Search	Canada Site
Home	What's New	About INAC	News Room	Site Map
Regional Offices	Electronic Services	Programs & Services	Publications & Research	Art, Culture & History

PSAB Home

flag

PSAB NEWSLETTER

August 1^st, 2004

Edition No. 23

Proland Capital Inc.

Ever-changing technology, coupled with increased budget limitations, can make it difficult and costly for many organizations - private and government alike - to purchase the essential equipment they need. As a result, equipment leasing is becoming more and more a sensible operational alternative, both on a fiscal and production level. The demand for equipment has paved the way to a new type of financial product - leasing.

Proland Capital Inc. is a leader in the field of equipment leasing. They can rent or lease almost any piece of equipment, for any kind of business that is available on a competitive market. The organizations’s mandate is aimed at providing leasing solutions to the federal government and private sector. Daniel Courville, Proland’s founder, created a management team with extensive hands-on leasing experience. Established in 2001, Proland is 100% Aboriginal owned and draws on an extensive network of clients and financial institutions, such as Ford Motor Credit Corporation, GE Capital, Citibank and Trilon.

How does the process work? It depends upon the type of asset involved, but the list of equipment for lease is exhaustive; it includes products (rolling stock) such as printing presses, construction, transportation, mining, and forestry machinery, along with a variety of office and computer equipment.

Proland will visit your business and assess your equipment needs. Following this, and in keeping with your budget, the company will recommend the best leasing solution for you. Options may include:

Capital Leases: The equipment is treated as an asset which is depreciated on your books, however the asset is purchased by the lender and registered in their name. The lease-end value, which is inferior to its actual market value, is guaranteed by you the borrower at the end of the lease at which time you repurchase the equipment and add it to your fixed assets.

Operating Leases: Like a Capital Lease, the asset is purchased by the lender and registered in their name and depreciates the equipment on their books; the lease-end value is close to or equal to its fair market value. However at the end of the lease, you have the option to purchase the equipment or return it to the lender as you would a rental contract.

Proland Capital has many lenders throughout Canada and the U.S.A. with whom they are affiliated. This network of contacts helps to maximize the success, efficiency and conditions of your lease by funneling your requirements to the best-suited lender. Proland Capital also has the ability to co-brand its product, meaning that the master Lease is in Proland’s name making them the initial lender.

For more information, contact Proland Capital Inc. directly at (819) 360-4588.

The various Aboriginal Nations

Dene (Chipewyan)

The Chippewyan are not to be confused with the Chippewa or Ojibwa. Now known as the Dene (pronounced De-ne), they originally came from a part of Russia and traveled to North America where they made their homes in Alaska and in the Northwest Territories. This northern nomadic tribe’s territory stretched from the Churchill River north to the tundra and in Manitoba Hudson Bay area in the east to Great Slave Lake and part of Alberta in the west. They lived in small groups of extended families, following the seasonal migration of caribou herds. They call their land Denenedeh which means “land of the people”.

In the tundra, the landscape is rocky with sparse vegetation, mostly lichens and mosses. They Dene were accomplished hunters, using animals as resources for food and clothing. In the past, Dene trapped caribou with fences and pounds, snares and pitfalls in snowbanks; they also intercepted them at river crossings. Today, the Dene use snowmobiles and rifles. Because caribous are central to their life and identity, Dene work with the governments of Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and the Northwest Territories to ensure that the caribou survive. They also caught fish, with nets made from raw caribou skins. Several ceremonies were performed before the nets were cast. The food was consumed raw due to lack of combustible fuels.

The Dene had neither societies, religious or fraternal nor tribal ceremonies. The religious life was summed up in the shamanistic cult. Within their tribes, shamans would tell stories about native animals like the wolves and wolverines, which they believed had special powers. These animals were not killed and were respected but yet not worshiped.

Formerly the largest of the Athabascan group, they had very little internal social or governmental structure and where scattered bands. Their language characterized them as a community and their leadership was rarely defined and quite flexible. They were in rivalry with the Woodland Cree. The Chipewyan name is derived from a Cree term meaning “pointed skins” that some believe refers to the way they made and wore their shirts and others interpret as a comment upon how they prepared their furs for trade. Chipewyan culture valued flexibility and personal freedom and they, unlike most other Plains peoples, had no system of organized warfare although they did consider both the Cree and the Inuit to be enemies.

After the arrival of the white-man in their region, the Chipewyan population was decimated by smallpox which claimed a reported 90% of their peoples. In 1898 they signed Treaty #8 along with the Cree and Beaver. Under the terms of the treaty they were allowed to obtain land in individual allotments as they shared no official community and did not wish to confine themselves to reserves.

In 1991 close to 10,000 Chipewyan were living in Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and the Northwest Territories.

SPOTLIGHT ON STANDING OFFERS

This is the second installment of our new “Spotlight” series focussing on Aboriginal suppliers having a standing offer or supply arrangement within a particular category of the Standing Offer Index (SOI), maintained by Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC).

In this issue, we Spotlight the Aboriginal NMSOs dealing with:

Internetworking products (hubs, routers, switches, bridges, etc.)

The following table contains the names and addresses of the Aboriginal suppliers with whom an NMSO has been established in this category. They are in effect until February 28, 2005.

Aboriginal Supplier	Telephone	Standing Offer Number
Dalian Enterprises Inc. 151 Slater Street, Suite 1010 OTTAWA ON K1P 5H3	(613) 234-1995	E60EY-010001/014/EY
Donna Cona II Inc. 130 Slater Street, Suite 1300 OTTAWA ON K1P 6E2	(613) 234-5407	E60EY-010001/015/EY
Nisha Technologies Inc. 2150 Thurston Drive, Suite 202 OTTAWA ON K1G 5T9	(613) 739-7225	E60EY-010001/016/EY
Jefferson Holdings Inc. (NMSO Pricing) 14 Colonnade Road, Suite 210 OTTAWA ON K2E 7M6	(613) 225-9969	E60EY-010001/017/EY
Transpolar Technology Corporation 275 Sparks Street, Suite 903 OTTAWA ON K1R 7X9	(613) 236-8108	E60EY-010001/018/EY

Their products and services are equivalent to those provided by non-Aboriginal suppliers and at competitive prices. When your next requirement for internetworking related products arises, take into consideration your commitment to the PSAB and issue your call-up to one of the above suppliers. They will provide you with a quality product in an effective and professional manner.

Aboriginal Supplier Base...

The number of First Nation, Inuit and Métis suppliers who have the capacity and capability to meet your needs is ever growing.

Just check out the Contracts Canada database to see the more than 3,400 listed suppliers. It’s easy... just log-in to their web-site at: http://contractscanada.gc.ca

Industry Canada is also maintaining a database called Strategis Aboriginal Business Directory which is a database accessible to buyers in all government departments and agencies, as well as to others seeking Aboriginal suppliers.

Both database can be found on INAC’s Web site: http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca under the Procurement Strategy for Aboriginal business and then Supplier search.

Identifying Aboriginal Suppliers that can meet your needs from Strategis, SRI or the SOI is quick and easy... support the Strategy, provide an opportunity for our Aboriginal suppliers on your next procurement.

Departmental PSAB Coordinators

We are starting to plan our next PSAB Coordinators Conference that will be held in October.

If you have any subject you would like to discuss with your colleagues at the conference please let us know.

Hope to see you all in October.

Back

Last Updated: 2004-08-05

Important Notices