The federal government is giving $5.9 million dollars to help seven developments in rural and Indigenous communities across Alberta.
Eleanor Olszewski, the minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada, told media the funding will help the communities “adapt quickly to what’s a fast-changing economic landscape in our country.”
“What I can say about the projects of national interest is that it’s fundamental for our government to make sure that First Nations/Indigenous peoples have an equity share in those projects, and that the projects that are going ahead have the full free and informed consent of Indigenous peoples,” Olszewski, who’s the member of parliament for Edmonton Centre.
Funding will also go to:
- Louis Bull Tribe: $2 million dollars to develop a Bear Hills 2,000-square-foot travel centre and a convenience store in Maskwacis;
- NAIT: $1 million dollars to develop a geographic information system platform to assist Indigenous communities with consultations for land use and “other types of decision-making with industrial projects and land reclamation,”
- Siksika Nation: $810,000 dollars to the Blackfoot First Nation east of Calgary, Canada’s second-largest Indigenous reserve, to develop a business resource centre for local entrepreneurs;
- Arts County Wood Buffalo: $750,000 dollars to develop a vacant Fort McMurray property into a large-scale arts incubator;
- the County of Grande Prairie and its chamber of commerce: $689,000 dollars for the northwestern Alberta city to build a regional workforce strategy to attract and retain skilled workers; and
- $458,250 dollars to the Rural Routes to Climate Solutions Society to help the Blackfoot Confederacy adopt regenerative agriculture practices.
Comments