MBiz

19 MBiz May 2014 N O R M A N NORMAN CHURCHILL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE FLIN FLON & DISTRICT CHAMBER OF COMMERCE GILLAM CHAMBER OF COMMERCE THE PAS & DISTRICT CHAMBER OF COMMERCE THOMPSON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE >> The Snow Lake Mining Museum is on a roll this year. HudBay Minerals has provided a $50,000 grant to establish a special room to house an archive of HudBay's Snow Lake mining records. A substantial grant from Community Places North will go toward improvements to the building's exterior. And a $15,000 Manitoba Star Attraction enhancement grant through Manitoba Culture, Heritage and Tourism is being matched with in-kind contributions from HudBay and the town of Snow Lake. It will help the museum develop an experiential tourism component that will see mining equipment displayed in the community, create a new rock and mineral display area, and add a photo-op area complete with costumes. >> The Thompson Chamber of Commerce has announced that Chief Clarence Louie will be the guest speaker at a dinner Oct. 23, held in conjunction with Northern Business Week. Louis was elected chief of the Osoyoos Indian Band in B.C. in 1985, and he's made quite an impressive economic impact. The Osoyoos band is now a corporation managing a number of successful businesses that provide employment for hundreds of members. Named one of the Top 50 Canadians to Watch by Maclean's magazine in 2003, Louis has received the Aboriginal Business Leader Award from All Nations Trust and Development Corp., the Economic Developer of the Year Award from the Advancement of Native Development Offi cers and the National Aboriginal Achievement Award for Business and Community Development. The band and council are committed to maintaining their language and culture in all activities including business. Their corporate motto is In Business To Preserve Our Past By Strengthening Our Future. NEW & NOTEWORTHY leadership needs to encourage our people to pursue those higher educational opportunities and also skilled trades, which are just as important now based on the projects that are coming." Sinclair brings together aboriginal communities with corporations such as Quebec mining companies. He's worked extensively with the James Bay Cree through Cree Construction and Development Co. and Cree Regional Economic Enterprises. First Nations need to have strong leadership and solid development strategies that benefi t all of their people, and companies have to be prepared to work in partnership with them, he says. "In most cases, I advise Aboriginal groups to be 51% majority owners to control the governance of that partnership," he says. "What the Aboriginal groups are putting on the table is their land and the impact it will have for perpetuity for as long as the project is there. This impacts their traditional lifestyle, and that ripples to their language and culture." The old ways of doing business are over, and companies now need to share profi ts with communities. "The benefi t is there for everybody. The beauty of it is there is nothing but opportunity coming up every day if we're ready and we're organized — as Aboriginals but also as governments with the proper policies and procedures in place. Industry needs to be ready and willing to accept that new approach to business that I call the Aboriginal advantage," he says. "We have every advantage in the world today if we have the leaders that are educated and are there with the right intentions of benefi tting our people. Then everybody wins. It's a win-win- win situation." MBiz_spring2014.indd Sec1:19 MBiz_spring2014.indd Sec1:19 5/14/14 8:27:10 AM 5/14/14 8:27:10 AM

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