By Paige Sillaby, 1st year MDP student
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| Entrance to Ojibway community of Thessalon First Nation |
The past couple of months, I have worked with
Thessalon First Nation (TFN) on strategic planning for the diversification of
their First Nation-owned Bio Centre. The Bio Centre is a huge community asset
that has the capacity to produce plants and trees and can house several
agricultural/forestry ventures simultaneously. Modern equipment and facilities
include: a 6000 square foot refrigeration building, 17 climate controlled
greenhouse, 42 ha (100 acres) of property in total, and on-site lab equipment/ instruments
just to name a few. However, only three of the 17 greenhouses are being used,
and the Bio Centre is operating at a deficit.
“There is pressure for increased economic opportunity,
services, housing and amenities to help accommodate a greater proportion of the
Band membership in the future” -Thessalon First Nation Community Plan
While I worked in various areas in the TFN economic
development office, my main focus has been a diversification event, referred to
as the TFN Bio Centre showcase. The showcase is intended to display information
about different businesses so that TFN members may explore the Bio Centre’s
potential and bring in partners, potential investors, funders and vendors. It
is crucial to TFN members that business ventures align with their community
values.
“Thessalon First Nation Bio Centre has the potential
to be developed with the right partnerships. Economic viability and
sustainability for our Bio Centre has always been our goal.” -Chief Alfred Bisaillon
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| TFN Bio Centre greenhouse facilities |
There have been numerous pre-feasibility and
feasibility studies conducted on potential TFN Bio Centre business ventures.
However, the Bio Centre remains largely underutilized. This is because of the
overarching barriers towards economic development on reserve. Some barriers
that are specific to the Bio Centre include; unequal access to tree seedling
markets, exclusion from local contracts, issues of capacity for business
ventures but also the ‘procurement.’ Procurement meaning the process for
getting contracts and addressing; why is the Bio Centre being excluded?
During my placement with TFN, I learned about the role
of the Ministry of Nation Resources and the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs
(MAA). The Federal government has a fiduciary duty to work in the best interest
of Aboriginal peoples as is stated in the Sustainable Forestry License (SFL)
set out in paragraph 20.1. These
obligations require Ontario and SFL holders to “work cooperatively with the
Crown and the local Aboriginal communities’ in order to identify and implement
ways of achieving a more equal participation by Aboriginal communities.”
There are political advocacy groups aligned within the
First Nations community to assist them in government processes, for example,
the Union of Ontario Indians: Anishinabek Nation (UOI). I was able to attend
one of the leadership table meetings between the UOI and MAA. At the meeting it
was echoed among the regional chiefs, that government policies are crucial for
allowing Aboriginal peoples to be competitive and equal participants in natural
resource markets.
While potential business ventures for TFN Bio Centre
remains a working project, I wish the TFN economic department all the best in
the planning of their showcase event on September 22, 2016.
