The Future is Ours

Not always easy, the relationship between aboriginals and industry in Alberta’s bitumen belt bears lucrative fruit

By Patrycja Romanowska

December 01, 2008

As October days go, this is a rare one. It is Fort McKay; the sky is blue. Bright sunshine beaming down on autumn leaves bathes visitors in golden warmth. It is the height of Indian summer in northeastern Alberta. There are few better places to enjoy it.

Interview

Listen to Fort McKay Chief Jim Boucher talk about the secret of his community’s success with albertaoilmagazine.com

More than spectacular weather makes this day remarkable. Today the president of a major company is apologizing to a group of First Nations people for the “disservice” imposed upon them by European colonists. Today is also a day that a First Nations chief joins forces with this very corporate executive to smash the salt crust off a hunk of meat prepared for the 100 or so guests gathered at a project ribbon cutting. As the chief engages in this symbolic act of breaking barriers, little girls from his band – fully garbed in traditional leathers, bells and feathers – peer in from a hallway looking for their cue to dance.

The event was organized by Atco Frontec and the Fort McKay First Nation to mark the opening of Creeburn Lodge. It is the successful marriage of business interests – of which the lodge is merely an outcome – which is the underlying cause for celebration. Built with Atco’s modular structures on reserve land, the 500-bed lodge spells some relief for the housing-strapped Fort McMurray area and provides a sign that the relationship between corporate Canada and First Nations communities has progressed.

Speeches and enthused vociferations by company executives are peppered with references to relationships, unions and notions that the value of the whole is greater than a sum of its two parts. The use of nicknames between corporate executives and the aboriginal leaders suggests the existence of a camaraderie that developed over more than just the signing of business deals. During an emotional speech, Atco president Nancy Southern exalts her company’s joint venture with the Fort McKay group in language one would expect from idealistic students of the liberal arts rather than a corporate boss. Energetic, enthusiastic and proud, like a new mother but less tired, Southern describes a new era of aboriginal and corporate partnerships and says, “No progress can be sustained to the detriment of other people.”

Apart from the ideals, this is a desirable business deal that makes co-operation pay. During this ribbon-cutting, the new lodge is already operating at 98 per cent capacity. Precise figures are not divulged. Fees depend on contract terms for room use. But Atco vice-president George Lidgett mentions that it costs around $200 per night per worker. A further measure of this business marriage’s success, is its bearing of more fruit. Construction of two more complexes to house workers from Shell’s Albian Sands project and Suncor Energy has been announced.

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