A Community Economic Development Initiative (CEDI) partnership is taking place between the City of Portage la Prairie, Long Plain First Nation, and Dakota Plains Wahpeton First Nation. The press release was issued this past Tuesday, and Mayor Sharilyn Knox says it's part of a national program called Cando (the Council for the Advancement of Native Development Officers) and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM).
"It is an economic development partnership between municipalities and First Nations," explains Knox. "We applied for this program jointly and were successful in being one of the groups in the West that’s going to work on the program for the next three years. What we realize is that we all want to be successful in what we're doing. Economic growth and working together on economics is a part of that. But we also know that we're not experts. We are looking for assistance in how we can build collaboration, how we can learn from each other, and how we can move forward together. Working with the CEDI program is going to allow us to do that."
Knox says they received $45,000 in funding to help facilitate the effort.
"It pays for things like meetings that happen monthly. We have workshops that happen throughout the year. It's really about educating us, assisting us in how to work together, and helping us build our relationships with each other, which, I can tell you, we’ve already seen happening. It’s only been a short time that we’ve been part of this program."
Although it’s not a new program, Portage has never engaged in it before, while examples of success have taken place across Canada.
"One thing that was new was the way we applied together as two First Nations and one municipality—a three-way partnership, which was new. When we applied, it was quite interesting because we had to go through an interview process. One thing they noted was, first off, we were all in the same room. They said that was a key factor because they could see that we had already started to work together. We weren't just talking to each other over Zoom. That was key for us, for sure."
Knox adds this effort puts some action into a previous event in which the City and Dakota Plains held an official apology to the Dakota people for a racist ruling dating back to 1910 that forbade Dakotas from living in the community.
"There's reconciliation, then there's action, and then there's moving forward together. We’re all successful in our own rights in different ways, but we can all learn and be more successful together. We know that. Arrowhead Development, for instance, has made great economic strides. They’ve got hotels, businesses, etc. So, they’re doing some things really well. We know Dakota Plains is a growing First Nation, and they’re also trying to find ways to be more economically sustainable, and we can all learn from each other."
"Through this, we’ll eventually see more business development. We’ll see more jobs. We’ll see coordinated resources. A big thing is the City might have something that one of the First Nations can use as a resource. So, we want to build those partnerships."
She adds that they had their first monthly meeting recently, with the first workshops scheduled for December this year.
Terry Myran is chief executive officer for Arrowhead Development Corporation, and adds it's very exciting initiative.
"We were approached by the City not long ago, and it was just an opportunity for us to kind of bridge our collaborations together. It's a great opportunity to be able to work with both of these; both Dakota Plains, Long Plain, and Portage la Prairie."
He notes, although there is some thought to the idea that it contributes to Truth and Reconciliation, it's more about the contributions each party can bring to the table regarding information on successes and and failures.
"This is going to help speed up processes on both sides because each area has its successes. And this can help speed up progress overall. There will be some upcoming projects that are going to be newsworthy. We haven't really announced some of this yet. It's not necessarily to do with this program, but it's just going to highlight the partnerships and how we can work together. I started some meetings Wednesday with City Operations and the City Manager Nathan Peto. I would keep an eye on things to come."
When asked whether Dakota Tipi had considered joining the partnership, Sharilyn Knox said they were invited.
"Dakota Tipi was invited to be a part of this process and this application. They’re just currently not ready to do that at this time. So, they declined our invite, along with Long Plain and Dakota Plains' invitation to be a part."