CHOA 35th Anniversary Edition Journal - Issue 4

Page 23

INDUSTRY BRIEF

FORGING THE FUTURE BY SHARON CROWTHER Indigenous businesses are thriving in the Athabasca oil sands and securing long-term prosperity for their communities. For Mikisew Cree First Nation, this means self-determination and the fulfillment of its slogan, ‘Pride of a Nation’. “I have worked in the oil sands for 35 years and, in that time, I have seen a huge shift in the role Indigenous business are playing in the industry,” says Mikisew Cree Chief Peter Powder. “Our businesses have grown from fulfilling janitorial roles to providing specialist engineering services, construction, mining, consulting, and more. And we’re very good at it,” he adds. “Where once Indigenous businesses were engaged to meet industry expectations, now their services are procured because they are indispensable, they are the best.”

“In 2021, Mikisew Group was recognized as one of Canada’s Best Managed Companies ...”

In fact, the value of procurement from Indigenous business in Northern Alberta’s oil sands is at an all-time high. In 2020, the combined Indigenous business spend of Suncor, Syncrude, Imperial Oil, Cenovus Energy and CNRL alone exceeded $2.5 billion. That’s a significant increase on the total industry spend reported for previous years, which, according to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), was $2.36 billion in 2019, $2.20 billion in 2018 and $1.54 billion in 2017. Procurement contracts encompass a range of services from maintenance to logistics and construction, all of which are provided by Mikisew Group, the business entity of the Mikisew Cree First Nation. The Group was founded in 1991 using a $26.2 million land claim settlement from the Government of Canada and in response to the decline of Mikisew’s traditional economy of commercial fishery and fur trade. Their founding mission statement included a plan to be self-sufficient through the development of revenue, skills and business by the year 2000. Today, they have a peak workforce of 750 staff employed through wholly owned businesses, a third of whom are Indigenous, working across more than 40 active long-term contracts through 12 different operating entities.

Chief Peter Powder, Mikisew Cree First Nation

“Indigenous businesses are thriving in the Athabasca oil sands and securing long-term prosperity for their communities. For Mikisew Cree First Nation, this means self-determination and the fulfillment of its slogan, ‘Pride of a Nation’.” CHOA JOURNAL — April 2022 22


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.