If his people can't trap, they have to find another way to make money. Fortunately, with the imminent opening of the BHP mine and other opportunities on the horizon, Rabesca believes his people will be spared from poverty.
by P.J. Harston
Northern News Services
NNSL (Jan 24/97) -
Trappers in Rae are in trouble.
Dogrib Nation Grand Chief Joe Rabesca says a land ravaged by forest fires won't yield enough of a harvest for them to survive on. "For the next 20 years, trapping in the North Slave will remain the same -- there's nothing we can do about it."
If his people can't trap, they have to find another way to make money. Fortunately, with the imminent opening of the BHP mine and other opportunities on the horizon, Rabesca believes his people will be spared from poverty.
"But what we don't want to do is send our people out to jobs without training. We've done that before and it just hasn't worked out," he said at a press conference Monday.
At the conference, Western Arctic MP Ethel Blondin-Andrew (left) signed an agreement with Rabesca that will see $726,000 a year for the next three years pumped directly into Rae-Edzo, Wah Ti, Rae Lakes and Snare Lake specifically for job training. Deals were also signed with the Treaty 8 Tribal Council, Deh Cho First Nations and North Slave Metis Alliance.
Together, the deals are worth $3.25 million a year for each of the next three years. Similar deals have been reached with the Sahtu, Inuvialuit and Gwich'in First Nations and more deals are on the way for Nunavut.
In all, 11 agreements will be signed in the North worth more than $36 million over three years.
Clem Paul, president of the North Slave Metis Alliance, said leaders and administrators have worked hard to secure these agreements, recognizing them as another step along the road to self-government and self-sufficiency.
"For far too long governments have been spending money trying to educate us the way they think it should be done," he said. "This is the best way of making (training) work to the best benefit of our people and our future," Paul said.
For the past five years the federal government has funded aboriginal job training locally and regionally through the Pathways to Success program.
That program gave planning and decision-making control to aboriginal political organizations, but the government retained contracting and program design responsibilities.
Last January the federal government signed framework agreements with the Assembly of First Nations, the Metis National Council and the Inuit Tapirisat of Canada. Those agreements established guidelines for the design and delivery of job training programs by the political organizations themselves.
Deninu Ku'e First Nation Chief Don Balsillie, who spoke on behalf of Treaty 8 chiefs, said the direct funding is another tool they can use to focus on training areas needed at the community level.
"We can set some goals for ourselves where our people can train and come back to the community and really use their expertise to our benefit."
Blondin-Andrew -- representing the federal government -- called the deal a "more practical and effective" way of handling diverse and community-specific job training.
"A generation ago, this scene would have never taken place," said Blondin-Andrew. "Not only are we doing things differently now, we are doing things right."