Dave Sullivan
Northern News Services

Fort Simpson (July 20/01) - Community leaders are forging a plan to help get the local economy on its feet.

Government cuts have hurt, and leaders are expected to turn toward natural resources as a savior.

A public meeting was scheduled to take place Tuesday as a starting point for public participation in a development plan.

"We want to start planning the future of Fort Simpson," says Liidli Kue First Nations Chief Rita Cli.

"We want to make this one of the regional centres for activity, for industries like oil and gas and mining" she said.

She says too much business has been lost to Hay River over the years.

Meeting Monday, some village councillors are upset over the recent hiring of a Hay River consultant to chart the future of Fort Simpson's economy.

"Why weren't Fort Simpson companies invited to participate in the bidding (for the contract)?" asked Coun. Sean Whelley.

Mayor Tom Wilson said the Department of Municipal Affairs and Community Development had invited tenders from a list maintained by the department.

Cli believes that more people would be willing to set up shop in the area if Fort Simpson had facilities like better motel accommodations and restaurants.

"People tell me that we have to have these facilities before they'll move here. Why can't we have a drug store, or a bakery? These are all potentials."

There is also little to do at night. Cli notes, "everything stops after five or six o'clock."

The chief envisions Fort Simpson duplicating what has taken place in Fort Liard, a smaller community which completed its own development plan a couple years ago.

Cli credits former Acho Dene Koe Chief Harry Deneron for finding economic direction for Fort Liard.

He helped create more than 600 jobs there that generate an estimated $7 million in wages and benefits.

"Harry Deneron told me it's not too late for the other nine Deh Cho communities," she said.

One thing Cli would like to see is for a manager to be hired who can lead the Fort Simpson initiative.

The development plan involves the tri-council, a group of leaders headed by the Liidli Kue First Nation, Metis Local 52 and the village of Fort Simpson.

The tri-council had been dormant for several years, Cli said.