Article Origin
Volume
Issue
Year
THE GLOBE AND MAIL ANNOUNCED
this year's list of Canada’s Best Diversity Employers. The 45 companies named were chosen from a short list of 300 and that number came from a list of more than 2,700. Companies are judged by their diversity and inclusiveness programs for five major employee groups: women; members of visible minorities; people with disabilities; Aboriginal peoples; and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered/transsexual people. New criteria included a clearly defined strategy to achieve goals; strategy review and updating; and initiatives relating to recruitment, retention, development, training and education, employee resources, affinity groups, leadership and management accountability, customer and market diversity, vendor and supplier diversity, and community partnerships. Employers are also expected to have tracking measures in place. Among the top diversity employers is Cameco. “This award acknowledges our role as Canada’s leading industrial employer of First Nations and Métis people,” said Kaylynn Schroeder, Cameco’s vice-president of human resources. “It also compliments Cameco’s recent recognition as one of the ‘10 Best Companies To Work For’ in Canada.” The Saskatoon-based Uranium-radium-vanadium ore mining company has about 2,800 employees.
Nexen Inc. a crude petroleum and natural gas extraction company was also listed, and recognized for establishing a formal Aboriginal partnerships strategy to increase Aboriginal representation within the workforce. Nexen also created a new position dedicated to Aboriginal recruitment.
SASKATCHEWAN FIRST NATIONS ARE
pressing First Nations and Métis Relations Minister Ken Cheveldayoff for a natural resource revenue sharing agreement very like the one offered to municipalities. “We need to share because poverty is the issue plaguing our communities,” said Little Black Bear First Nation Chief Perry Bellegarde. “We need to be part of the economy. We need better lives for the people in our communities.”
Bellegarde said treaties didn’t cede First Nations subsurface mineral rights. The Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations argues that the Natural Resources Transfer Agreement of 1930 is invalid. The agreement transferred mineral rights from the federal government to the province. Bellegarde said a resource revenue sharing agreement would lead to economic prosperity for First Nations and that could improve housing and education.
THE TSLEIL-WAUTUTH NATION
has made a $2-million equity investment in Surrey-based wind energy manufacturer Endurance Wind Power. As part of the partnership, TWN Wind Power Inc. will become the distributor of Endurance Wind Power’s 5kW and 50kW community-based wind turbines to First Nations and Indigenous groups in Canada and the United States. As the first partnership of its kind in Canada, TWN Wind Power Inc. is stepping to the forefront of a shift in thinking for First Nation communities across the country, while expanding the Tsleil-Waututh Nation’s economic development ventures into the growing renewable energy sector. Tsleil-Waututh is establishing itself as a leader in the effort to help First Nation communities generate a reliable, renewable supply of energy that will reduce their overall energy costs, and enable them to invest in other economic and social development priorities. In launching this new partnership with successful, locally-owned and operated Endurance Wind Power, Tsleil-Waututh plans to create jobs, grow the community-based wind industry and provide renewable energy for First Nations for generations to come.
THE ABORIGINAL FINANCIAL OFFICERS
Association of Canada has announced that Terry Goodtrack, Chief Operating Officer of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation located in Ottawa, and Alana Dixon, Band Administrator of the Canim Lake Band in British Columbia, are the 2011 recipients of the AFOA/Xerox Excellence in Aboriginal Leadership Award. Dixon receives the award in the community/regional category for her many years of dedication and leadership. Providing leadership and direction to several managers who oversee more than 100 programs and services, Dixon has built a strong team within the administration who take pride in preparing quality, timely and detailed reports to support contribution agreement requirements.
The national category award is presented to Goodtrack for his commitment, leadership and support in leading financial, management and governance initiatives that span the country over many years. A well-known and respected senior manager, Goodtrack joined the Aboriginal Healing Foundation in 2004. The establishment of effective practices and standards in relation to financial accountability, efficiency and transparency is a direct result of his considerable financial and management leadership.
- 2304 views