One of the most significant voices in First Nations economic development in Saskatchewan has gone silent.
Ray Ahenakew, a member of Saskatchewan’s Order of Merit, passed away a few days ago and is being remembered this week as a key figure in helping First Nations communities establish a foothold in the province’s business world.
As CEO of the Meadow Lake Tribal Council thirty years ago, he proposed the member nations of the council try a new road to economic self-sufficiency….he said the time had come to stop chasing jobs for their people and time to pursue profits. Jobs, he argued, would follow if First Nations could own a piece of the economy, enterprises that produce revenue, employment and, ultimately, wealth.
His vision proved not only powerful but accurate. Under his guidance, MLTC acquired the NorSask Sawmill from the province and turned it from a money-losing Crown asset to a profit centre. Other enterprises followed at MLTC but his vision proved to be a model that other First Nations across Saskatchewan saw as a mechanism they could harness for their own economic independence.
