Treaty 4 News is excited to present the Top 10 Most Influential Economic Developers feature that profiles business leaders, job creators and entrepreneurs who have made a valuable contribution to improving the lives of Indigenous people through business and have helped keep Saskatchewan’s economy vibrant and strong.
In the past few years, more and more Indigenous people have forged business careers working at the First Nation community level, building Tribal Council economic development projects, climbing the corporate ladder at government Crown Corporations and in the last few years guiding the private sector as they engage with First Nations.
Now a new generation of entrepreneurs are building successful brands like Neechie Gear, Shop Indigenous, SheNative as they develop products for an ever growing Indigenous market.
Over 10 weeks, Treaty 4 News will release one profile a week of an economic developer we believe is influential in building a better future for Indigenous people through business.
This week we introduce Chief Reginald Bellerose.
Chief Reginald Bellerose – Top 10 economic developer
By Evan Radford
Upon meeting Chief Reginald Bellerose of the Muskowekwan First Nation, three things stand out: he values independence, he’s patient and he’s very, very busy.
What might not be apparent is that Reg Bellerose has accomplished a first in Canada: he and his council members have completed the process to open a potash mine on First Nation land, generating what he calls “our own source revenue.”
“The Berlin Wall still stands strong on each reserve. That’s the Indian Act that divides on-reserve and off-reserve Indians. And that Berlin Wall, the only way to tear it down is to generate our own source revenue,” Bellerose said while speaking with Treaty 4 News.
Encanto Potash Corp. and Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada
The idea first started in 2008; it had more to do with attracting investment on reserve, according to Bellerose, who’s been serving as Muskowekwan’s chief since 2005.
“It could be rail, it could be oil. Just anything where dollars, capital, would come on to reserve.”
“We’re trying to get our land where it’s valuable and we can create joint ventures. So the goal would be to create three or four horses that, you know, make money every time like a carousel: every time it goes around, it throws out money to Muskowekwan,” he said.
A big help was the First Nations Commercial and Industrial Development Act (FNCIDA), a bill first tabled in late 2005 in Ottawa.
It allows Ottawa to create project-specific regulations for each First Nation for commercial and industrial developments. It “provides for the adoption of regulations on reserve that are compatible with those off reserve,” according to the Indigenous Affairs Canada website.
The potential for a potash mine started in 2008 with Encanto Potash Corp., a Vancouver-based mining junior company that touts its commitment to working with First Nations communities on potash resources.
Through work with Bellerose and his council, Encanto now has 100 per cent interest in what’s dubbed the Muskowekwan Potash Project, which underlies 61,400 acres of land, according to its website.
Encanto estimates an extraction rate of 2.8 million tonnes per year, supporting what it calls a solution mine for more than 50 years.
To make the project possible, Bellerose and his council needed to win approval from Muskowekwan members via two separate votes: one for what to do on the land surface, and one for what to do with minerals below ground