Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The North Dakota Association of Oil and Gas Producing Counties noted its generally positive experiences with its industry partners. A representative of the Three Affiliated Tribes Tribal Economic Development Office, or TERO, shared his experience that oil companies’ priority is to make a profit, but they are generally willing to work
with communities and governments. Statoil emphasized its commitment to collaboration and open communication with stakeholders. North Dakota officials recommended that governments work closely with industry to determine needs and priorities.
The Three Affiliated Tribes deal directly with industry as a self-government. Through TERO, it implements a priority procurement policy and, like Saskatchewan, has developed a database of Aboriginal-owned businesses that industry can access to source goods and services. The TERO database also verifies the capacity of a company to perform the work a potential contractor is seeking.
The Saskatchewan Ministry of the Economy discussed a number of other initiatives designed to encourage partnerships and business development:
The Empower Program provides coaching,
mentoring and training for entrepreneurs and established small business, through a funding partnership with industry.
The annual Aboriginal Business Match provides
an opportunity for businesses and industry to form partnerships through an e-profiling system that connects potential business partners on-line before they meet in person at this increasingly popular event.
The Saskatchewan government is currently
working on a northern opportunities forum to further support the Aboriginal Business Match.
As groups cooperate on creative solutions to challenges, and identify and work toward common goals, we share the risks, but also the benefits, which may be far greater than we could realize on our own. The committee recommends that, as much as possible, the Government of the Northwest Territories look for opportunities to form and foster strong partnerships between industry, communities and Aboriginal governments.