First Nation communities and their impact to this city's economy is a topic smothered with misconception, says Nishnawbe Aski Nation.
To start debunking some of the myths, NAN held an open house at Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School Tuesday that highlighted the contributions of First Nation communities. Among those contributions is an estimated $50 million to the city’s economy in 2012.
The information presented came from a survey, compiled by NAN, that looked at 12 First Nation businesses and organizations with offices in the city. The survey looked at office expenditures, property taxes, payrolls, meetings, conferences and travel expenses.
NAN Deputy Grand Chief Goyce Kakegamic said he hopes this shows that First Nations contribute back to the community.
“There seems to be a strained relationship with the Aboriginal community with the police and such,” he said. “But here is something positive. Tolerance and understanding is going to be one of our biggest challenges that we’re going to have and I think one of the things to elevate is how much we contribute.”
The survey broke down the contributions into seven categories. The list included the gross payroll with $27.6 million, followed by travel expenses at $8.8 million, meeting and conferences at $4.8 million and room and board for students at $3.1 million.
Kakegamic said the survey is intended to educate the public more and bring about more tolerance.
The survey didn’t take into account other groups such as Metis or organizations outside of NAN. Kakegamic suspects when all those organizations are included the total amount contributed by Aboriginals will be far greater.
Mayor Keith Hobbs said he was surprised to learn how much First Nations actually contribute to the city’s economy.
“We saw the figures and that’s $51 million into our economy and that’s not including the retail,” he said.
“People need to recognize that. Often times I get asked why are we bringing so many Aboriginal people into our community. Well, why wouldn’t we? They have the right to live anywhere and they do contribute a lot to our community.”
Hobbs said people focus too much on the negative and suggested they look at the positive stories in order to see the full picture.
“We’re trying to make this a safe and inclusive city and we can only do that together,” he said.
Sanjay Uppal, general manager for the Airlane Hotel and Conference Centre, said NAN spends roughly $500,000 at his hotel last year. He said it is unfounded that First Nation businesses aren’t contributing to the economy.
He argued that his hotel is a perfect example that First Nations are contributing.
“I’d like to state for the record that we’re a proud supporter of them and will continue to do business with them,” he said. “Fifty-one-million dollars is a lot to contribute to an economy of Thunder Bay’s size.”
