Fort McKay First Nation opens new Edmonton office
Fort McKay First Nation has opened a new office in Edmonton. Fort McMurray Today reports it will "offer additional services to members living in urban centres and enhance government and business relations."
The news source goes on to say that the "office will feature a program coordinator to connect urban FMFN members with training and employment resources, Indigenous social agencies and cultural supports. There are approximately 250 members living outside the community in the Edmonton area."
“We want to provide all of our urban members the same kind of access to programs and all the things we can offer in Fort McKay,” said Chris Johnson, CEO of FMFN. “We want to make sure that it’s accessible to members, no matter where they are. Edmonton would be our biggest population currently.”
“Having our government relations manager directly in Edmonton gives that much more accessibility to connections with government and bringing up these issues,” said Johnson. “We’re happy about what happened with the Moose Lake plan. But there still is a lot of work to do. We’re pushing that agenda and we’re communicating. We are here to work with them on it.”
On Tuesday, FMFN additionally noted that it will invest into Surepoint Technologies Group. The Grande Prairie-based industrial contractor specializes in compression and controls, electrical, instrumentation, telecom, modular buildings and equipment fabrication.
Per Fort McMurray Today , this investment will bring "FMFN’s business portfolio to 14 companies, which FMFN uses to pay for programs and services like education and health care in the community. Only five to 10 per cent of FMFN’s annual operating budget comes from the provincial or federal governments. Johnson said the Edmonton office is also strategically placed to assist with FMFN’s business portfolio."
“We are expanding in real estate around Edmonton,” said Johnson. “Edmonton has a lot of other opportunities that we’re exploring and it’s just where a lot of business is done. We’re not just stopping there. We’re also looking at expanding to other office locations.”
