Business owners in La Ronge met yesterday to hear from the president of the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce.
Steve McLellan spoke at a meeting organized to discuss the chamber, and opportunities in the province’s north.
McLellan says for the economy to continue growing, there are infrastructure issues which need to be addressed by the province.
“Particularly when you get further north from here. The trucking issues — taking product up to places like Stony (Rapids) and Points North, for example — we need to, as a province, to focus on that more stridently than we’ve got now. We need to understand the social challenges of not having good infrastructure — housing, sewer, water, educational facilities.”
It was decided that the La Ronge and District Chamber of Commerce will continue operations, and another meeting is planned for later this month.
McLellan says the whole region is growing, and First Nations should also play a role in the northern economy.
“The La Ronge band is a very progressive, well-governed band. They need to be at the table. Not only are they a big business base, but they’re a huge population. And as a community, they need to have a say in where the business community in this area goes. They’re big business operators — they need to be even bigger.”
McLellan says home building, retail and tourism are three areas which hold opportunities for the region.
“I would start with the lake. I would suggest conversations about how to maximize the use of the lake in terms of people on it. I’ve been on the houseboats in the past — that’s an amazing experience. How can you get more people from Saskatchewan and across the country to be here as tourists? I would re-emphasize the toursim marketing.”