A recent TransformSK meeting in Saskatoon led by Sask. Chamber of Commerce CEO Steve McLellan. Photo courtesy saskchamber.ca
According to the CEO of the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce, there is a desire in the province to see the Aboriginal community prosper.
The Chamber of Commerce, along with four other partner organizations, are currently undertaking TransformSK, which is a series of meetings across the province aimed at improving prosperity.
The Chamber’s CEO, Steve McLellan, says they are roughly halfway through their planned 40 meetings.
He says a desire to improve the quality of life for the province’s Aboriginal population has been discussed at every meeting so far.
“At every one of our sessions, there has been consistent and uniform input from Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people that the Aboriginal population offers one of the greatest opportunities for this province,” says McLellan.
TransformSK has already held meetings in places like Saskatoon and Regina and will be holding meetings in La Ronge and Meadow Lake in the coming weeks.
“People in Saskatchewan know that their Aboriginal neighbours are facing some challenges economically, socially and educationally and yet we have a collective will to make it better and I think there is going to be some significant ideas out of (TransformSK) to make it happen,” says McLellan.
Some of the ideas discussed during the meeting were on getting all levels of government to work together on bringing Saskatchewan’s Aboriginal population to a place of prosperity.
TransformSK is a partnership between five organizations within the province; the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce, Saskatchewan Mining Association, Saskatchewan Construction Association, Saskatchewan Manufacturing Council and the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan.
At the end of all the public consultations, the group will then make recommendations to the province based on the ideas they heard in the meetings.
Anyone interested in providing feedback, but can’t make it to a consultation, can provide their thoughts online at transformsk.ca.