A meeting in La Ronge Thursday afternoon will discuss ways to spur economic development in northern Saskatchewan.
The University of Saskatchewan’s Building Northern Community Capacity and Entrepreneurship project is a five-year study that has surveyed seven communities in the province’s north.
U of S Professor Lee Swanson oversees the project.
“Two summers ago we met with seven communities to better understand the nature of social and economic capacity building in their community,” he says. “So it’s our goal now to present back to the communities what we’ve learned and to give them a chance tell us whether or not we got it right or whether we got it wrong.”
Swanson says one new advantage to economic development is rapid advances in communications technology are making it easier than ever before for a northern entrepreneur to stay in their home community.
“Technology is enabling people who live in remote communities to be able to produce goods to sell. And we’ve heard from people that they’re selling their product as far away as Germany and other overseas locations.”
He also says northern communities are not so much looking for government assistance when it comes to economic development but more of a policy environment that encourages rather than hinders traditional economic practices such as trapping and fishing.
The project is in its fifth year.
Northern communities that are part of the study include Hatchet Lake, Pinehouse, Cumberland House, Stanley Mission, La Ronge, Lac La Ronge Indian Band and Ile-a-la Crosse.
(PHOTO: Lee Swanson. Photo courtesy of Lee Swanson Facebook page.)