The federal government has announced how $5 million in federal funding from its regional fund for Indigenous business in the North is being spent.
The funding, which a spokesperson said is part of Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency’s existing budget, benefits 11 projects across the territories.
A press release from the department in charge of the agency said the funding “will create good, local jobs in Indigenous communities.”
The announcement was attributed to Yukon MP Larry Bagnell, parliamentary secretary for Heritage Minister Melanie Joly, who is in charge of the development agency.
Some of the projects were awarded last year, like more than $1.6 million that the agency spent on Iqaluit’s water and sewer infrastructure in Nunavut, and $1.2 million on improvements to the Minto Resort in Yukon.
The release also announces a $908,635 investment into the cleanup of Giant Mine. Det’on Cho Management will develop the Vee Lake quarry as a source of raw material for the cleanup and use it as a training ground for new jobs in N’dilo.
A study on the impacts of the Nunavut commercial fishing industry, an Indigenous Leaders economic forum, a tourism strategy for the Sahtu region and a plan for a “tourism, cultural and business incubator” in Dettah are also among the projects getting funded.
The announcement came on the U.N. International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, which, in a statement, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called “a time to remember and appreciate the contributions [Indigenous people] have made in forming the nations we know today, and recommit ourselves to recognizing and protecting their rights.”
