Leader staff

The Lesser Slave Lake Indian Regional Council (IRC) was one of several organizations to receive provincial money recently, to support Indigenous employment. The $180,000 the IRC got was the smallest of 15 such grants announced on June 26, part of what the province says is a $20 million commitment to “culturally-informed employment supports for Indigenous peoples.”

The biggest of the bunch is to the Edmonton-based Bent Arrow Traditional Healing Society. Down at the bottom is the IRC.

Mike Evans the new IRC Executive Director, says the money is intended to enhance services the organization already provides, and it can be over an area much bigger than the Lesser Slave region.

“We provide a range of services to First Nations people, from Slave Lake to Manning,” he says, calling it “career employment information service.”

Getting more specific, Evans says IRC helps people who are unemployed, or under-employed, “or in some cases have never been employed,” take steps towards finding work, or becoming qualified to do so. Identifying “skill gaps” is part of it.

Doing the actual work are two career counsellors the IRC employees, Evans says.

They do a lot of traveling to Indigenous communities in the region, meeting and talking with people about getting from where they are to where they want to be, employment-wise.

“The grant supports that program,” he says.
It’s being going on since as far back as the 1990s, Evans adds, though the way it’s been administered has changed a lot. It used to be strictly a federal program; then the province got involved.

“Our partnerships with Indigenous communities and organizations are an essential part of Alberta’s prosperity,” says Jason Nixon, Minister of Assisted Living and Social Services, in the news release. “By investing in Indigenous-led employment services, we’re not just supporting individuals – we’re strengthening communities and building a more inclusive, resilient economy in Alberta.”