Amendments to the Communities Economic Development Act introduced April 9 by Aboriginal and Northern Affairs Minister Eric Robinson "will allow the Communities Economic Development Fund to develop the tools to provide more services to northerners and to help spur more economic development in the North," he said in a news release.
The Communities Economic Development Fund (CEDF), headquartered in Thompson with field offices in The Pas, Swan River, Gimli and Winnipeg, "has a long record of serving the North through the provision of financial assistance in the form of loans and guarantees along with technical support and training assistance for northern entrepreneurs, said Robinson. "Today it supports over 1,100 commercial fishers and to date has issued in excess of $100 million in business loans and $50 million in fishery loans."
Robinson said, "It is timely to give CEDF the ability to be able to provide more assistance to northern businesses. The modernization of the act recognizes that its role goes far beyond that of lender of last resort to entrepreneurs operating in remote communities.
"Over the past few years, CEDF has increasingly acted as a manager for other government programs and products as part of its commitment to the North. The fund is a vital source of capital in Northern Manitoba, providing opportunity for the growth of new businesses and services which other regions take for granted, said Robinson.
The amendments are intended to enable the fund to pursue further business opportunities and will continue to help create employment and economic development in the North, he said.
Gord Wakeling, general manager and chief executive officer of the Communities Economic Development Fund (CEDF), said in an e-mail to the Thompson Citizen that
"there are a number of changes to the act ranging from housekeeping to empowering."
Wakeling noted while the amendments have been introduced, they have not yet passed and been proclaimed into law.
"The areas that most affect our ability to develop programing deal with how we are allowed to deal with other levels of government and funding sources to create or handle program dollars for Northern development," Wakeling said. "The act is also 'modernized' in a number of areas including how "lender of last resort" is dealt with. The new draft makes it clear that CEDF financing is to be structured to encourage other participation but not to require that a person troll around for decline letters in order to access CEDF."
Other changes in the act "re-emphasize the financial tools CEDF has in its bag, and we hope to develop programing using these different financial instruments," Wakeling said.
