Thompson Mayor Colleen Smook is one of five people announced as new Communities Economic Development Fund (CEDF) board members March 26.
CEDF provides loans and guarantees to small businesses through its business loan program and to commercial fishers through its fisheries loan program as well as support for community economic development initiatives.
Smook joins fellow appointees Jamie Wilson from Opaskwayak Cree Nation (OCN), Manitoba Chambers of Commerce president Chuck Davidson, Community Futures Greenstone executive director Becky Cianflone from Flin Flon and University College of the North president and chancellor Doug Lauvstad from The Pas. Wilson was appointed board chair.
“We’ve said from day one that in order to build a sustainable future in the region, northern economic development must be led by northerners, based on the understanding the people of the north best understand their own needs,” said Growth, Enterprise and Trade Minister Blaine Pedersen, who is responsible for the Crown corporation. “The past few years have shown that when the entire region can unite to address the shared economic opportunities and challenges we face, together we can succeed.”
CEDF has been assigned the task of being the lead entity for the implementation of the government’s Look North northern economic development initiative and as the provincial government’s regional economic development partner to co-ordinate the delivery of services for companies, entrepreneurs and communities in Northern Manitoba.
“This announcement follows through on a commitment our government made through the Look North initiative to help empower Northern Manitobans to build a brighter economic future in the region,” said Pedersen. “We are delighted these five northern leaders have agreed to continue to help lead the way.”
Wilson is vice-president of corporate development for the Arctic Gateway Group that owns the Hudson Bay Railway and the Port of Churchill and formerly served as deputy minister for the provincial Education and Training and Growth, Enterprise and Trade departments.
“As a member of Opaskwayak Cree Nation in Northern Manitoba, it is exciting to accept the challenge of continuing to grow partnerships and opportunities in our northern economy as the new chair of the CEDF,” said Wilson. “Implementing the Look North strategy will be a critical part of our work to advance growth across all sectors.”
The new board was also given a new mandate directing them to collaborate with the province and northern municipalities, Indigenous communities, businesses and training providers to advance initiatives that create jobs, attract talent and investment and grow local companies and industries. The mandate also includes the board undertaking a review of CEDF’s existing loan programs to see if they are meeting the needs of northern enterprise and submitting analysis and recommendations to the province by later this year.
CEDF’s 2018 annual report shows that the Crown corporation a[approved 13 business loans with a total value of about $1.3 million in 2017, down from 36 loans with a value of nearly $5.8 million in 2016. CEDF also approved more than $3 million in fisheries loans each year from 2014 to 2018 but no new business loans were approved in 2018 because the business loans program was under review.
Flin Flon NDP MLA Tom Lindsey said the business lending freeze began in at the same time that Northern Manitoba communities like Thompson, Flin Flon, Churchill and The Pas were experiencing significant economic challenges. And the review means wit will be extended by several months.
“The Pallister government has ignored Manitoba’s northern communities and businesses over the last three years,” said Lindsey in a press release. “When hundreds of mining jobs were eliminated in Thompson and Flin Flon the minister of growth, enterprise and trade dismissed it as ‘business as usual.’ When the Churchill rail line was washed out for more than a year the premier did nothing to help local businesses and families. The Pallister government has repeatedly failed to invest in the future of Northern Manitoba – Northern Manitoba doesn’t need another review.”
Former Thompson mayor Tim Johnston, manager of Community Futures North Central Development as well as a business owner, said at the Thompson Chamber of Commerce annual general meeting in March 2018 that one of the biggest concerns for local businesses should be the fact that CEDF was currently unable to lend money to small businesses because of that loan program review.
Johnston said this was creating a funding gap for business owners who need more than $150,000, which is the maximum amount that Community Futures can lend but less than the amount that commercial banks usually bother with.
“I’m a client of CEDF,” said Johnston. “And right now the building that we used to be in would be sitting empty if CEDF wouldn’t have stepped up and lent that money, because a traditional bank was not going to take that small a loan.”
