Aboriginal jobs must be priority, chief says – StarPhoenix

Each winter, hundreds of huge RVs with Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba plates set up camp on the Osoyoos Indian Band’s Okanagan-area reserve.

The campground and RV park are just two of the band’s many successful business ventures, which include wineries, golf courses, a cultural centre and a portfolio of residential and commercial leases.

“The original treaty relationship was a business relationship. It wasn’t a dependency relationship. We all have to focus on jobs. A working person is a healthy person,” longtime Osoyoos Chief Clarence Louie said before Wednesday’s launch at TCU Place of the EXPORT Skills Inventory and Vendor Database.

Louie said the RV park symbolizes the band’s commitment to partnerships with the non-aboriginal community, whether with government, corporations or Prairie retirees.