Press Room

Employment Potential Excites Westbury

The Edmonton Journal – Ron Chalmers

October 20, 2005

Opportunity outweighs risk for Enoch residents – board chairman

Bob Westbury, chairman of three public-service groups, says he accepted the chairmanship of the board that runs River Cree Resort and Casino because it offers enormous potential for economic development.

He concedes that casino gambling could endanger some Enoch residents.

“That risk is far outweighed by the huge opportunity for meaningful employment and the sense of pride in what that First Nation group is going to achieve,” Westbury says.

The number of River Cree jobs and the band’s hiring policy support his optimism. The resort and casino will creat more than 1,000 full-time and part-time positions, says Enoch Chief Ron Morin.

Enoch now endures an unemployment rate of 30 to 40 per cent in the summer and up to 70 per cent in the winter.

But the band has fewer than 2,000 members. So virtually everyone who is willing to train and work will have an opportunity.

Morin says second priority will be given to members of other nearby bands. Even then, he expects half the workers to be hired from the wider population. “Any surrounding residents should apply,” he says.

Brent Fleming, River Cree’s human resource director, says they will hire managers six to eight months before opening next fall. Then they’ll solicit applications for other positions.

“This is an unprecedented opportunity for any First Nation,” he says. “We have a great mixture of people to draw from.”

Some Enoch residents are post-secondary graduates. Others have slight education and “little or no work experience.”

Fleming and his staff will start with “a quick assessment of their interests,” he says. “Do they like to work with people or with numbers? In teams or individually?”

Then they’ll train people for specific positions. “We will assess where they are and where they want to be.”

Fleming expects some but not all mangers to come from native bands. “Every manager’s training will have an aboriginal-awareness component to recognize cultural sensitivities.”

All employees will be taught their rights and responsibilities, he says. “We will ensure that there are no hard lessons learned of the expectations not lining up with what is happening.”

While every effort will be made to help band members, the employer will then demand quality performance, Fleming says.

Ultimately, jobs depend on customers, and River Cree, competing with other hotels, restaurants and casinos, will attract customers only through excellent service.

Westbury, who also chairs the Alberta Centre for Child, Family and Community Research, the Alberta Order of Excellence and the Telus Community Board, says his work on the River Cree board has involved “major financing decisions and all policy decisions.”

But the board’s most important work “has been to ensure that First Nations people have the ability and the opportunity to take jobs when the resort opens,” Westbury says.