What struck me was the Birdtail Sioux First Nation used theirs to build a new general store and gas bar. Is this the first such store/gas bar on the reserve?
By THE CANADIAN PRESS
BRANDON -- Oil and gas pipeline giant Enbridge Inc. has given $100,000 to each of Manitoba's five Dakota First Nations.
Indications are the money, which the bands received late last year, is an extension of a memorandum of understanding signed in 2007 over pipeline construction.
"I can confirm we provided $500,000 for investment in their communities," said Enbridge spokeswoman Anne McIntosh.
The money has already gone to good use, said Chief Ken Chalmers of the Birdtail Sioux First Nation.
His people's share of the money has gone toward the construction of a new general store and gas bar, he said. "We just poured the cement before the holidays. It's a great big store, which will give my people the benefits of cheaper food and groceries."
The Dakota are one of five aboriginal groups across the western provinces negotiating with Enbridge over employment and training opportunities, as well as community investment funding.
