ST. PAUL – On Oct. 12, the Saddle Lake Cree Nation held a career fair at the St. Paul Recreation Centre for the first time. Businesses from outside the Lakeland region also attended, including those from Fort McMurray and Edmonton.
Joyce Cardinal-Arcand, coordinator of the event with Saddle Lake Employment and Training, explained that Employment and Training, along with other departments in Saddle Lake, help band members find employment.
Career fairs are an example of that effort.
Normally, career fairs are held in Saddle Lake, but the decision to hold a career fair in St. Paul was to involve members of Saddle Lake residing in St. Paul. Saddle Lake has over 10,000 members who reside in and outside Saddle Lake.
Also, “We wanted to open the opportunities not only to our Nation, but to St. Paul members as well,” said Cardinal-Arcand.
“St. Paul is our partner... our neighbour,” Cardinal-Arcand said. Students from Kehewin Cree Nation also showed up to show their support for the event and seek out employment opportunities.
“Let’s build those partnerships and let’s work together and get our people employed... help each other that way.”
The career fair included a grand entry featuring the Northern Cree Singers, a nine-time Grammy-nominated group.
Artisans and vendors from Saddle Lake were also present during the career fair. “They do amazing work,” said Cardinal-Arcand. “Something we don’t want to lose as First Nations people is our art.”
Cardinal-Arcand thanked all the businesses and companies who came to the event, as well as everyone involved with the logistics of the event.
“We’re just really grateful for the support we had,” she said. Next year, Cardinal-Arcand said they will work harder to bring even more people to the career fair in St. Paul.
