Pictured top: The ribbon cutting ceremony at the Contex Gas Station grand opening Wednesday. Pictured bottom left: North Battleford Mayor, David Gillan, Battlefords MLA Jeremy Cockrill and Battleford Mayor Ames Leslie congratulate chief Clinton Wuttunee. Bottom right: Cockrill, Leslie, FSIN Chief Bobby Cameron, Chief Wuttunee, and Gillan. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Martin Martinson

Economic Development

Red Pheasant celebrates Gas Bar grand opening in North Battleford

May 19, 2021 | 5:43 PM

Wednesday afternoon marked the grand opening of the Red Pheasant Cree Nation Centex Gas Bar in North Battleford.

Chief of Red Pheasant, Clinton Wuttunee called it a “very exciting day,” for the Red Pheasant community, and something that would not have been possible without the many community Elders and leaders in the past, and their vision for the future.

“It’s a treaty partnership that we are engaged in and fulfilling today with the opening of this station,” Wuttnee said. “With the purchasing of this land back in 1992, there was a vision there by our Elders and by our leadership to have economic development here, and it’s been a long time coming that brings us to this day of celebration.”

A common theme of the afternoon was a continued focus on the future, not only the direct impact the new gas station will have for the community, but also what it signifies as the first step to further economic development for the Cree Nation in the coming years.

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“Moving forward and developing this land, there are big plans here,” Wuttnee said. “Big plans that one day soon we will share with the community, but this is the start and we’re just really excited to open up our store today. We really appreciate all the folks coming together with us today to honour what’s going on here with Red Pheasant.”

Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) Chief Bobby Cameron echoed Wuttnee’s sentiment, reflecting on the many years of planning for the future that led to today’s grand opening.

“When our Chiefs of the day signed [a] treaty and negotiated [a] treaty, this is what they envisioned for 2021; that we’d have the treaty right to a livelihood and a treaty-based economy,” Cameron said.

North Battleford Mayor, David Gillan and Battleford Mayor, Ames Leslie were also both in attendance Wednesday. Each talked about the value the new development—and future developments from Red Pheasant—will have on the Battlefords community as a whole.

“Today is an exciting day and we’re very proud of our relationship with Red Pheasant and their investment in our community,” Gillan said. “As Chief Cameron said, it takes a lot of vision and a lot of belief in the community, so we’re very proud to be here today and look forward to what’s to come in the future.”

Leslie said Wednesday’s grand opening is special because it comes with the potential for other future projects as well in the Battlefords.

“The Battlefords are tremendous with [potential for] what could happen in the next few years with economic development with Indigenous communities and I am proud to be a part of that,” Leslie said. “[Battleford and North Battleford] are very open to development of Indigenous business and investment in our communities because we are all one people and we are all treaty people.”

The Red Pheasant gas station is located at the corner of Territorial Drive and 15th Ave. in North Battleford. It includes gas pumps for vehicles to fill up, as well as a GOmarket convenience store.

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Martin.Martinson@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @MartyMartyPxP1