Arm’s-length Six Nations development corporation has amassed $150 million in assets since 2015

A new parking lot at Mohawk Village Memorial Park. A spruced-up cafeteria and gymnasium at Six Nations Polytechnic. Vehicles to transport visitors and equipment at Woodland Cultural Centre.

These are some of the projects that received funding through the Six Nations Economic Development Trust (EDT) earlier this month.

In total, eight recipients split just over $703,000, with almost $433,000 going to Six Nations Housing in support of a future housing project called Onondaga 2 Townhouse.

The EDT distributes the profits generated by the Six Nations of the Grand River Development Corporation (SNGRDC), which manages 20 renewable energy projects on and around the reserve.

The trust doesn't fund one-off things. They don't fund political aspirations," said Matt Jamieson, president and CEO of the development corporation.

They fund things that are designed to fuel a better future for our children."

SNGRDC recently announced significant changes to how it funds capital projects on Six Nations. The development corporation is also getting out of the property management and tourism businesses in favour of ventures that will bring in cash and grow the organization's economic clout.

We've had to re-evaluate our strategy as a corporation," Jamieson told The Spectator. We are really focused on things that are going to move the needle."

That means having Six Nations Elected Council take over the management of nine properties whose development has stalled for political factors which are beyond the control" of the SNGRDC.

On properties not currently part of the reserve, like a parcel of land on West Street in Brantford, elected council has to negotiate with outside governments as to how those lands will be zoned and developed. Such negotiations, Jamieson said, are beyond the circle of influence of the development corporation."

Properties on the reserve - which include three decommissioned internet towers and two former school sites - sit on land owned by the elected council, which again puts the development corporation in the back seat since council is ultimately the landlord" of properties like the Oneida Business Park, a nearly 90,000-square-foot commercial complex on Fourth Line near Highway 6.

They're the ones who can enter into long-term binding leases with third parties to develop that property. The development corporation doesn't have the power to do that," Jamieson said of council.

So essentially, we were a middle person in the equation that didn't need to be there."

Land claims, or jurisdictional issues between the elected and hereditary governments on the reserve, did not play a part in the decision to divest the nine properties from the development corporation's holdings, Jamieson said.

Ceding Six Nations Tourism to the elected council is a strategic move" to allow council to apply for grants to support Chiefswood National Historic Site and the Mohawk Chapel that the for-profit development corporation cannot access, he added.

The corporation will still run Chiefswood Park and manage the bookings at the popular glamping site.

The restructuring of the development corporation is the result of a year's worth of conversations with elected council.

The new agreement ... will strengthen our working relationship," elected Chief Mark Hill said in a statement.

We are excited to develop more strategic and long-term plans to meet community needs and better serve the Six Nations community in unity with SNGRDC."

Funding community needs

The development corporation on Six Nations was designed to separate business from politics," as the organization puts it.

Since launching in 2015, SNGRDC has amassed more than $150 million in assets and currently manages projects like Oneida Energy Storage, a planned operation near the reserve in Haldimand County which, when completed, is expected to be Canada's largest battery-based electricity storage site.

A main benefit to a First Nation of having a for-profit development corporation is the revenue generated by such projects can stay on the reserve. Were elected council, which receives its funding from Ottawa, to oversee economic development directly, any profits would be clawed back from federal transfer payments.

Instead, profits from those ventures flow back to the community through the EDT, with elected council routinely getting the lion's share. Of the $17.3 million distributed since 2016, elected council got more than $12 million.

Jamieson said rather than having council compete" for funding with community groups, it makes more sense for EDT to guarantee a set amount for capital projects and leave more money available - specifically, 10 per cent of the development corporation's free cash - for outside organizations.

So for the next 15 years, under a new agreement that came into effect March 31, elected council will receive $1.4 million annually from the EDT or 40 per cent of the development corporation's unallocated cash, whichever amount is greater.

The funding hinges on annual reporting that proves the grant money is being spent on projects that align with the reserve's long-term community plan.

It gives them that long-term certainty," Jamieson said.

If you think about roads or health or housing, they can factor that in for the next 15 years and start building their capital plans."

The grant money also makes a difference for organizations like the Woodland Cultural Centre, a language and interpretative centre located at the site of the former Mohawk Institute residential school in Brantford.

We are so grateful to the Six Nations of the Grand River Development Corporations's Economic Development Trust for their generous contribution of two multi-passenger golf carts and a utility cart to allow us to continue to provide access for Elders, Survivors and tourists alike to visit Woodland during our ongoing phase three renovation of the former Mohawk Institute and grounds," Woodland's executive director, Heather George, said in an email to The Spectator.

The placement of an accessible trail and operation of shuttle vehicles while the driveway is being resurfaced will mean that Woodland can continue to welcome visitors to experience all that our Hodinosho:ni culture has to offer."

J.P. Antonacci's reporting on Haldimand and Norfolk is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative. jpantonacci@thespec.com