{"id":14860,"date":"2025-02-06T12:45:04","date_gmt":"2025-02-06T19:45:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cedipartnerships.ca\/?post_type=news&p=14860"},"modified":"2026-07-16T12:46:44","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T18:46:44","slug":"sault-ste-marie-and-garden-river-first-nation-strengthen-economic-development-partnership","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.cedipartnerships.ca\/fr\/news\/sault-ste-marie-and-garden-river-first-nation-strengthen-economic-development-partnership\/","title":{"rendered":"Sault Ste. Marie and Garden River First Nation strengthen economic development partnership"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Sault Ste. Marie and Garden River First Nation strengthen economic development partnership<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>

Author:<\/strong> Cory Nordstrom<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

Source:<\/strong> CTV News<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

Date<\/strong>: February 6, 2025<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

A historic partnership between\u00a0<\/span>Garden River First Nation<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0<\/span>City of Sault Ste. Marie<\/span><\/a>\u00a0has reached a new milestone with the completion of the\u00a0<\/span>Municipal Community Economic Development Initiative<\/span><\/a>\u00a0(CEDI). A signing ceremony held recently marked the formalization of this strengthened collaboration, aimed at fostering economic growth and breaking down long-standing barriers between the\u00a0neighbouring\u00a0communities.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

A signing ceremony marked the formalization of a strengthened collaboration between Sault Ste. Marie and Garden River First Nation, aimed at fostering economic growth and breaking down long-standing barriers between the\u00a0neighbouring\u00a0communities. Sault Mayor Matthew Shoemaker and Garden River Chief Kristen Bell are pictured at the formal signing ceremony. (Cory Nordstrom\/CTV News Northern Ontario)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

For years, the two communities\u00a0operated\u00a0in silos, often excluding one another from planning processes. Garden River First Nation Chief Karen Bell described the divide as an \u201cinvisible line\u201d that both sides were acutely aware of.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cEveryone in the community was very well aware where that invisible line was \u2013 and vice versa,\u201d said Bell.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cWe saw it kind of not stepped into each other\u2019s lane and this CEDI initiative has broken those barriers.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Since 2023, the communities have\u00a0participated\u00a0in a series of training sessions\u00a0facilitated\u00a0by the Council for the\u00a0<\/span>Advancement of Native Development Officers<\/span><\/a>\u00a0(CANDO) and the\u00a0<\/span>Federation of Canadian Municipalities<\/span><\/a>\u00a0(FCM). These sessions focused on cultural understanding, economic\u00a0development\u00a0and relationship-building.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Sault Ste. Marie and Garden River First Nation have\u00a0participated\u00a0in a series of training sessions\u00a0facilitated\u00a0by the Council for the Advancement of Native Development Officers and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities since 2023. These sessions focused on cultural understanding, economic\u00a0development\u00a0and relationship-building. An\u00a0undate\u00a0photo from one such session is shown. (Supplied)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Ryan Walker-Melton, a CEDI program officer with CANDO, explained the program\u2019s approach to CTV News.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cWe do a workshop right off the bat to get everybody in the same room \u2013 councils, leadership, staff, anybody who is going to have a hand in the work\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0being done. Over the course of these three years, they start with relationship building, getting acquainted with the histories and realities, the\u00a0jurisdiction,\u00a0all of\u00a0those kinds of things of their partner community,\u201d he said.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

The initiative also includes a $45,000 grant, which the partners have used to explore a joint transit initiative. Sault Ste. Marie Mayor Matthew Shoemaker highlighted the practical benefits of the collaboration, saying, \u201cThe groups have been working together on things like seeing if transit service can be extended into Garden River and exploring options for industrial land available in Garden River or in the City of Sault Ste. Marie. As projects become known to us, we can find the best place to\u00a0locate\u00a0them.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Tanya Tourangeau of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities emphasized the broader impact of the CEDI program across Canada.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cWe\u2019ve had nearly 500 applications across Canada,\u201d she said.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cThe impact we\u2019re seeing is tremendous \u2013 not only social impact but thriving economies that are being built together based on win-win partnerships.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

With the success of this CEDI program, Sault Ste. Marie\u2019s leadership said they have already begun reaching out to\u00a0<\/span>Batchewana First Nation<\/span><\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0build a stronger relationship.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Officials from both communities \u2013 Garden River and the Sault \u2013 said this partnership stands as a testament to the power of collaboration, setting a precedent for other communities across Canada to follow.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

A historic partnership between Garden River First Nation and the City of Sault Ste. Marie has reached a new milestone with the completion of the Municipal Community Economic Development Initiative. The formal certificate from the Council for the Advancement of Native Development Officers and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities is shown. (Cory Nordstrom\/CTV News Northern Ontario)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Meanwhile, municipalities interested in replicating this model can access\u00a0<\/span>toolkits<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and templates on the\u00a0<\/span>CEDI website.<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Find the full article\u00a0<\/span>here<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sault Ste. Marie and Garden River First Nation strengthen economic development partnership\u00a0 Author: Cory Nordstrom Source: CTV News Date: February 6, 2025 A historic partnership between\u00a0Garden River First Nation\u00a0and the\u00a0City of Sault Ste. Marie\u00a0has reached a new milestone with the completion of the\u00a0Municipal Community Economic Development Initiative\u00a0(CEDI). A signing ceremony held recently marked the formalization […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[88],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14860","news","type-news","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-phase-iii"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cedipartnerships.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/14860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cedipartnerships.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cedipartnerships.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cedipartnerships.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.cedipartnerships.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/14860\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14864,"href":"https:\/\/www.cedipartnerships.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/14860\/revisions\/14864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cedipartnerships.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cedipartnerships.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cedipartnerships.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}