CHIEF WHITNEY'S VISIONARY LEADERSHIP EVIDENT ACROSS THE TSUUT'INA NATION
Chief Roy Whitney doesn't have to look far to see the outcome of his decades of service and vision.
The longest-serving chief of the Tsuut'ina Nation only has to look out of the large picture windows in his office to see just a bit of the end results of his years of enterprising leadership.
The Seven Chiefs Sportsplex and the Chief Jim Starlight Centre on 19 Chiila Boulevard are the first thing you see.
Sporting two indoor rinks with 1,150-square-foot change rooms, gymnasiums, a third-level running track, commercial kitchen and even a covered outdoor rink with heated change rooms, the building that can seat 5,000 spectators opened in May 2019 and was proving to be the community's hub — bringing together band members for seasonal feasts and powwows as well as people from all across the province and country to the state-of-the art facility for hockey tournaments and training.
Whitney — or Xakijii, as he's called in the Tsuut'ina language — has led the nation from 1984 to 2001, from 2012 to 2016 and once again for his 11th term when he was elected in November
2019 — making him the leader behind much of the positive change that has sprang up on the 283-square-kilometre reserve that runs from the edges of Calgary west to Bragg Creek.
“This kind of change is good for the community,” says the chief, as he looks out his window at the Sportsplex.
The old ice rinks on the reserve had to be destroyed to make way for the long-discussed and planned-for ring road, or Stoney Trail, that was more than six decades in the making.
The 12-kilometre southwest portion of the ring road between Sarcee Trail and Fish Creek Boulevard that opened in October, is called Tsuut'ina Trail and cost $1.4 billion to construct.
After many stops and starts, the Tsuut'ina Nation and the province worked out a deal in 2013 following a referendum on the nation on Oct. 24, 2013.
Whitney was at the centre of those negotiations and signed the accord with then-premier Alison Redford on Nov. 27, 2013. He was instrumental in helping the 2,000 band members envision a better future rather than fearing the loss of prime real estate. Ultimately, the nation received $66 million to relocate homes and other amenities, $275 million and got 874 hectares of Crown land for the 173 hectares of nation land closer to Calgary city limits.
Whitney nods towards the vehicles whizzing along the smooth, spacious highway — which in total will be 101 kilometres long when it is completed — with many other cars pulling into the Tsuut'ina's gas station with among the cheapest gas in Calgary.
Out of sight but no less important was the August opening of the newest Costco in the area — the first not just in North America but in the world to be built on Aboriginal lands.
It's all part of a plan called Taza (amaze) — a vision for a $4.5-billion, multi-phase, multiuse development that will bring more entertainment and sports, hotels, shops and even industry to the part of the reserve near the nation's existing Grey Eagle Casino and hotel in Calgary's southwest. Big-box stores, outlet malls, auto dealerships and boutiques are part of the plan as well.
But it all started with helping the nation's members envision what could be instead of what might be lost.
In 2009, the nation members voted against the ring road deal that was on the table with the province at the time.
“They just weren't ready yet,” explains Whitney.
Shortly after that rejection of the ring road deal, Whitney went down to visit the Pima Nation near Phoenix, Ariz.
The nation had allowed a road through their land after lengthy negotiations.
Whitney saw a beautiful hotel, event centre and shopping mall, increased employment and band members content with their decision.
“It really inspired me and then I came home and I had a conversation with council and I said we need to take our people to Phoenix. We need to show them what a roadway like this could do for the nation.”
Over the next couple of years, small groups of Tsuut'ina members would go down to visit the Pima nation. In total, more than 200 people travelled there and when the next referendum was held in 2013, nation members voted 69 per cent in favour of the new ring road deal.
“That's what turned opinion around,” said Whitney.
“They saw that this is about our future — the kind of legacy we want to leave for our younger people.”
Much too humble to blow his own horn, the chief deftly deflects praise, but if any one person is responsible for the beneficial changes to the nation — as well as for Calgary and surrounding area commuters — it's Whitney.
“When I travel on that road I see the opportunities that lie ahead for our future generations that I may not fully see in my lifetime, but that they will have the opportunity to enjoy and we just put in place the proper tools for them to be able to make good choices and decisions and we're laying the groundwork for them to do that,” says Whitney, who has four grown and successful children as well as six grandchildren.
Whitney said the nation has shown incredible courage in its decision-making going back to 1877.
Tsuut'ina leaders had to make tough choices to enter into treaty processes that would confine the nation from a nomadic lifestyle to “being boxed onto reserve measuring just six miles by 18 miles.”
“Our ancestors laid the groundwork for us to be able to make the choices we are making today,” reflects the chief.
As much as the past year has held many milestones, to say many of the band's plans were slowed down as a result of COVID-19 would be an understatement.
Indeed, the day we sat down for this interview, the chief and council voted once again to implement a curfew on the nation from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. — something that not only protected people from the deadly virus but also helped police catch non-nation members committing crimes.
Unlike last year — the big Christmas feast and powwow held at the Sportsplex that included 800 dancers and 30 drum groups, where band leadership and their spouses served dinner to more than 1,200 people — this year they are going to do a drive-by feast in January, where they will box up meals for those in each household.
Even before the Canadian or Alberta governments imposed a lockdown to protect citizens from the global pandemic, the chief and council imposed one on Tsuut'ina, implementing their pandemic plan.
They set up trailers where members unable to isolate or quarantine in their homes could do so safely and they ensured their elders were well cared for. Currently, there are only two suspected cases on the reserve.
So, even as development slowed down or even stopped all around the world as a result of COVID-19, the Tsuut'ina under the leadership of Whitney had a banner year.
We need to show them what a roadway like this could do for the nation.