Duane Hicks
Reconciliation isn’t going to happen just by talking about residential schools—it also has to include the re-emergence of local economies where indigenous peoples can participate.
This mindset change lies at the crux of “An Army of Problem Solvers: Reconciliation and the Solutions Economy,” a new book written by Emo native Shaun Loney.
“Governments spend an enormous amount of money on problems,” Loney said in an interview Monday.
“We think they’d spend a lot less money on problems if they focused on making it easy for problem solvers,” he noted.
And as a problem solver, he should know.
The Winnipeg-based Loney has co-founded and mentored 11 social enterprises, including Akki Energy, a social enterprise incubator in Manitoba that has installed $7 million worth of geothermal in just three years.
This not only has provided renewable energy options, which lowered residents’ hydro bills, but created employment where there was none.
Loney defines “problem solvers” as social enterprises (non-profit businesses), social entrepreneurs (think Elon Musk), and the local food movement.
“When you get these folks together, every single one problem solver says the government makes it very difficult for us,” said Loney.
“So the book talks about how governments need to make an ecosystem where problem solving is easy.”
Through his work, Loney has helped employ ex-gang members and reduce utility bills for low-income families on First Nations and in Winnipeg, saving the government “a lot of money.”
“But the government makes it really, really hard for us,” he stressed. “It’s a pretty exciting prospect that you can solve problems, but you need a problem solver to solve a problem.”
Loney said his book is relevant to all Canadians—and perhaps moreso to Rainy River District residents.
“I think Canada is entering into a conversation right now about reconciliation,” he noted. “There’s probably very few districts in Canada where that conversation is more important than in the Rainy River District.
“There’s such a high percentage of indigenous people that are living alongside non-indigenous people and, to me, reconciliation means more than finding out the truth—it means First Nation families having the tools to be successful,” Loney added.
“We’ve done $7 million worth of geothermals on First Nations in just three years in Manitoba,” he noted. “People are working; they’re going out the door and kids are seeing them working in the morning.
“And we have a local food operation so people are tackling diabetes through making changes in their economies.”
Loney said he shows in his book how the federal government actively is suppressing First Nations from participating in the economy.
“On many First Nations, the government subsidizes a local monopoly retailer that sells virtually no healthy food,” he explained.
“But there’s no supports at all for First Nation ventures that are growing healthy food and raising healthy food.
“If we want to tackle the diabetes problem that is very prevalent in First Nations, we need to focus on changing the economy so that local economies are re-emerging,” Loney stressed.
“And the federal government is actually actively suppressing those things from happening.”
This suppression has occurred close to home. For instance, Loney noted a large quantity of farmland on Couchiching First Nation was flooded after the dam was built on the Rainy River.
“They had food production north of the Point,” he said. “My understanding is there was a lot of food grown there at one point.
“Plus, you couldn’t sell anything off the First Nation without the permission of an Indian agent, and when you were selling something, it often had to be sold at a cut rate,” Loney added.
“Indigenous fishers got a lot less for their fish than non-indigenous fishers.
“Plus at Couchiching, there was a highway, a railway, and transmission lines that were put through there without proper consultation or agreement,” he noted.
Loney said non-aboriginal Canadians must understand they are privileged.
“I like to say that some of us were born on third base and think we hit a triple,” he remarked. “We need to understand where privilege comes from in order for us to make Canada the country it can be.
“I think we kind of have a tendency to look down on people who aren’t doing as well. Sometimes there’s reasons for that.”
Loney admitted his family has owned Cloverleaf Grocery in Emo for years, and the main block of customers is from area First Nations.
“I’m in the same boat,” he remarked. “I grew up with a lot of privilege, in many ways, because of the demise of the food economy at the Rainy River First Nation.
“I’m a local example of a privileged white man from the Rainy River District who’s researched my history and come to the conclusion that I started on third base,” added Loney.
“So then, what do we do about it?
“The object isn’t to feel guilty about it,” he stressed. “The object is to realize it and try to find ways we can rebalance things.
“And I think that’s the conversation we’re having in Canada now.”
That re-balancing must happen everywhere, including with the ongoing Agency #1 (Point Park) land claim issue, said Loney.
He doesn’t want to see what happened with the Kapyong Barracks in Winnipeg—where the federal government had a longstanding dispute with Treaty #1 First Nations and lost the case at great cost to the taxpayers—repeat itself here.
“The point about the Point is that we need to work together in the Rainy River District to have a mutually-successful outcome,” he remarked.
“I think that’s what the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is calling us to do.
“So this book . . . is trying to add my voice to what reconciliation could look like when it comes to the re-emergence of local economies on First Nations,” he noted.
Loney just wrapped up a cross-country book tour Sunday, which included stops in St. John’s, Toronto, Saskatoon, Brandon, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Vancouver, and Victoria.
He also was interviewed on CBC’s “The Current” last Tuesday.
Loney said the reception he’s received has been “fantastic,” noting “An Army of Problem Solvers” already has gone into its second printing.
“I think the timing is perfect because we’re having this conversation about reconciliation in Canada,” he reasoned.
“People generally want to understand better and I think they want solutions, and this book talk about solutions.
“They’re not just ideas because we’re actually implementing them, so it’s hopeful,” added Loney.
“People are ready for something that’s hopeful.”
Loney, who is the son of Dave and Janet Loney, lives in Winnipeg with his partner, Fiona. Between them, they have three sons—Aandeg, Weslee, and Owen.
Before co-founding the non-profit organization BUILD Inc, which won the 2011 Scotia Bank EcoLiving Green Business of the Year, and the 2013 Manitoba Apprenticeship Employer of the Year, Loney was director of energy policy for the Manitoba government and political advisor to Gary Doer’s NDP.
He’s also the first Prairie Canadian to be awarded an Ashoka Fellowship (2015), and was Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year in 2014.
Loney has a cabin at Clearwater, his parents still live in Emo, and he regularly visits Rainy River District.
To order “An Army of Problem Solvers: Reconciliation and the Solutions Economy,” visit www.armyofproblemsolvers.com
