and diverse range of service offerings con-
tinue to be a great success stimulator for
the company, specifically in its strategy of
vertical integration. “By having 17 compa-
nies and over 3,000 employees, we have
the diversity, resources and capacity to
tackle projects of any scope from the ini-
tial planning phase of an oil sands project
through to reclamation of the land — that's
what sets us apart,” he said. Despite being
a group of companies, clients benefit from
a scalable, single point of contact. Essen-
tially, Acden is a one-stop shop.
The corporation’s continued success is piv-
otal not just from a business perspective;
it plays a large role in the wellbeing of the
entire Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation.
TheACFN, along with all other First Nations
across Canada, are provided essential ser-
vice funds from Indigenous and Northern
Affairs Canada. In 2013, the Harper gov-
ernment passed the First Nations Finan-
cial Transparency Act (Bill C-27), which re-
quired the financial statements of 581 First
Nations to be publicly available through a
website. This included all financial reports
on Aboriginal businesses, and entities that
fell outside of essential service funding.
The Chief and the Council thought this
was heavy-handed and feared that Acden
would lose its competitive business edge
if its financials were made public. Unfortu-
OCTOBER 2016
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business elite canada
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