Page 10 - Suncor 360 - Summer 2017

FEATURE
more active participants and encouraging the community sector to work with us in a different way.”
Since then, we’ve continued our efforts to work more deeply with communities in the Wood Buffalo region to meet long-term needs and support sustainable community change. This includes being a founding partner of the Sustainable Communities Initiative, a collaboration between oil sands companies and two communities (Janvier and Fort Chipewyan) focused on youth, and playing a key role in bringing partners together to quickly deliver support during and after the 2016 wild res.
“We often provide support to communities, or for them, to address speci c needs. But to really tackle complex community needs and bring about lasting change, all of us – corporations and community organizations – need to work in the space of co-creation and going beyond ourselves to something much larger,” re ects Lori.
And what we’re learning is helping shape Suncor as well.
“The genesis of our social goal, focused on strengthening relationships and changing the way we think and act to increase the participation of Aboriginal Peoples in energy development, came from what we’ve learned working alongside communities, especially those in the Wood Buffalo region,” says Rebecca. “It is the result of years of discussion and input, and being willing to listen and take the time to understand what a different path forward could look like, and then de ning what role we could play.”
We are at the beginning of our journey of learning and understanding, but we’re seeing progress, such as the recently- announced participation agreements with respect to the East Tank Farm Development with Fort McKay First Nation and Mikisew Cree First Nation.
“As we mark the 50th anniversary of our oil sands operations, it’s clear our community contributions in Wood Buffalo have had an impact,” says Lori.“ But perhaps one of the biggest impacts has actually been to us.
Many Suncor employees participated in the Fort McKay Readers, a program to promote literacy among First Nations schoolchildren.
Contributing to the diversity of Suncor's workforce from the earliest days of Great Canadian Oil Sands, First Nations of the Athabasca region were involved in training and employment programs, including this group in 1977.
We've been supporters of the United Way for a long time. In 1997, about 500 employees added this "Suncor designer item" to their wardrobes in support of the United Way and to recognize the 30th anniversary of oil sands operations.
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