Page 9 - Suncor 360 - Summer 2017

Around this time we also created a position to establish relationships with Aboriginal communities affected by our oil sands operations, the rst role of its kind at Suncor. The focus was employment and business opportunities for local Aboriginal communities, and along with the position we released our rst Aboriginal relations policy (1994).
“At rst our work with Aboriginal communities was limited. We didn’t really have a good understanding of the cultural differences, or the impacts of our business on communities’ traditional way of living,” says Rebecca Sullivan, general manager, stakeholder & Aboriginal relations. “As we became more aware and built relationships, we looked for opportunities to provide support. This included projects like providing books to the Fort Chipewyan library, donations to the Fort McKay School, or through employees volunteering their time to literacy programs like Fort McKay Readers. It was about giving what we thought was needed at the time.”
In 1998, Suncor established the Suncor Energy Foundation (SEF) to manage and coordinate Suncor’s contributions to communities and support registered Canadian charitable organizations in our key operating areas.
Some of the key initiatives SEF supported in the Wood Buffalo region at this time were:
• A $500,000 investment to help Keyano College establish a mine operations instructional program (1999).
• Starting the Suncor Community Service Grants program, the forerunner of SunCares, to help employees support community causes important to them.
• The $100,000 millennium legacy investment to Fort McMurray to mark the opening of the Suncor Millennium mine. This was part of a $600,000 four-year partnership with Evergreen, a national environmental organization. The gift helped create the Suncor Evergreen Trail in 2002.
• $1 million donated over ve years to the Northern Lights Regional Health Foundation (2003) and another $250,000 toward the purchase of magnetic resonance imaging equipment (2006).
• The establishment of the Indspired Youth Experience (2003), a program that brings Aboriginal youth from communities near our operations to the annual Indspire Awards.
• And, our largest single community investment to that point,
$3 million toward construction of the Suncor Community Leisure Centre at MacDonald Island Park recreation complex (2005).
“In 2008, as SEF marked its 10th anniversary, we took time to re ect on the impacts we were having and whether there were opportunities to be doing more with the investment dollars we had,” recalls Lori. “This led us to a new place of beginning to consider where – with others – we could further focus our efforts and contribute to lasting change in areas important to both communities and Suncor.”
In 2012, SEF released its rst ve-year strategic plan and ve new funding priorities: cultivating community leaders; building skills and knowledge; inspiring innovation; engaging citizens; and collaborating for our energy future.
One of the rst major initiatives that evolved out of the strategy was Social Prosperity Wood Buffalo (SPWB), a community-driven process that brought together local government, funders, and non-pro t agencies to build strength in the Wood Buffalo non-pro t sector. SPWB partners worked together toward a common goal of building capacity and better equipping and positioning community organizations to deal with the unique issues and complex challenges the region faces.
“Through SPWB we were able to show the bene t of going beyond traditional community investment,” says Kim Nordbye, manager of SEF and community innovation. “This creative approach challenged our role as funder, pushing us to become
The Suncor Community Leisure Centre opened in 2009, and is the centerpiece of Fort McMurray’s MacDonald Island Park recreation complex.
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