About

Background

The current Métis Housing Programs in Saskatoon have a long history. This story goes back to the late 1960's and early 1970's. It was a time when there was a great influx of Indigenous People into the city. Many came from Métis communities and First Nations reserves. These people were looking for new work opportunities, and accommodation. At that particular time there was very little work and virtually no accommodation. This situation created several problems for the Métis and Indian people. The problems were manifested through racism, prejudice, family violence, crime, and despair.

Two Métis individuals tired of seeing the same sad social ills on the streets of Saskatoon set out to change this situation. They had dealt with their own personal problems, and began to introduce new initiatives to deal with this situation... These men were Clarence Trotchie and Ron Camponi. Both were local Métis men and War Veterans. Clarence realized he had a serious drinking problem that affected his family and life, and found a solution through Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). His life had been spiralling out of control and he realized he had to change his ways. He admitted he needed to become a worthy person again. Ron had a similar experience. Both stopped drinking, and became big proponents for AA.

Clarence and Ron inadvertently had a mission and vision for helping people that included four priorities:

• Addiction – treat people with alcohol addiction
• Housing – provide housing for poor people and stable homes for kids
• Employment – employment and jobs will facilitate the need for stability
• Economic Development – if we can own stuff, we can build up revenue

In 1973 the Native Alcohol Centre (NAC) was introduced in Saskatoon. Alcohol was a major problem for the Aboriginal people that moved to Saskatoon, and something had to be done to help these people. NAC began with the assistance of government grants and soon healing facilities were obtained. Clarence was the first Director and stayed in the job 6 years. Ron was a councillor with the NAC. In the spring of 1974 Sasknative Housing Corporation was formed. This housing program went far beyond the sheltering of poverty-stricken Native families by playing a role in accessing social services to its tenants.

In spite of many setbacks, houses were secured in the first five months of operation. During this period it became clear that unless they could do something to ease living conditions in the houses, Sasknative would be unable to help break the hardcore poverty cycle that existed in Saskatoon. CMHC (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation) provided funds for this and combined with Training on the Job grants, Sasknative provided employment and basic skills to unemployed Aboriginal people in the community.

In the 1980's the Provincial and Federal government began partnership in public/social housing. Rent geared-to-income began. Sasknative Housing Corporation went out of business and Sasknative Rentals Inc. and Camponi Housing began. Today, we have committed our efforts to help the Métis and other participants in our housing enterprises to make their living arrangements the most appropriate that it can be.

Founding Directors

Our current operations owe a great gratitude to the founding members who started our housing programs and have provided the opportunities for access to today’s services. These people are:

• Canadian Tire – Confederation
• Nutana Rotary Club
• Sasktel
• SIGA
• Remax – Wayne Wilson
• Gibbon Heating & Air Conditioning
• Fenesca North Windows & Doors Inc.
• Grass Roots Labor Services Inc.
• Northern Resource Trucking Ltd.

• Habitat for Humanity
• Saskatoon Police Service
• Angela Bishop
• Shaun Kaye
• Wesley Terris
• Kocsis Transport
• Dollarstore