Leland MacLeod has a dream of helping start up businesses in the St. George’s and Flat Bay area.
The 30-year-old Ottawa man, who has ties to St. George’s, is a ReachUp North intern who hopes to use the program to start multiple businesses in the area.
He explained ReachUp North spawned from the Idle No More protests that took place a few years back.
After those protests petered out, MacLeod said young aboriginal people wanted to do more to teach people about the history of First Nations.
He said Digital Opportunity Trust, an international social enterprise headquartered in Ottawa with local operations around the globe, wanted to fund an aboriginal education initiative in Canada, which resulted in ReachUp North.
The free program has been operating in Ottawa and offers fun ways to learn business skills and is designed to teach people how to run their own business, he said.
MacLeod has long known his connection to St. George’s through his grandmother Laura MacLeod, formerly Bennett. While his grandmother died in 1994, he had always wondered if he had relatives in the area.
He got in touch with St. George’s resident Florence Young, one of his relatives, and came down for his first visit in May 2012. He got to meet with many other relatives, including young people.
In September of the same year he returned with his family, and vacationed in the area for the past two summers.
‘Growth was stagnant’
MacLeod attended the Bay St. George Powwow in Flat Bay both years.
When he returned home, he said he couldn't stop reflecting on all the business entrepreneurship opportunities he had discovered in western Newfoundland. He thinks it might have been the laments from young people about unemployment that got him thinking. The promises of employment and good wages were always in Alberta or out on the oil rigs.
“Here was one of the most beautiful places I had ever seen, with one of the most fascinating histories I had ever heard of, and growth was stagnant,” he said in a recent blog post.
He kept thinking about the tourism potential, from kayak rentals, hiking tours, hunting and fishing guides, RV parks, inns and cottages. He feels all these things could thrive in St. George's Bay if they have a proper start.
MacLeod always thought about running a business, but it took the identification of a real need like the employment situation in St. George's Bay to convince him his skills could be applied to possibly change a whole community.
He sees Sandy Point off St. George’s as having potential for tourism. Although the Town of St. George’s has declined in size and activity during the years, he said ambitions of growth and community revitalization still exist.
As he went through the ReachUp modules and discussed the success stories from other countries, he began to see the dreams he had for St. George's were not too grandiose or unrealistic.
While it’s only a dream at this point, he is gathering lots of resources that would allow him to chase that dream.
MacLeod hopes to have further discussions with young aboriginal people in the area, and hopes to someday help develop a network of about 10 to 15 businesses to support the Bay St. George Powwow in Flat Bay and St. George's Bay area tourism.
