American ambassador meets with Saskatoon leaders

An ambassador from the United States has taken a special interest in Saskatchewan.

David Cohen, the United States’ ambassador to Canada, visited Saskatoon Wednesday to meet with leaders in the community and discuss matters that relate to both his home country and Saskatchewan.

One of Cohen’s stops was at the First Nations Bank of Canada in Saskatoon, where he met with the bank’s president and CEO, Bill Lomax.

“The ‘secret sauce’ is that the team here actually understands First Nations communities, what their needs are, the way they think, the way they operate,” said Cohen. “And that puts them in a position to be able to extend credit and support financing that might get turned down by other more traditional lenders.”

The meeting was private, but Lomax and Cohen said they discussed economic growth in Canada from an Indigenous perspective.

The First Nations Bank of Canada has many clients that have businesses which sell to the U.S., which is one of the reasons the ambassador took such an interest in the bank.

“He has a real focus on diversity, equity, inclusion and a real interest in Indigenous communities,” said Lomax.

“The fact that they’re actually taking a serious interest in Indigenous communities, I think is fantastic, because that just means it’s good for our clients.”

Lomax said he was honoured to meet with the American ambassador, and said he hopes the visit will get more people talking about the bank and doing business there.

“If we’re doing more business here, that creates more jobs,” said Lomax. “We need to hire people who are both Indigenous and non-Indigenous; it just creates a bigger tax space for the country.”

The ambassador said he was meeting with other Indigenous leaders throughout the day, and said he’s learning a lot about Saskatchewan’s rich culture.

Cohen also had a meeting with Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark to discuss matters of mutual interest for Saskatoon and cities across the United States.

They discussed topics relating to homelessness, accessibility, mental health, reconciliation and economic growth.