According to Crown Investment Corp. (CIC) Minister Joe Hargrave, the point of investing millions of tax dollars in the First Nations and Metis Fund (FNMF)  is “engagement.”

Evidently, it’s not to actually create needed jobs in the First Nations and Metis communities or to make profits on the millions of tax dollars invested or spent on fund management fees. Heck, why worry about breaking even?

This is now all about “engagement” — inspiring First Nations people to walk down the glorious path of venture capital investment.

For the moment, let’s set aside how ridiculous it is for a minister of the Crown to suggest we shouldn’t necessarily be concerned about an $8-million loss. (After all, no Saskatchewan Party MLA has ever fretted over investment losses like the ones CIC was making 15 to 20 years ago under the NDP government on Spudco or U.S. dot-coms.)

Let’s set aside the $11.5 million in management fees paid to Westcap Management Ltd., whose CEO Grant Kook is a well-connected Sask. Party donor who turned his role as master of ceremonies for the opening of the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital into a political event and who remains an appointee on SaskTel’s board.

To be clear, Westcap has enjoyed success in the fund management business, and, as Hargrave eagerly points out, Kook was first hired to manage the FNMF by the previous NDP government. That would hardly seem “a Sask. Party insider slush fund,” as described by NDP MLA Cathy Sproule in Thursday’s question period.

That said, Sproule also notes fund management has clearly evolved from small business, job-creation-oriented investments under the NDP to larger-scale investments in the the potash and oil sector, without any clear explanation from Kook (whose requested appearance before a legislative committee has been stymied by Sask. Party government MLAs) or successive CIC ministers.

Let’s set aside the failed $3-million First Nations potash investment that created no jobs. To this, Hargrave first said in Thursday’s question period that  “it’s about investing in people and we won’t apologize for trying to strengthen Aboriginal participation.” He then later told  reporters: “It wasn’t just about the jobs. It was about engagement.”

Let’s also set aside that Hargrave can’t pin down the total number of jobs created in the history of the FNMF to anything better than somewhere between 84 and 185 or even tell us how many of those jobs were created since his Sask. Party government took power 12-plus years ago.

And we can also set aside the specifics of the $1.8-million investment to Brigden Welding (also accused of having close Sask. Party connections) that was later written down to $250,000  and that created only four jobs — only two of which went to Aboriginals.

Let’s set aside Hargrave’s game-playing nonsense that this is not a FNMF issue because the money flowed through a Metis company called Infinite Investment (what Sproule suggested is a shell company). Let’s ignore how laughable this is in light of Wendy Gervais, Infinite Investment’s director, saying she has no knowledge whereabouts of the assets Hargrave (who said Thursday he had no idea who Gervais was) spoke about.

Let’s simply focus on how Hargrave’s view that this all comes down to creating “engagement” with First Nations people who have now been inspired to make capital investments (although Hargrave could not point to one example where this was the actual case) because of what they are seeing in the FNMF.

Consider how condescending this must be to First Nations who managed entrepreneurial investment successes without the Sask. Party: Tron Construction, Athabasca Basin Development and Kitaski Development are all heavily involved in mining; Meadow Lake Tribal Council Resource Development; File Hills Qu’Appelle Developments; Prince Albert Development Corporation; Montreal Lake Business Ventures; Whitecap Development Corporation; First Nations Bank of Canada (Canada’s chartered bank independently controlled by Indigenous shareholders); Polar Oils; Onion Lake Energy, and; Tomahawk Energy.

Consider how much this whole sorry affair is setting back First Nations business relations.

Mandryk is the political columnist for the Regina Leader-Post and Saskatoon StarPhoenix.