Negotiations took place with the seven Chiefs and their Councils including English River First Nation, Ahtahkakoop First Nation, Moosomin First Nation, Red Pheasant First Nation, Saulteaux First Nation, Stoney Knoll First Nations and Sweetgrass First Nation.

The signing ceremony took place at TCU Place Convention Centre in Saskatoon. In attendance were Triple Five Chairman Nader Ghermezian, several other Triple Five officials and 75 Saskatchewan chiefs attending the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations.

"We are pleased to be able to enter into these agreements with Saskatchewan First Nations," said Nader Ghermezian, chairman of Triple Five headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta. "We believe that these undertakings by Triple Five will be beneficial to the more than 140,000 First Nations members in Saskatchewan and the Saskatchewan economy."

A major agreement signed calls for a joint venture between the English River First Nation (ERFN) and Triple Five for significant exploration and development of uranium on the English River territorial lands at Slush Lake, Saskatchewan, where some internationally-recognized uranium companies are currently active. ERFN anticipates the joint venture with Triple Five will result in the development of uranium resources within ERFN's Traditional Territory.

They further anticipate that it will result in economic benefits necessary to assist their community needs in housing, education, post-secondary education, employment training and infrastructure. The agreement recognizes ERFN's determination to protect their interests in the land, water resources, medicine and spiritual values in their Traditional Territory.

Mr. Ghermezian added, "We are proud to be involved in a province lead by Premier Wall, a visionary and entrepreneurial premier who has encouraged and given us great confidence in the long-term economic prosperity and political stability of his Province."

"We are also very happy that we have expanded our operations from Alberta into Saskatchewan," continued Mr. Ghermezian. "We believe Saskatchewan, like Alberta, will be a global economic leader in the natural resource sector for many years to come."

Triple Five has extensive involvement in the development of natural resources in North America through Triple Five Energy as well as First Nuclear Corporation that has been active in the uranium industry for the past 30 years.

Triple Five has also signed agreements with several of the nations to provide them with a Horizon Plus Prepaid Credit Card, another division of Triple Five, replacing the former cheque system utilized by those nations to distribute funds to their members. Rather than having to issue cheques, the nations can now load a prepaid amount on a reloadable credit card and the funds will then be distributed directly to members' accounts.

Consequently, the agreements have resulted in major cost savings for the nations in accounting and distribution of funds to their members.

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