Clifton Cross used to volunteer at the Frog Lake First Nation recreational centre.
The centre boasts basketball and volleyball courts, a weight room and recording studio.
Next door is the 1,000-seat arena and home to the Frog Lake T-Birds hockey team.
All of this was built a year ago with money from the oil industry.
“Back before oil and gas we did have a lot of depression and addictions problems,” said Cross. “More so than now. The light at the end of the tunnel is closer now.”
Cross said before these facilities were available, community members were not as active. Diabetes rates were high and so was the suicide rate.
Frog Lake, a community in northern Alberta of about 3,300 people, has been producing oil since the 1980s.
For this First Nation, oil and gas are here to stay, and many people here think that’s a good thing.
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