Temagami First Nation to construct new multi-use facility in the near future

July 29, 2016
Darlene Bowen – Constituency Assistant to John Vanthof, Member of Provincial Parliament for Temiskaming-Cochrane, Denise Deschamps – Industry Canada (Fednor) Initiatives Officer, Lorie Hunter – Mayor, Town of Temagami, Anthony Rota – Member of Parliament, Nipissing-Temiskaming, Arnold Paul – Chief, Temagami First Nation, David Zimmer – Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation, Joseph Katt – Deputy Chief, Temagami First Nation.
(From Left to Right) Darlene Bowen, Constituency Assistant to John Vanthof, Member of Provincial Parliament for Temiskaming-Cochrane; Denise Deschamps, Industry Canada (Fednor) Initiatives Officer; Lorie Hunter, Mayor, Town of Temagami; Anthony Rota, Member of Parliament, Nipissing-Temiskaming;  Chief Arnold Paul, Temagami First Nation; David Zimmer; Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation; Joseph Katt, Deputy Chief, Temagami First Nation.

By Jamie-Lee McKenzie

TEMAGAMI FIRST NATION –Temagami First Nation announced the creation of their new community centre on July 9, 2016. As a gesture of reconciliation, the Province of Ontario is investing $750,000 towards the construction of the new community centre.

Ontario has been helping First Nation communities and organizations build and renovate through the Aboriginal Community Capital Grants Program.

“We were able to secure funding from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund, the Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation, and private donations,” states Chief Arnold Paul.

With programs like this, Ontario is on the continued journey of healing and reconciliation with First Nation peoples, creating a better future for everyone in the province.

Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation, David Zimmer, was present for the announcement of the community centre during a sod-turning ceremony with the community leaders.

“It’s a large facility, it’s going to be 29,000 square feet,” claims Chief Paul.

The community centre will replace the old Band Office and Recreation Centre and be built in the same spot. “It will be where the old Band Office and Rec Centre were, the 2 buildings there, we had to decommission them both, it will be located right on the lake front,” says Chief Paul.

“There’s going to be a lot of uses for the building,” says Chief Paul. The centre will be a multi-use facility, which will include a job training facility, business centre, the Temagami First Nation Band Office, a store, a gym, and a Heritage Centre.

To add some history to the new building, materials from the old Band Office will also be used. “We’re going to be using some of the old logs from the Band Office for the Heritage site, so we have something from the old Band Office,” says Chief Paul.

“It’s always been the idea to get a new Band Office or new community centre,” says Chief Paul. The decision to create a new community centre came from the previous Chief and Council, who put in a lot of the work to see if the new building could even be created.

“The previous Chief and Council hired consultants to look into [it] to see if it could be done and they’ve been working on it now since 2012 or maybe 2011,” states Chief Paul.

“It’s a long process,” says Chief Paul; however, the community has been involved in many of the decisions. The building will be utilized by the community members and it was decided that they should be part of the decision making.

“The community had a lot of input for the building, we had several meetings about the building and we’ve had consultations with the community about the design of the building and what it will be used for,” states Chief Paul. “The community is involved in most of the decisions that are made around here.”

Construction of the new multi-use community centre is set to start within the next couple of weeks, by August 1, 2016.