Participants travel from across the country to attend 2020 First Nations Housing Conference

By Rick Garrick

THUNDER BAY— The 2020 First Nations Housing Conference (FNHC), held Feb. 11-13 at the Valhalla Inn in Thunder Bay, included participants from across the country, including Nunavut, the western provinces and Quebec.

“The furthest away from Thunder Bay is Nunavut and we have a couple of people from Quebec,” says Roger Rozon, advisory services manager with Nokiiwin Tribal Council and 10-year member of the FNHC organizing committee. “This [conference] is important for everybody to network and share all the information they have on the struggles and accomplishments they’ve had in their housing. It’s shown with the [Community Housing Recognition] Awards banquet we had last night – we provide these awards to three communities that show some innovation in producing housing and building them in their communities.”

The 2020 Community Housing Recognition Awards were presented to Fort Severn, Onigaming and Bingwi Neyaashi Anishinaabek, one of five Nokiiwin Tribal Council communities, which also include Biinjitiwaabik Zaaging Anishinaabek, Fort William and Pic Mobert.

Rozon says the conference is popular because of the wide variety of technical, administrative and leadership workshops as well as the four sessions of Builders Challenge demonstrations and competitions hosted by home improvement celebrity Jon Eakes.

“Each year, we pick a different topic that they have a competition on,” Rozon says. “This year was doing the framing and insulating of [permanent wood foundation] walls. This year was the largest attendance we’ve had and it’s evident when you go into the workshops — every seat is full.”

Walter Manitowabi, Wiikwemkoong citizen and managing partner of Three Fires Solutions, delivered a workshop on Innovative Approaches to Property Management and Project Planning on the first day of the conference.

“The key message was for every First Nation to develop their own specific systems that meet their needs,” Manitowabi says. “Every community is different, every community has a different level of property management and housing administration, so it all starts with developing your own specific [systems] in order to be successful.”

Manitowabi says there was an “excellent” response to his workshop.

“It’s important to share the experience that I was given within my own community, the experience I learned through my own training,” Manitowabi says. “A lot of these communities are growing and they have a huge demand for new housing, new construction methods, so the message is to share what you have — you do that and everyone can be successful.”

Charles Petahtegoose, infrastructure specialist with Ontario First Nations Technical Services Corporation (OFNTSC) and Atikameksheng Anishnawbek citizen, delivered a workshop along with Clarence Meekis, also from OFNTSC, on Project Management Construction Phase on the last day of the conference.

“What we’re looking at is ensuring that the education process is being put in place in communities in regards to construction of new homes,” Petahtegoose says. “When it comes to general contractors, the First Nation, the housing manager, the carpenter, the plumber, they all have a role, they all have a responsibility and we need to know that the band is looking at all of their responsibilities ensuring that all these other different components in the project understand their responsibilities.”

Petahtegoose says the workshop also included information about the different processes that are involved in a housing project, such as the comprehensive community plan, the planning study, different strategy planning sessions and the housing plan.

“We want to encourage healthy growth in communities and how do we do that,” Petahtegoose says. “We have to educate each other, we have to share our knowledge, we have to transfer that knowledge to those that are looking for it, who want to do that work, and I think that is the key behind our presentation.”