Golden Harvest and Mukwa Studios present sky-high opportunities on Nipissing First Nation

By Kelly Anne Smith

NIPISSING FIRST NATION— The customer experience, whether at Golden Harvest Cannabis Co. or Mukwa Studios, is the centre of economic spin-offs on Nipissing First Nation in the new year.

SkyMed, a high intensity medical rescue show streaming on CBC Gem, has signed on for one year with an option for two, for on-set production at Mukwa Studios. Owners Douglas Chevrier and Natalie Payette-Chevrier are ecstatic.

“It’s a bigger company that wants a second season for next year. They are saying, ‘Don’t utilize the space because we’ll probably do a second. It is exciting!” says Payette-Chevrier. “I get excited when I know there is opportunity. It creates a lot of employment and building that economy is crucial. Douglas and I have always seen it that way. We have been together over 30 years. We have had our gas bar (Eagles Nest Gas) for over 30 years by creating opportunity and always giving back. We always give back to the community.”

Director of Operations Adam Allard says the film industry spends locally, through the hotel and food industries, retail stores, and for local lumber to build sets.

“There’s a great economic benefit to having the industry here, benefiting Nipissing First Nation businesses.”

Payette-Chevrier says she is very grateful in her new ventures.

“The municipality came in, collectively with Genevieve (Couchie, Nipissing First Nation Business Operations Manager). She worked with Economic Development, looking for space for the film industry. So then we started our preliminary discussions. We would make the space available to the film industry.”

In October, Ontario’s Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli and Neil Lumsden, Ontario’s Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport, used the Mukwa Studios space to make a $6-million announcement for six films and series.

Payette-Chevrier makes the 30,000 sq.ft. space available for the film industry.

“We’re collaborating collectively with them. That’s what we chose to do. So far, there’s been three productions shot here on the sets: Essex County, Hudson and Rex, and Writing a Love Song.

On a tour of Mukwa Studios, Allard says people are being trained and hired locally for the many positions and skills needed to film a big production such as SkyMed.

“This is the largest film studio in Northern Ontario,” says Payette-Chevrier. “Having it on First Nation jurisdiction, that does excite me. It makes me feel proud because it’s been a big challenge.”

New studio bathrooms, makeup space, and office space are ready for action in the immense space. Travelling to the Golden Harvest Cannabis Company dispensary in the building, customers are in for the ‘wow’ factor at 71 Hwy 17, North Bay.

Enjoy a complimentary coffee or shot of espresso and grab a seat while you ponder the menu at the centrepiece, a show-stopping wooden table by artist John Beaudette.

Payette-Chevrier says the piece was based on her vision.

“We do things old school instead of waiting on a digital page to refresh or scrolling forever,” she explains. “We have four colours on the outside of the building. I wanted a table that shows the four colours for the four directions, integrating some of the cultural components of our heritage.”

Colourful woodland style artwork adorns the walls. After finishing work on The Lake, Simone McLeod painted a large-scale painting along with other paintings for Golden Harvest Cannabis Co.

Allard says McLeod visited in April of last year to work in the dispensary space.

“She spent a week painting that piece.”

Natalie points out the Frank Polson painting as well. Natalie leads to the foyer featuring photographs of hawks and eagles by Les Couchie.

“He used to walk the tracks, sometimes with his camera. And he grew up on this property. He said, ‘This is where we all used to play.’ All the pictures are of this land and the birds, from here to the lake (Lake Nipissing). I’m more than proud to put them in the foyer. They are beautiful.”

Wooden cabinets display glass ware, traditional baskets, and sculptures.

“It’s about making people feel good,” Payette-Chevrier explains.

Allard says the aim is to bring the ultimate dispensary experience to the customer.

“What is the cannabis industry going to be like five to ten years from now? What will it look like? What will our customers want? That’s what drove Natalie’s vision in establishing what Golden Harvest was: customer flow through, doing things a little bit differently, the espresso bar, printing the menu, and focusing on customer first.”

Douglas Chevrier and Natalie Payette-Chevrier have two daughters, Cheyney and Amber.

“One is in theatre arts and one is in AA hockey. So that’s our lives,” she notes. “Creating businesses with cultural components to benefit the next generation is important to our family.”