Ground breaks for first-ever Tim Hortons build in Nipissing First Nation
By Kelly Anne Smith
NIPISSING FIRST NATION — At a ground-breaking ceremony surrounded by supporters, Lorie and Brian Young announced the first Tim Hortons will be built on Nipissing First Nation territory before the snow flies.
On May 10, standing at the future build site just behind the Wolves Den on Hwy 17 W at Beaucage Park Road, Lorie enthusiastically describes the plans for the land, creating an estimated 35 jobs.
“As you can see on the poster, the building is a commercial duplex housing the Tim Hortons and the Wolves Den Gas Bar. At the far back here, we are going to have some parking for transport trucks with gassing stations for them. We are going to have eight units of pumps for personal vehicles, able to service 16 vehicles at a time. We are going to make sure we have full service and self-service.”
Lorie talked of being born and raised on the Dokis First Nation is now a very proud member of Nipissing First Nation. She has had the dream of opening a Tim Hortons since 2003.
“There’s a line up every where you go.”
Over the course of a few years, Lorie made unsuccessful applications to Tim Hortons but the idea stayed on her mind.
Lorie spoke of the support she received from the late Muriel Sawyer-baa, respected educator, language champion, and Deputy Chief of Nipissing First Nation.
“I spent a lot of time talking to Muriel. A lot of times when I wanted to quit, she literally gave me heck. In her words, ‘Oh, as if you are going to quit. Did you come this far just to quit?’ Ok Muriel, I’ll keep going.”
Serendipitously, landing their Tim Hortons build had everything to do with hockey.
“Then one fateful day, at the National Aboriginal Hockey Championships in Mississauga, my daughter was playing for Team Ontario and Ted Nolan was her coach. It was a big excitement to have Ted Nolan coaching. We were going to go watch the practice and like every red-blooded Canadian that heads to the rink, where do you go first? You go to Tim Hortons and grab yourself a coffee.”
In the Tims line up was Ted Nolan’s wife Sandra. Lorie and Sandra started chatting.
“She mentioned to me that Ted was involved with Tim Hortons to get the franchises onto First Nations. I jumped into the truck. I couldn’t get back to the arena fast enough. I told Brian what was going on,” she recounted. “The minute they got off the ice, Brian and I were in the coach’s room. We wanted to talk to Ted about this Tim Hortons. I’m sure he thought we were going to come talk about our daughter and her ice time. So that’s how everything started. Ted of the Nolan Consulting Group took our application and went to Tim Hortons and got us approved.”
Lorie thanked Ted and Brandon Nolan of Nolan Consulting Group, Nipissing First Nation Chief and Council, and the Nipissing First Nation Lands Department’s Joan McLeod and Kathy McLeod for supporting the Tim Hortons & Wolves Den/Canco Gas Bar.
A special ceremony took place earlier in the day before the official announcement where Elder Perry McLeod-Shabogesic held a traditional ceremony for Brian and Lorie.
“To thank Mother Earth for providing this land for us to be able to do what we want to do for our community. In that ceremony, it really brought us back to why we are doing this. Brian and I are business people, but we are community people first. We want to be successful so we can bring this back to our community.”
Nipissing First Nation Chief Scott McLeod spoke of encouraging entrepreneurs to develop businesses.
“We find it’s better for us to be a government and let business people be business people. We try to create those environments of opportunity for them and then support them through that. They have business minds. They see these things as opportunities.”
Chief McLeod explains that in 1999, federal land administration started transferring back to First Nations.
“We got control of our own lands to be able to open businesses on the First Nation. Prior to that, we could do it, but we would have to go through Indian Affairs bureaucracy, which could take years and years to get through to any approvals. Where now, we have the authority through Chief and Council to make these things happen.”
Construction of the new Tim Hortons & Wolves Den/Canco Gas Bar started the week of May 15 with completion expected before the new year.