Chi Mino Ozhitoowin celebrates grand opening

By Rick Garrick

FORT WILLIAM — Chi Mino Ozhitoowin celebrated the grand opening of its new offices at 300 Anemki Place in Fort William with a barbecue and networking on June 28.

“We just finished moving in here this Monday and we’re glad to be here,” says Peter Collins, CEO at Chi Mino Ozhitoowin. “We had a great grand opening and continue to grow — it’s so important for us to have a professional building and it really sets the tone of who we are.”

Collins, former chief at Fort William First Nation, says they have had a positive reaction from all of the seven partner communities, including Fort William, Eagle Lake, Lac Seul, Ojibways of Saugeen, Seine River, Nigigoonsiminikaaning, and Gakijiwanong (Lac La Croix).

“We’re a corporation that represents them, we’re not the mainstream corporation that everybody’s been used to seeing visit their communities so it’s been a good strong relationship and we enjoy every minute of it,” Collins says. “We’re getting prepared for the Waasigan Transmission Line, the EA (environmental assessment) is delayed for a couple more months, but we’re continuing on our journey and the work we have to do to make sure people are ready for the employment.”

Chi Mino Ozhitoowin was engaged by Valard Construction LP to help maximize First Nations participation in the Waasigan Transmission Line project, which involves the construction of a new double-circuit 230-kilovolt transmission line in northwestern Ontario between the Lakehead Transformer Station (TS) in Shuniah, located next to Thunder Bay, and Mackenzie TS in Atikokan, and a new single-circuit 230 kilovolt transmission line between Mackenzie TS and Dryden TS in Dryden.

“For me and our team, we’re really determined to make sure that people are a part of this project,” Collins says. “We have a pretty good turnout on our training right now.”

Collins says the completion date for the Waasigan Transmission Line project is 2027, noting that more electrical power will be required in the area due to growth, including mining activities.

“They can’t build the mines without power, so the power is an important part of that,” Collins says. “If you listen to the premier and you listen to the ministers, there’s still not adequate power supply in the region.”

Shane Fugere, business development manager at Chi Mino Ozhitoowin, says they have set up the Chi Mino Ozhitoowin Business Directory for local businesses to have an opportunity to get involved with the Waasigan Transmission Line project.

“It is free to register and it’s searchable based on skills, services, and types of equipment that are in the area,” Fugere says, noting that the directory is shared with all of Chi Mino Ozhitoowin’s partners. “This way they know who is in the area who may have a backhoe, a dump truck. We are supporting people under our umbrella because we need to make sure we are building capacity, not only for our people but our future business leaders.”

Ginny Michano, training coordinator at Chi Mino Ozhitoowin, says students from two of their inaugural classes attended the grand opening.

“It’s really nice to see all the progression that’s made because when we first started this, it was all a concept,” Michano says. “We have students who are actually in courses [and] looking forward to recruiting some more. We have many programs coming up, it’s a really exciting time and we’re just growing so much and looking forward to having our students work on the Waasigan Transmission Line.”

Lac Seul Councillor Stanley Littledeer, a board member at Chi Mino Ozhitoowin, says Collins has been instrumental in leading the communities to training and procurement opportunities.

“We’ve had numerous events where community members are invited to participate in workshops,” Littledeer says. “There are opportunities for off-reserve members wherever they reside to get involved with this training because we do want to be a partner with Waasigan and we want to ensure all our members out there participate.”

Information about employment and training at Chi Mino Ozhitoowin, including contact information, is posted online.