First Nation to collect on power project: Constance Lake First Nation to receive financial benefits from Shekak-Nagagami hydroelectric project 20 years after first formal partnership was inked as part of new agreement.

• Author: McKinley, Karen
• Position: INDIGENOUS BUSINESS

The journey of healing and reconciliation took another step in Constance Lake, with the signing of an historic electricity agreement with the Ontario government, but the chief says there is still a lot of work to be done.

"I like to think of it as the first bite of the apple," said Chief Rick Allen in a phone interview. "It's part of a process and we have a lot of work to do yet."

A news release stated the agreement between the province and Constance Lake First Nation, a partner in the Shekak-Nagagami hydroelectric project, is a 19-megawatt facility located on the Shekak River, about 80 kilometres west of Hearst.

The First Nation has been a partner in the project for more than 20 years, but has never received benefits to date. Allen said this deal will help provide long-term economic benefits for the First Nation.

We are still hammering out financial and employment details, but it's a start. When the government signed off on the permits back then, we never received any financial windfall that was promised, We went back to the table and started the process and worked on a framework we believed worked best for all of us. There was some conflict along the way, but I believe we've come up with a good deal.

He said the deal will help with reconciliation because it shows the government is taking the concerns of the First Nations seriously. It will go a long way to help mend relationships and hopefully become the framework of future deals. One benefit he said he would like to see from this agreement, besides financial windfall, is more jobs going to the First Nations near sites. Right now there are only two jobs at the power project: plant operations and a maintenance person. Neither are based in Constance Lake.

"I'd like to see agreements like this applied to other industries, namely forestry, since it is still a major one up here," he said. "Many places where they harvest are traditional lands and we should be getting stumpage fees. I hope this kind of agreement gains traction."

Allen added he'd like to see these kinds of partnerships happen across the country as it would ease tensions between bands, communities, companies and government departments.

This agreement is a result of discussions between the First Nation, the Ministry of Energy and the...