Mattagami First Nation chief encourages partnerships with Timmins businesses

Mattagami First Nation Chief Jennifer Constant was the keynote speaker at a Timmins Chamber of Commerce luncheon, advocating for regional partnerships.

The Timmins Chamber of Commerce ‘Leaders Series’ luncheon at the Porcupine Dante Club this week featured Mattagami First Nation Chief Jennifer Constant.

Wednesday’s event was the first time a First Nations chief has been asked to be the keynote speaker at a chamber luncheon and Constant said she was honoured to have been asked.

She said it was a chance to “speak on all these wonderful things that are happening in our community.”

“If there are any perspectives about First Nations that I’m able to give them -- a really great insight into the high calibre of the nation that we are, and that that fosters more opportunities and partnerships with people in the region.”

Constant spoke about some of the food sovereignty projects underway in her community, including the construction of a greenhouse that will produce vegetables for members and possibly lead to nation-to-nation transactions.

Sustainable development

She also shared details about the Mattagami Aki Limited Partnership that works to drive sustainable development for the community by building partnerships.

“Partnerships to us are people that we know are respectful, that at the end of the day, it is mutually beneficial,” Constant said.

“We do negotiate. We do make agreements with whoever our partner is. So it’s not a one-sided approach of us saying this is what is going to be included. Certainly, we do have a standard and a threshold that we want to maintain and keep. But each partner has different priorities, as well, and we want to be able to also factor that in.”

Dumas is a local company that specializes in mine construction. Steve Black is the director of business development and said Dumas has enjoyed a relationship that has developed with Mattagami First Nation in the last couple of years.

“Essentially, we bring them in during the proposal process and discuss what aspects we can pursue and how we can approach it together as a partner,” Black said.

“Really, it’s about bringing them into the projects and the opportunities up front and discussing how we can maximize benefit to both parties.”

Black said Dumas now also has a limited partner company called Aki Dumas. When it bids for jobs within Mattagami First Nation Territory, it will do so under the Aki Dumas model.