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Welcome Aboard!
By Ron Hell, Director Marketing & Revenue Management
Hi, I’m Ron Hell and I am an owner of Perimeter Aviation! When I joined Bearskin Airlines 27 years ago, little did I know that one day I would become an owner. I started my journey as Director of Marketing and Sales, and I have seen our airline evolve considerably over my time here. Of significance was the sale of Bearskin Airlines to publicly traded Exchange Income Corporation (TSX: EIF) in 2011 and the subsequent merger of our airline with Winnipeg based Perimeter Aviation in 2017/18. This set the stage for my current role as Director of Marketing and Revenue Management for the combined airline. Based in Thunder Bay, I lead and support a team whose role is to achieve and exceed the company’s sales/ revenue objectives within existing and new markets. One of the elements of our Marketing Strategy is this magazine and our communication with our customers via the editorial content. The focus of our editorial content has traditionally been the people, places and events, within the markets we serve, educating our readers about the cities and communities served, while also promoting tourism and economic development. We’ve taken a slight twist starting with this and future issues as we begin to introduce you to some of the many owners of our airline. In each issue we will introduce you
to a handful of our team members who perform various roles with Perimeter Aviation or our Bearskin Airlines brand operating as a division of Perimeter. You’ll meet seasoned workers as well as newer hires and our common bond will be the fact, we are all owners of our airline! In this issue, you will meet Randy Nikkel who has been employed with Perimeter Aviation in Winnipeg for 33 years and is our Turbine Shop Manager. You’ll also meet Brian Alguire who works on the ramp for our Bearskin Airlines brand in Thunder Bay. Linda Lesnick resides in Red Lake and just recently accepted an enhanced role as our Eastern Regional Manager and Brad McLean is a Thompson, Manitoba based pilot with 11,000 flight hours to his credit. Brad has invested in our airline each year since 2008 when Exchange Income Corporation made our current share purchase program available to all employees. We believe that employee investment in our company ultimately reflects on the service we deliver, and we invite you to experience the testimony of that investment. On behalf of all the employees of Perimeter Aviation and Bearskin Airlines, Welcome Aboard! For more information on Exchange Income Corporation, please visit www.ExchangeIncomeCorp.ca. Additional information relating to the Corporation, including all public filings, is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
4 Connecting Horizons Magazine
YXL 1-6pg Ad Bear Country FINAL.pdf
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SUMMER 2019 Nature, Culture and Business Thriving in Thompson Page 7 Bunibonibee Cree Nation (Oxford House) 11 Location, Location, Location: The Sault’s Competitive Advantage 13 What’s Happening This Summer in Thunder Bay 17 Summer in Fort Frances 25 Thunder Bay Youth Embrace the Spirit 29 North Caribou Lake First Nation Moving Forward 33 Family Trains on Home Hemodialysis to Get Back Home 35 PROFILES Testmark Laboratories 21
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on the cover Sunrise at the head of the Sleeping Giant. Courtesy of Bear Trak Outfitters.
Publisher + managing Editor Ron Hell Editor Patti Gresham
Lake of the Woods Guided Fishing Experience
Advertising Sales Kim Magnusson Writing credits Elle Andra-Warner, Chris Laws, Lorna Olson, Marc Capancioni Photography Credits Kacper Antoszewski, Tim Irish, Jess Vamplew, Elle Andra-Warner Design + Production Good Design Lithography Premier Printing Publications Mail Agreement No. 40013935 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Connecting Horizons Magazine 216 Round Boulevard, Thunder Bay, Ontario P7E 3N9 Phone (807) 474-2636 Fax (807) 474-2658
connecting horizons is published by Perimeter Aviation LP (d.b.a. Perimeter Aviation and d.b.a. Bearskin Airlines) ISSN 2562-8695 Formerly BEAR COUNTRY MAGAZINE Established 1994
Call 1-807-407-FISH (3474)
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CONGRATULATIONS • It’s for THREE months! • “On Board” over 750 flights weekly in Ontario and Manitoba • “Online” at perimeter.ca and bearskinairlines.com • Supplementary circulation at our many airport counters and via Canada Post Contact Kim Magnusson at (204) 793-3056 or email
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MAJOR CHARLES MORGAN KIVINEN MEGAN MEEKIS NATALIE MONTANARO LISA STINSON SHELLY WERNER WHO BOOKED ONLINE AND WON A FLIGHT FOR 2 ANYWHERE WE FLY!
Advertising designed by Connecting Horizons Magazine is strictly for use in Connecting Horizons Mag dgazine by Connecting Horizons Magazine is strictly for usematerial in Connecting Horizons Magazine remaintotheir r property until an agreed production charge has and beenwill invoiced the property client. until an agreed production charge has been invoiced to the client.
6 Connecting Horizons Magazine
Nature, Culture and Business Thriving in Thompson “Home of the Indigenous people,” Thompson is one of Manitoba’s newest cities. Incorporated in 1970, this thriving municipality will celebrate its 50th Anniversary next year. Local population is 13,678 but Thompson serves more than 51,000 residents of remote, northern communities. These people rely on air travel, making Thompson’s airport extremely important. On May 23, the federal government announced $28 million to fund a new airport, taxiways, and a water treatment plant. This announcement was made at Thompson’s current airport, which Thompson Regional Airport Authority (TRAA) says is crumbling due to the discontinuous permafrost beneath its foundation.
Spirit Way is a 2 kilometre pathway for walking and biking featuring a restored Norseman floatplane and 34 wolf statues.
“Thompson Regional Airport Authority has taken steps to assess its airport area and determine what needs to be done to strengthen its future,” said Saint Boniface-Saint Vital MP Dan Vandal, who made the announcement. “With today’s funding, we are providing the TRAA with the financial support needed to carry out these vital improvements.” Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak representative Hilda Anderson-Pyrz noted that the airport is a lifeline to remote communities. “Many are isolated and require air transportation in and out of the community. If we don’t have the infrastructure, it’ll be difficult for us to access food security, economic opportunities, and – most importantly – medical care.” TRAA CEO Curtis Ross has worked on improving the airport since he was hired 15 years ago. Besides spending $70 million on this new terminal,
By Lorna Olson
Ross said $35 million has already been invested to keep the current facility operational, which involved extending the runway, repairing the apron, and replacing failing electrical systems. “These are no small feats,” he said. “I have a tremendous team behind me. We want to send a message that we are very much alive and open for business.” A ground-breaking ceremony was held near the site of the TRAA’s new water treatment plant, which is needed by the airport in order to function. Ross said work on the plant has already been tendered and construction will begin in June. The project should be completed by the end of 2022. The new terminal will be roughly 42,240 square feet in area and will put a bigger emphasis on passenger amenities like concession areas, improved baggage handling, and ample queuing space for security screenings.
Connecting Horizons Magazine 7
Keith MacDonald, Vice-President of the Chamber of Commerce commented on other new projects. “Wal-Mart announced in May that it will be erecting a supercentre in the City Centre Mall.” Supercentres range from 67,000 to 340,000 square feet (6,200 to 31,600 square metres), include a full-service supermarket, and can feature a garden centre, pet shop, portrait studio, and much more.
Connecting Horizons In-Flight Magazine Advertising Proof SUM-19-003
“Also, The Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries’ new, 10,000-square-feet store will open in July,” he noted. As Executive Director of the Thompson Hotel Association, MacDonald spoke of the many attractions the city and area offer.
The Sturgeon Habitat Building at the Boreal Discovery Centre. Sturgeon are the largest freshwater fish in Manitoba. Bottom right: The 13-feet tall King Miner Statue is a concrete monument to Thompson’s mining industry.
i am an oWner! hi, i’m brad mclean and i am an owner of Perimeter aviation. Based in Thompson, Manitoba, I have been employed with Perimeter for 15 years and have more than 11,000 hours flying time. I have invested in our company each year since 2008 when Exchange Income Corporation made our current share purchase program available to all employees. I’m a strong believer that employees having ownership in the company they work for, keeps us motivated.
“Welcome aboard, sit back, relax and enjoy your flight!”
Brad mclean Pilot
8 Connecting Horizons Magazine
Being invested in the company encourages me to go the extra mile for our customers. I’m always looking for ways that we can improve our service, which I know will enable our company to continue its long term success and provide my family with financial gains long term.
The Millennium Trail is a 15-kilometre (9-mile) loop around the city, popular for walking, hiking and mountain biking through pristine boreal forest. Along the way, you’ll see the 13-feet tall King Miner Statue, a concrete monument to Thompson’s mining industry. Further along, there’s the Heritage North Museum, featuring mining, First Nations and fur trade artifacts, as well as fossils and mounted animals native to the area. The museum consists of two log buildings and includes a visitor information booth. Through July and August, it’s open Monday to Friday from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. Honouring its location on Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation territory, the Boreal Discovery Centre uses education and conservation to respect nature. Its summer Discovery Camps have been expanded this year. Penny Byer says: “These week-long day camps will run throughout July and August. The camps include daily excursions into the forest and along paths so the participants can learn about plants, animal signs, etc. Each week a Cree elder spends time teaching cultural traditions and language. Bear safety, campfire safety, knot tying, building lean-to’s, dip netting in the marsh are among the many activities’ kids can learn and enjoy.
“We are installing new accessibility ramps, and painting the envelope of the Sturgeon Habitat Building,” Byer adds. Housed in a large aquarium are Lake Sturgeon, descendents of a prehistoric fish that resemble fossils from 100 million years ago, when dinosaurs roamed the earth. They have armour of bony plates, a skeleton made of cartilage, and a shark-like tail. Sturgeon are the largest freshwater fish in Manitoba. They can reach 2.5 metres (97 inches or over 8 feet) and weigh 140 kilograms (310 pounds). The average lifespan is 58-80 years, but they can live to be more than 150 years old. Sturgeon are culturally important to Indigenous peoples who call them “the buffalo of the water.” In the aquarium, sturgeon like to swim through the filter’s air bubbles and they have playful behaviors. They do not swim away from visitors. Spirit Way, a 2-kilometre walking and biking pathway takes you past 16 remarkable places of interest including the start of Canada’s largest rockface sculpture, featuring three wolves; and 34 concrete statues of wolves, identical in shape but individually painted by regional artists. Further along, you’ll find a tribute to northern aviation and its pilots and mechanics – a restored Norseman floatplane that crashed in 1969 near
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Connecting Horizons Magazine 9
Garden Hill, Manitoba. Fully restored, the plane sits atop a 14-foot pedestal in Thompson Lions Club Park.
Falls, Manitoba’s highest cascade. It’s a difficult challenge but the views are spectacular!
At Pisew Falls Provincial Park, 45 minutes south of Thompson, you can walk a half-kilometre trail to the second-highest waterfall in Manitoba where the Grass River drops 13 metres; there’s a suspension bridge spanning the lower falls which is the start of 7-mile (11 kilometre) very rugged trail taking you to Kwasitchewan
September’s big event will be Mudfest, a mud bog competition where off-road vehicles race through a thick, artificial bog. On September 1st, it’s expected that trucks and ATV’s from all over Manitoba will compete in this down-and-dirty battle.
10 Connecting Horizons Magazine
Left: Driving through thick artificial bog at the annual Mud Bog competition. Right: Ospwagan Lake at Sunset. Photo credits: Kacper Antoszewski.
Bunibonibee Cree Nation (Oxford House) On Northern Manitoba’s Oxford Lake By Elle Andra-Warner
In northern Manitoba on the northeast shore of the beautiful Oxford Lake at the mouth of Hayes River is Bunibonibee Cree Nation (formerly known as the Oxford House First Nation) and its main community of Oxford House. Oxford House was established 163 years ago in 1798 and until 1941, was a supply depot. It then became a trading post for the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) on the fur-trade route between York Factory on Hudson Bay and Norway House north of Lake Winnipeg. At the height of the fur-trade, the Hayes River – which in 2006 was designated a Canadian Heritage River – was a busy water highway with canoes and flat-bottomed York boats travelling up and down the river. People from nearby areas moved to the trading site and formed the community known as Oxford House. Today, Oxford House which is located about 186 km (116 miles) southeast of Thompson and 574 km (357 miles) northeast of Winnipeg, is accessible all-year by air with daily passenger flights to its 3,800-footrunway of crushed rock west of the community, and by seasonal road
in winter. Registered population in 2016 was 1,950, an increase of 4.6% from 2011, with most residents Woodland Cree, specifically Rocky Cree ( ). Bunibonibee Cree Nation is governed by a council elected under the Indian Act Electoral System, consisting of a Chief and six Councillors for two-year terms. The band council is a member of Keewatin Tribal Council; Manitoba Keewatinowki Okimakanak Inc.; Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs; and, Assembly of First Nations. It is a signatory to the 1909 Treaty 5 Adhesion. The community has been moving forward in the 21st century. In 2015, a fire hall was built, the University College of the North Centre opened, and outdoor rinks were built at each end of the community. In 2017, a new addition was built to the Northern Store which is owned and managed by local staff. There is also a RCMP detachment stationed at Oxford Lake. In November 2018, Bunibonibee Cree Nation received good news about its elementary school which was built in 1974-1975. Not only will
major renovations to its existing school (Kindergarten to Grade 6) be funded, but the community is one of four in Northern Manitoba to have a new school constructed for Grades 7 through 12, in partnership with Indigenous Services Canada. According to a news release from Indigenous Services Canada, a contract of $190 million for these projects was signed by the chiefs of each First Nation and Penn-Co Construction Canada Ltd. In addition to that amount, Indigenous Services Canada will be providing $58 million to support other expenses related to this project. Penn-Co will be the general project manager and will work with each First Nation to complete construction in their communities. The 51,000-square-foot new school at Oxford House will be constructed on a seven-hectare site located east of the community, about 200 meters southeast of the existing school. Construction is expected to be completed in 2020. “For our children this has been a long dream. Today we celebrate with them as their dream has now become true. For every young person there has to be a real way to enjoy their Connecting Horizons Magazine 11
i am an oWner! hi, i’m randy nikkel and i am an owner of Perimeter aviation. I have been employed with Perimeter Aviation for 33 years and currently I am the Turbine Shop Manager based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. My primary role as a manager in the turbine shop is to support my staff on the shop floor when they need something. My job is to support them in every aspect and this in turn allows us to get the product out to the aircraft when needed.
“Welcome aboard and thank you for your ongoing support!”
randy nikkel turbine shop manager
When I was offered the opportunity to purchase shares in EIC (Parent Company of Perimeter Aviation) six years ago I jumped at the chance because it allows me to be part of an organization that is focused on growth and that is important to me.
youth and having a nice school is a powerful way,” said Chief Timothy Muskego of Bunibonibee Cree Nation in the news release. While Bunibonibee Cree Nation may be a remote community geographically, it is part of the global community through things like videos on YouTube. One interesting community profile video included residents commenting about their community: “The environment is beautiful. We have 40 miles of lake, excellent for fishing in the summer and winter, plus great hunting. It’s a good community.” Also receiving positive national attention is a music video on YouTube “When the Dust Settles” made in 2016 by young artists from Oxford House, working with Montreal-based mobile production workshop N’we Jinan. In a CBC News Manitoba article, singer Caroline Weenusk said, “I really wanted to show what it’s like to live in a place like that, just so people can understand more the struggles that First Nations people go through.” Hip-hop artist Trenton “BoiDee” Robinson later said in an interview with Revolution Per Minute (RPM), that the video is about “our community and what it looks like. We talk about a lot of different things in that song.”
This group of youth from Oxford House tising material designed by Connecting Horizons Magazine is strictly for use in Connecting Horizons produced Magazine a rap song and video about and will remain their property until an agreed production charge has been invoiced to the client. the challenges of living in a remote northern community. (N’we Jinan)
12 Connecting Horizons Magazine
Advert
The International Bridge connecting Sault, Ontario with Sault, Michigan.
Location, Location, Location:
The Sault’s Competitive Advantage By Marc Capancioni
Every city has competitive advantages – assets and features that make it stand out as a good place to do business. For Sault Ste. Marie, a key advantage is its location at the heart of the Great Lakes, on the U.S. border and Interstate-75, and at the centre of the Trans-Canada Highway. A recent announcement highlights this fact. For the past few years, Noront Resources has been working to develop a $1-billion ferrochrome production facility in Northern Ontario. Once operational, the manufacturing complex is expected to employ between 300 and 500 people directly, along with
more than 1,000 indirectly through suppliers and other businesses. In May 2019, following a months-long community proposal and site selection process, the company announced that Sault Ste. Marie would be the host location. The decision was based on a number of key factors, with one of the most important being the city’s strategic location on the Great Lakes. “When reviewing and evaluating the proposals from four Northern Ontario communities, we found that the Sault offers us a lower operating cost,” said Alan Coutts, President and CEO of Noront Resources. “This tipped the balance in favour of Sault Ste. Marie.”
Set to be located on Algoma Steel property, the facility will process chrome ore from deposits in the Ring of Fire site located in the James Bay lowlands. Once converted into ferrochrome, the product will be sent south to be used in the American stainless steel industry. Being able to ship ferrochrome out – and raw products in – on the Great Lakes is a major advantage. Water is the cheapest form of transporting goods, and Sault Ste. Marie lies strategically between Lake Superior and Lake Huron. During the site selection process, Noront Resources was also impressed by the community’s skilled workforce Connecting Horizons Magazine 13
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