MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR

Evergreen Brick Works Toronto, ON

Photo © Tom Arban

ASK A SPECIALIST

Engineering Exclusive is a WSP publication and will be published three times a year

Managing cultural resources in Northern Ontario is a complex undertaking, involving contributions from First Nation communities, provincial government agencies and professionally trained archaeologists. The first job of an archaeologist is to determine if an area has the potential to have “cultural resources” that will tell us something about the people who once lived there or travelled in the area.

Continued on back page

ENGINEERING EXCLUSIVE NORTHERN FOCUS

Welcome to the first edition of Engineering Exclusive, a newsletter created by WSP to share information about developments in communities throughout our region. Our vision is to both share the news and celebrate the successes being achieved and help in uniting our great region and its people.

In this edition, we will be showcasing some exciting projects currently underway, including North Caribou Lake First Nation’s All Season Road from Windigo Lake to the remote community, North Caribou Lake First Nation’s Narrows

Bridge, and the Webequie First Nation Airport and Commercial Sites Redevelopment study progress and the grand opening of the Red Rock Indian Band Business Centre.

In each edition we have an ongoing feature called “Ask a Specialist”, with information on a variety topics about all aspects of what it takes to make a project happen from community engagement, through the environmental process to design and construction.

Other news includes:> WSP sponsoring the Northern Ontario First Nation Environmental Conference

in Thunder Bay September 28 to October 1> Our partner firm Architecture 49 is growing, and we will be introducing you

to some new Thunder Bay staff

Future editions will include articles on all of the Community’s projects that WSP is providing services for in our region. We look forward to providing you with opportunities to explain the impact these projects will have in terms of social, health and economic development. 1269 Premier Way, Thunder Bay, Ontario, P7B 0A3

t: 807-625-6700 e: firstnations@wspgroup.com

DAVID R. KNUTSON, P. ENG> Senior Engineering Manager

GRAND OPENING!

July 24, 2015 marked a very special day in the Red Rock Indian Band community on the shores of Lake Helen, with the Grand Opening of the community’s new 13,200 square foot two storey Business Centre. The opening marked the culmination of a process that started in 2006, with a vision of providing a Centre for the Band Administration, community social services, leasable spaces for small entrepreneurial start-ups, and existing business from both on and off reserve.

Chief Sault said the building, designed by A-49/WSP and erected by Tom Jones Corporation acting as General Contractor, completes a major phase in the ongoing growth of infrastructure within the community. It will be a better environment for day-to-day band administration as the staff can easily collaborate, since this building replaces a very old band office and various annex buildings. It will bring economic benefit through the various businesses that will now lease space.

J.R. Williamson, Project Manager for Tom Jones Corp, indicated that the project construction had gone extremely well. The community hired

one of their own, Sean Ruth, to provide a daily communication conduit to the Owners, as represented by The Chief and Council.

Dilico expressed pleasure at the layout, as all offices saw natural light, as well as a very bright and spacious reception area that will greet their clients.

The A-49/WSP teams, who are working with a number of communities on similar projects, congratulate Red Rock Indian Band in the successful completion of their new facility.

IN THE NEWS

COMMUNITY CORNER

PROJECT TALKWebequie First Nation’s Airport and Commercial Sites Redevelopment StudyWSP’s aviation team, lead by Bojan Drakul and Tony Afonso, are ready to lead their team into Phase Two as they have now completed Phase One of the Webequie First Nation’s Airport and Commercial Sites Redevelopment Study. Phase One had the team spend time in the community, capturing field data and leading several community engagement sessions determining the development direction for the airport and its immediate land base.

Phase Two will have the team provide a more detailed review of the selected option for development.

CONFERENCESWSP is participating as the Rushing Waterfall sponsor of the NOFNEC (Northern Ontario First Nation Environmental Conference) in Thunder Bay, September 29 to October 1, 2015. We’ll see you there!

NEW HIRESEladia Smoke, Architect Eladia grew up in the boreal forest near her home community of Obishikokaang (Lac Seul First Nation). She is the first female First Nations architect in Manitoba and Ontario, and the second in Canada. It’s been her honor to bring the traditions, heritage and cultures of indigenous people to a variety of successful projects.

Moumee Habib, M.Arch.Moumee is an Intern Architect with the Ontario Association of Architects. She has grown up in Northern Ontario and is committed to bettering the lives of people through sustainable design and healthier buildings.

Juliet Johnson, Arch. Tech. Dipl.Juliet has been involved from design development through to the construction. She has 21 years of experience in Thunder Bay and its Northern region.

North Caribou Lake First Nation hired WSP to start the project in December 2013, with the first agreement for the study and design of a new bridge over the Narrows located at Weagamow Lake, spanning 350 feet (106.6m). The bridge will be modular type with an almost 14ft wide lane serving single lane vehicle traffic and pedestrian traffic. The bridge will have two piers into the water channel and will allow for easy local boat traffic beneath the bridge.

In November 2014, North Caribou Lake First Nation embarked on the road design project with WSP as their engineering consultant. Building on the already captured field data from the bridge project, WSP started this phase of work with an early winter full road

survey, starting at the Windigo Lake turnoff (from highway 801 north of Pickle Lake) to the south end of the Narrows Bridge. The total road length connecting the community will be 45km. The project scope will include the development of aggregate pits along the roadway, this will give the community a long term economic opportunity to the operation and maintenance of the gravel road, as the aggregate will not only be used for the construction of the road, but also for yearly maintenance or as required for the upkeep and safe travel of its users.

The projects are currently under review by regulatory agencies, with approvals for tendering and construction in the foreseeable future.

UPCOMING COMMUNITY EVENTSNATIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE

Cando Annual National Conference & AGM “Investing in Aboriginal Economic Development”

October 26—29, 2015 Eaton Chelsea Hotel in Toronto, Ontario

“Cando (Council for the Advancement of Native Development Officers) is a federally registered, non-profit society that is Aboriginal controlled, community based, and membership driven.”

“….it is the only national organization that focuses on education and professional development for EDOs working in Aboriginal communities or organizations.”

CANADIAN ABORIGINAL MINERAL ASSOCIATION 23rd ANNUAL CONFERENCE

November 22—November 24, 2015 Westin Bayshore Hotel in Vancouver, British Columbia.

“… Legal Expert Armchair Panel comprised of judges will focus on Emerging Trends in the Legal Landscape in Canada with a focus as to how they relate to Aboriginal People’s and Resource Development…”

“….. 2015 workshop Circles will focus on Relationships, the Environment and Making Money out of Environmental Protection….”

NORTHERN ONTARIO FIRST NATIONS ENVIRONMENT CONFERENCE (NOFNEC)

September 29—October 1, 2015 (Tradeshow September 30) Nor’Wester Hotel & Conference Centre in Thunder Bay, Ontario

“….. the cornerstone venue for anyone interested in discovering the balance between economic and resource development and protecting First Nations communities, people, lands, and lifestyles.”

www.nofnec.ca

Photo credit or description

WSP CONNECTS THE REMOTE NORTHNorth Caribou Lake First Nation takes first steps in connecting to Northern Ontario’s road systems.

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Engineering Exclusive / WSP

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PROJECTS IN YOUR COMMUNITY

CONTACT

ENGINEERING A WORLD OF POSSIBILITIES

1269 Premier Way, Thunder Bay, Ontario, P7B 0A3t: 807-625-6700 e: firstnations@wspgroup.com

DAVID R. KNUTSON, P. ENG> Senior Engineering Manager

DOUGLAS YAHN, M.E.S. > Social Sciences Lead > Environmental Lead > Senior Project Manager

TONY AFONSO > Manager, First Nations /

Business Development> Senior Project Manager

North Caribou First Nation

Webequie First Nation

Red Rock First Nation

ARCHAEOLOGY: A FOUR STAGE APPROACH Archaeology has a four stage approach. We are focusing on Stage 1 in this issue and will provide more information about the other stages in upcoming issues of “Engineering Exclusive.”

STA G E 1 / BACKGROUND INFORMATION GATHERING Property Inspection

STA G E 2 / PROPERTY ASSESSMENT AND SURVEY

STAGE 3 / SITE-SPECIFIC ASSESSMENT AND EXCAVATION

STA G E 4 / MITIGATION OF IMPACTS > Avoidance or Excavation? > What are the impacts and benefits?

K E Y D O C U M E N TS> Ontario Heritage Act > Standards and Guidelines

for Consultant Archaeologists

CONTRIBUTORS

To structure their investigations, the Province of Ontario ensures that the archaeologist follows specific standards and guidelines. The archaeologist will follow a four stage approach when reviewing an area (see sidebar, this page). The first task is to determine if an area has “archaeological potential”. This is done by performing background research and conducting a property inspection.

The archaeologist will research both the area and the property and will look at the geography, history, previous archaeological fieldwork and current land condition. The archaeologist will also look at the Ontario Archaeological Sites Database (OASDB) to see if any other archaeological work has been done in the area. It is important to get as much information as possible before visiting the property. Elders and community members can provide valuable information during this stage.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE THINGS THE ARCHAEOLOGIST MIGHT LOOK FOR TO DETERMINE ARCHAEOLOGICAL POTENTIAL? > Water sources on or near the area that might

once have been used for travel, such as lakes, rivers, etc.

> Other clues that might indicate that someone used the land

> High-land (e.g. eskers, drumlins, large knolls, plateau)

> Pockets of well-drained sandy soil, especially near areas of heavy soil or rocky ground

> Distinctive land formations that might have been special or spiritual places, such as waterfalls, rock outcrops, caverns, mounds, and promontories and their bases

> Resource areas, including food or medicinal plants or scarce raw materials (e.g. quartz, copper, ochre or outcrops of chert)

> Areas of Euro-Canadian impact: structures, roads/railways, areas of interest to local historians

> Early historical transportation routes (e.g. trails, passes, portage routes)

> Property that local historians or informants have identified with possible archaeological sites, historic events, activities, or occupations

A Stage 2 assessment is required when the consultant archaeologist identifies areas of archaeological potential.

In the next issue, we will explain what is required once features of archeological potential are determined to exist on a property.

Continued from front page “Ask a Specialist”

ARCHAEOLOGY IN NORTHERN ONTARIO