b'INDUSTRY PARTNERSHIPS INDUSTRY PARTNERSHIPSWe go above and beyond, and sometimes it gets very emotional for us as general contractors because its not just about bringing someone on site for work. Very often its about bringing our people on jobs so they can feed their families, so they can show their skillsets as well, so they can bring pride back to themselves and to their communities and to our NationWanda Thusky, Decontie ConstructionAwards. Decontie was honoured for its commitment to the rehabilitation of Indigenous lands, particularly the reme-diation of more than 100,000 tonnes of contaminated soil for a 34-acre, $1.2-billion Zibi redevelopment of a residential, retail and commercial property around Chaudire Falls on the Ottawa River. SMALLER BANDS On the other side of the country, in Port Coquitlam, B.C., resides another First Nation community looking to build a bright future with the help of the construc-tion environmental services sector: the Kwikwetlem First Nation (KFN). As part of the bands efforts, it formed KFN Enterprises LP (KFNE), which is owned 100 per cent by the Kwikwetlem First Nation and conducts project manage-ment, site land development and civil works and planning.With about 115 members, KFN is fairly small, so its ability to take on all aspects of more complicated construction proj-ects is extremely limited without the assis-tance of industry partnerships. Milestone Environmental Contracting was able to offer its environmental contracting expertise to assist KFNE in obtaining new construction contracts. They provide us with a certain capacity under the joint venture that the Nation itself would otherwise not have, explains Archie Alafriz, former CEO of KFNE. We dont have engineers, we dont have envi-ronmental remediation experts, we have no geotech of our own and, particularly, civil engineering. We have construction equipment and we have some construc-tion workers. What Milestone affords us is a way to be able to advance on these bids. Without them, the Nation just wouldnt have the capacity to fulfill those orders. Aboriginal BUSINESS REPORT27'