b'TRANSMISSION PROJECTparticipate in the project. This includes an all-woman line crew made up of 25 women from North Caribou Lake, Pikangikum and Bearskin Lake First Nations. They completed the line crew ground support program with Opiikapawiin, an employ-ment services company that offers half a dozen training programs for community members who wish to work on the project. These skills can continue to be relevant long after the project is completed, setting up community members for meaningful employment for years to come.The legacy that the Wataynikaneyap Project will leave behind will be felt for decades, and possibly centuries, to come. The project showcases the importance of reliable energy in solving the challenges faced by Northern First Nations commu-nities in Canada today. It also illuminates how, through meaningful partnership and ownership, First Nations can successfully spearhead and complete massive infra- Exceptional people,structure initiatives. Canada has to realize that when it comes to this project, it iscreating bioproductsprecedent-setting, Kenequanash says. According to Lavoie, the project showsfor a more sustainable worldcorporate Canada that it needs to accli-matize to a better, more equitable way of doing business with First Nations, primarily by having them take the drivers seat. Be prepared to think about business in a newinfo.mpc@mercerint.com paradigm, stresses Lavoie.780-624-7000The project has already garnered muchwww.mercerint.comnational attention as a role model for other Indigenous groups looking to embark on their own sizable energy initia-tives. According to Guy Lonechild, presi-dent and CEO of the First Nations Power Authority, We think power can be [the] launching pad for levelling the playing field for Indigenous communities. Watay Power is proving that it can be done. Wataynikaneyap means The Line that Brings Light in Anishinaabemowin, but6800 MW OF INSTALLED CAPACITY the transmission line will also bring a moreTHAT POWERS LOCAL COMMUNITIESprosperous future for 24 First Nations communities in the vast landscape of#1 in Canada in renewable Northern Ontario. The world that Margaretenergy constructionKenequanash and Wataynikaneyap Power envision, and are now busy creating, is one that both First Nations and the rest of Canada can take hope in. How we protect our future generations is so impor-tant, says Kenequanash. We all should become visionaries [and] think about our grandchildren, great-grandchildren, andboreaconstruction.comthose yet to come.Aboriginal BUSINESS REPORT83'