b'REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENTcorner of Robert Bourassa and Ottawataking rivers to New York State and intoCardinal has tremendous respect for Street and saw the vision of the canoeNew York City on the Hudson River. Theywhat the Cree Nation is looking to at the corner.amassed hundreds of supporters alongachieve with its condominium develop-the way and arrived on Earth Day. ment. Theyre taking the opportunity of Now that he had his key component,coming from the North to the southern Cardinal came up with a first draft ofNew York said they were not going topart of Quebec to be able to develop the concept. Eventually, the design firmdisenfranchise these people from theirthemselves economically through proj-Lemay would be brought into the file,land and tore up the Bourassa agree- ects and support their people, he and Cardinal and Jean-Francois Gagnonment, Cardinal says. They are strongsays. A lot of their people are going of Lemay would go through many itera- to university and want to be a positive tions before arriving at the design that ispeople defending their land, their peopleinfluence. They wanted to come back on now known as Odea Montral. and their future, so I admire them for that.land they own and build a development So when I stood on Robert Bourassathat would be suitable to them and the Cardinal recalled visiting the site andBoulevard,this[building]waslikeCity of Montral. I saw, on the corner havingaflashbackto1990,whentheir canoe. that turns to Robert Bourassa Boulevard, members of the James Bay Cree Nationthe opportunity to put their symbol of protested the proposed flooding of thou- The proposed design that was subse- a canoe on the building. To be able to sands of square miles of Cree Nationquently developed was 25 storeys tall,have a building that follows their values land. Hydro-Qubec wanted to generatewith a sculpted 20-storey canoe shapein terms of energy, in terms of having a electricity to sell to New York State. Theon the corner of the buildings south- positive influence on the area, and in late Eddie Weetaltuk created a hybridfacing faade. It was powerful whenterms of its design.between a canoe and a kayak as a symbolwe first saw the concept. We immedi-of solidarity between the Inuit and Cree.ately thought this was unique and wouldJean-Franois Gagnon, senior partner The Odeyak was paddled by members ofbecome an iconic part of the city ofand design principal for Lemay, says the Cree Nation. They began from theirthe project was really inspirational, and home in Whapmagoostui/KuujuaraapikMontral, says Neeposh. For one thing,the cooperation he had with Douglas and travelled down to Ottawa, crossingit resembled what we discussed in ourCardinal was exciting. It was a project multiple rivers and portaging the Odeyakbrainstorming sessions. And within ourwhere we learned to listen to each to build support for their cause. Afterjoint working committee with Cogir, weother, Gagnon says. Its really a friend-pausing in Ottawa, they travelled south,came up with the name Odea. ship that we developed in the process. A one-stop shop solution providerWith a vast and diverse group of businesses providing support to the oil sands, we specialize in services such as Cranes, Security, TreeClearing,InfrastructureServices,Materials,PPESupply, Chemicals, Fuel and Lube, Road Maintenance and Snow Removal, Site Amenities and more. As a social enterprise group of companies, profits generated are reinvested back into the Fort McKay Mtis Nation.By investing in our business, you are investing in our community.www.mckaymtisgroup.com @mckaymtisgroup30A CCAB PUBLICATION2022'