Shwe Miikaan Miller has landed a $43-million maintenance contract for Highways 69, 522, 529, and 529A.
MAGNETAWAN FIRST NATION - A newly announced $43-million highway maintenance contract in northeastern Ontario is expected to create 15 new jobs and long-term economic opportunities for three First Nation communities in the region.
The Ministry of Transportation (MTO) announced Aug. 20 it has awarded Shwe Miikaan Miller a seven-year contract for the year-round maintenance of Highways 69, 522, 529 and 529A in the Britt – Parry Sound area, south of Sudbury.
Launched a decade ago, the company is a partnership between Shawanaga First Nation, Magnetawan First Nation, Henvey Inlet First Nation, and Miller Paving. Shwe Miikaan, which is comprised of Shawanaga, Magnetawan and Henvey Inlet, owns 51 per cent of the company, while Miller Paving retains the remaining 49 per cent.
To date, Shwe Miikaan Miller has completed several highway, bridge, and infrastructure projects for the MTO. The new contract covers winter work, such as snow clearing, sanding, and ice control, and summer activities including shoulder repairs, culvert maintenance, vegetation control, asphalt repairs, and roadside safety maintenance.
First Nations representatives, politicians, and community members gathered on the territory of Magnetawan First Nation to celebrate the announcement, with drumming, speeches, and a community luncheon.
Magnetawan First Nation Chief William Lloyd Noganosh called it a “historic” day.
“Shwe Miikaan is a proven partnership, one built on 10 years of trust, collaboration, and successful delivery of MTO contracts,” Noganosh said in speaking to the crowd.
“It's a partnership that is creating benefits for our communities today.”
Since embarking on the partnership, the three First Nations have been able to build community capacity, with members getting access to training and skills development, and embarking on successful careers in construction.
On the Highway 529 resurfacing project, for example, up to 60 per cent of the workforce was made up of Indigenous workers, Noganosh said, a trend that’s expected to continue with the new Britt-area contract, Noganosh said.
“Through our organization, we will help maintain the highway, identify, and respond to changing conditions, and carry out the necessary maintenance work to support the safety of everyone travelling through,” he said.
Shawanaga Chief Adam Pawis lauded the various parties — provincial and federal governments, the three communities, and Miller Paving — for working together to get to this point.
Although it was often an “uphill battle,” the awarding of the Britt highway maintenance contract shows that hard work and persistence pay off, he said.
“We've done a great amount of work on a number of contracts. We had to prove ourselves as a company, and we did that,” Pawis said.
“And so we're happy today to be standing side by side with the province, and to be ready, able to look after those highways, to maintain them, and to ensure safe passage through our territories, and so that travellers from Toronto or from Sudbury or Sault Ste. Marie, or wherever they are, visitors to our country, they can get here."
Ryan Essex, president of The Miller Group, noted it’s “just the beginning.”
The vision for Shwe Miikaan is to continue training people, growing the company, and securing other maintenance contracts. It’s the company’s goal, he said, to have an impact not only on the present generation, but on future generations as well.
“As we look ahead, our commitment at Shwe Miikaan Miller remains clear: we're going to continue to focus on safety, operational excellence, environmental stewardship and creating a long-term value for the communities we live and work in,” Essex said.
“This project stands as a symbol of what partnerships can achieve when we never give up. It reflects a shared investment in the future in Northern Ontario and the people that call this region home.”
Timmins MPP George Pirie, the province’s minister of Economic Development and Growth, was on hand to announce some project funding.
Through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund, the province is providing $1.3 million toward the purchase of new vehicles for Shwe Miikan Miller’s maintenance fleet.
Malcolm Ruddy, manager of the Shwe Miikaan Miller partnership, said that will include five new plow trucks, as well as three brand-new pickup trucks, a loader, a backhoe, and a two-tonne truck with a dump box, which will enable the crew to patch holes.
The contract begins Sept. 1.
Echoing the words of earlier speakers, Ruddy said a key goal of the Shwe Miikaan Miller partnership is to build capacity and have a lasting legacy for the three First Nations.
“The four-lane [of Highway 69], when it comes, we're hoping to get part of that contract, and that'll be a massive contract,” Ruddy said.
“But the highway will only go through here once, so how we build these communities and build this company for a partnership with the communities is going to be the legacy.”
Revenues generated from projects like highway maintenance are reinvested into the communities in areas such as housing, he added. That creates opportunities for members living off-reserve to return and build their lives in their home communities.
“If we can offer them employment — not temporary employment but worthy, long-term employment like the CDCM (contractor-directed maintenance contract) — and we can provide some economic growth for the community, it turns into bringing people back to the community,” Ruddy said. “So that's the goal.”
