Skip to content Ontario.ca Français

For Immediate Release
November 23, 2000

News Release

First Ontario Aboriginal Partnerships Recognition Award Winners Announced

TORONTO – Ontario's Attorney General and Minister Responsible for Native Affairs, Jim Flaherty, announced today that the partnership among the Waabigon Saaga'igan Anishinaabeg First Nation and forestry companies Bowater Forest Products Division, Thunder Bay Woodlands Operations and Weyerhaeuser Company Ltd. (Dryden) is the winner of the first annual Ontario Aboriginal Partnerships Recognition Award.

This collaboration has resulted in the formation and successful operation of the Wabigoon Anishnaabe Gitigewin Inc. Tree Nursery, a 94,000-square-foot facility. Located on-reserve near Dryden, the nursery is owned and operated by the Waabigon Saaga'igan Anishinaabeg First Nation and currently employs eight full-time staff and thirty to forty seasonal workers.

"This venture illustrates that partnerships between Aboriginal communities and the corporate sector are an excellent way of providing business opportunities, expertise, financing, education and training to the growing Aboriginal workforce," commented Minister Flaherty. "In addition, corporate partnerships support Aboriginal self-reliance, entrepreneurship, and the creation of long-term employment as well as provide new business opportunities for the private sector."

"This year's recipients are tremendous examples of companies working together to bolster Aboriginal employment and job training," said John Kim Bell, Founder and President, National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation. "Recognizing successful business partnerships is an effective means of encouraging further joint ventures," he added.

The Ontario Aboriginal Partnership Recognition Award was established by the Harris government with assistance from the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation. It celebrates a successful Ontario based business partnership between an Aboriginal business, community, or organization and either a non-Aboriginal or Aboriginal business, community, or organization.

Peggy Huigenbos
Ministry of the Attorney General and Minister
Responsible for Native Affairs
Minister's Office
416-326-4440

Rosemary Sampson
Manager Communications
Ontario Native Affairs Secretariat
416-326-4780

Background Information: The Ontario Aboriginal Partnerships Recognition Award