The sounds of ceremony and celebration filled the air as shovels hit soil for the first time on a long-awaited project.
Anishinaabe Aki will be built this year in a combination of a PetroCan gas station and a Burger King franchise.
Chief Derek Nepinak of the Minegoziibe Anishinabe (PineCreek First Nation) was proud to see the work begin to pay off.
"I think one of the biggest hurdles was getting through the Addition To Reserves process. That meant extracting the land out of the city's jurisdiction, and having the land in our own jurisdiction so we could plan out on our own terms where and when we saw fit to enter into the economic venture. We decided upon Petro-Canada with a Burger King franchise."
Chief Wayne Desjarlais of Gaa-gwekwekojiwang (Ebb & Flow First Nation) was also pleased to see the progress, complimenting the community collaboration that made this possible.
"We had really good communication between both First Nations and it's really important moving on forward that we continue doing the same thing. Hopefully, we can have more ventures in the long run within the next few years. It's very important that communities also continue working together."
This work follows over a decade of work between these First Nations and the City of Dauphin.
Chief Nepinak also noted that this is just another step forward in a long line of projects.
"It is just the first of many developments we've been working on in the project area, including new commercial space, and even residential development we plan on doing in the back 80 acres. We're going to do that collectively. We've got a strong corporate governance structure that we identified to create equality of decision-making as partners."
This development has been projected to be completed by the fall, and Chief Desjarlais is excited to have everyone come by once it's done.
"I'd just like to welcome everyone to our upcoming gas station and Burger King. You're more than welcome to come after it's finished. I know we're anxious to do as we can right away, but we've got to wait for the service roads to be finished. We're working closely with the City of Dauphin."
Many people across Dauphin and the Parkland area are sure to share in this excitement, as projects like this continue to grow our economy.
