I am a descendant of Kelly Lake.

Like many of our people we were raised to live off the land, learning traditional ways, respecting the land and others in our community. As a youth Elders were very important to our way of life, and teachings. There were many occasions where our family would pack up and spend the summers out hunting, drying meat, making moose hides, picking berries with others from our community, preparing for the winter months. As a kid these are some of my fondest memories. We all worked together, shared what we had, we ate, visited, laughed, cried, slept together.

Like many others in Kelly Lake, I had to leave our community to further my education and seek different employment opportunities. This journey kept me away from our community for many years.

As I have returned to Kelly Lake, I find we are living in exciting times, it has been a while since I have witnessed the community working together with renewed excitement. For this reason, I have decided to run for counsel working with our leadership at any capacity I can offer.

I have had the opportunity to work in the Oil and gas/ logging/road building/ lease building industry. Starting as a Labour, then equipment operator, supervisor, manager, and now a pipeline consultant. As I advanced my career, I had the opportunity to start several small businesses, first aid ambulances, Writing and creating company safety manuals, providing security, and cleaning businesses.

I have been a Pipeline consultant for the past 23 years, and with this knowledge, I have had the opportunity to deal with the First Nation community’s, Oil and Gas Companies, Contractors, levels of governments and employees. I have had the chance to negotiate with several different factions of the industries, resolving and coming to some kind of resolution that was mutually beneficial to all parties involved. I have been in management positions for approximately 20 years which include several different businesses. My management experience includes bidding on contracts, working and dealing with any governmental concerns or requirements, honouring contractual requirements. Hiring, organizing work crews, scheduling, payroll, bringing in required equipment, ordering materials, managing sub-contractors as needed, ensuring safety standards are in compliance and equipment maintenance and checklist are always completed. I am proactive by always scouting ahead to ensure that the work and crews run smoothly by minimizing any hazards and unforeseen circumstances. This helps with a good working atmosphere and keeps work delays at a minimal.

For these reasons I feel that I would be an asset to working with our current leadership, to assist in any way that would benefit our community.