Quetico Centre project seeks momentum
BRYAN MEADOWS
01/31/2010
Behind-the-scenes work aimed at turning the former Quetico Centre into an Aboriginal training facility continues.
“We‘re moving along. It‘s slow going, but we are still out there beating the bushes” for project funding, said Missanabie Cree First Nation Chief Glenn Nolan in an interview.
Nolan is a member of an interim board of directors, consisting of representatives of mining, business and First Nation organizations, which has been struck to develop the Quetico Aboriginal Training Centre.
“We are in the process of going to government . . . to see where their program dollars can assist us.”
The board has also met with area post-secondary institutions to discuss some form of partnership – “so we don‘t have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to training,” Nolan said.
“We are looking at how we can proceed, and get some momentum going for the training centre.”
Nolan noted that “considerable effort” has been made by board member Bob Simpson to engage different organizations to provide some assistance, and/or to raise awareness of the plan.
“We‘ve also had considerable interest from the resource development sector, mostly the mining industry, to use the facility or build the training capacity for other partners.”
Companies such as Brett Resources Ltd., Noront Resources Ltd., and Goldcorp Inc.‘s Musslewhite Mine have expressed interest in the educational concept that would make the centre a new mining training facility for Aboriginal people, serving clients and students from across Canada.
The project would help native people become active participants in mineral exploration and mining development near their home communities. Training would help lower the unemployment rate and provide First Nation people with high-paying mineral exploration and hard-rock miner jobs.
Nolan said the board has signed a leasing agreement for the property with an option to purchase, and hopes to have the training centre up and running by this spring.
Besides a focus on mining and mineral exploration, the centre is also expected to offer skilled trades training, apprenticeships and high school courses.
The not-for-profit Quetico Centre was forced to close after falling into receivership in March 2006. The facility on Eva Lake, near Atikokan, was reportedly about $2 million in debt when it shut its doors after 48 years of operation.
The wooden buildings spread around the property include three 26-room dormitories, an office, a teaching centre, a leisure learning centre, a shop and a full kitchen.
When a group of U.S.-based investors purchased the 50-acre property in October 2006, they said they preferred that an individual or group take over Quetico Centre for “a historic use” as a training and conference centre, or perhaps a kids‘ camp.
Quetico Centre opened in 1958 as a non-profit educational institution. A total of $10 million was spent in 1968 and 1983 to upgrade facilities and create living accommodations.
The once world-renowned centre was described as a place for people to go into seclusion for intensive learning experiences.
