THUNDER BAY – Going to the movies, picking up groceries and heading to the rink to watch a hockey game are things students in Thunder Bay take for granted.
In a community like Pelican Falls First Nation, it can be a real chore.
But it won’t be any more.
On Friday members of the Northern Nishnawbe Education Council accepted delivery of five new 12-passenger vans, provided in part through a $93,000 grant from the federal government’s Indigenous Service Program, as well as assistance from the ownership at Half-Way Motors Nissan, along with their parent company.
The new vehicles will have a major impact on the lives of more than 170 students from 24 different Nishnawbe Aski Nation communities to travel to Pelican Falls to attend school, said NNEC executive director Norma Kejick.
“These vans mean a lot to be able to take the students off site for medical appointments, sporting events, even just going to Dryden or to (Tim Hortons) in Sioux Lookout for a coffee run. These vehicles are very important to our students and staff,” Kejick said.
The van replaces an aging fleet that left school officials with few options for transporting students to and from the community, located about 20 minutes northwest of Sioux Lookout.
“In the past the vehicles we’ve had are outdated. They’re not safe to be on the road. So our staff have been using their own personal vehicles to transports students around,” Kejick said. “This means a lot to the staff as well.”
Brad Folino, fleet manager at Half-Way Motors, said it was a program well worth supporting, and urged other companies to take part in similar efforts in other communities.
Half-Way Motors and Nissan helped enhance the purchase by lowering the price of the vans, ensuring there was enough money left over to provide winter tires and rims for all five vehicles, a much-needed accessory in Ontario’s north.
“It’s really important,” Folino said.
Liberal MP Patty Hajdu said her government often gets accused of spending money where it shouldn’t, but said this is an easy expense to defend.
It’s part of Ottawa’s response to the Seven Youth Inquest and Jordan’s Principle, which ensures Indigenous children living on and off reserve have proper access to all government-funded services.
“Every dollar we invest in making sure students have safe, accessible education is a dollar well spent,” Hajdu said.
“It means there is a better likelihood of that student finishing their education, being able to move on, developing their skills and becoming leaders in their own communities, employers or employees.”
