I’m going to say things that will probably make many of my friends teed off at me, but I don’t care right now.
I’m tired of being poor. I want to make money and lots of it so I don’t have to work when I’m older and still have time to enjoy life and do things that I’ve never had time to because I was so busy making little money in a little market.
I’m tired of hearing the same old line “where’s the money going to come from?” during meetings and other sessions with our people and the leaders. I never let one question stop me from getting somewhere and I’m not going to stop now, not when there’s a bundle o’bucks to be made at the new development near Eastmain.
Sure, what happened a long time ago when the damn dams were built happened not that long ago, but long enough for us to wake up and smell the roses. Long time ago we were not ready for large complexes being built in our back yard, but today, I think we are ready.
We cannot say that we don’t know what it takes to get the job done, like during the time we signed in the first agreement with Quebec more than 25 years ago, and I think that we have done well and we are going to do even better this time around.
Many people will cry that the land will be damaged, but hell, the land was here before man was around and it is a good bet that the land will still be around when the last human disappears from earth. I’m also willing to bet that a lot of money can be made during the next 10 years, if we get our act together.
This project has the potential to eliminate unemployment in each community and to have people trained and educated at the same time. Just about every job is available and contracts galore are awaiting those entrepreneurs and companies in our communities with basically open arms.
So what if we are not the best at the job; you have to start somewhere and then get good at it, later. How do you think those southern companies learned to do the hard work that’s required for this job? During the last development, that’s how.
I remember the days when nothing but craziness happened during the James Bay project in the 1970s. Workers arrived and left on the next plane, not realizing that the North really is in the north and that black flies can rid you of enough blood to make you dizzy.
The average worker, instead of being overcome with the sheer size of the project, as it was the largest in the world at that time, rather were overcome by the natural elements. The bogs, insects, cold, wind, forest fires, and near desert conditions drove men mad, crazy enough to play chicken with huge Euclids (85 tonners) on top of a 500-foot dike and stories abound of the average laborers dying from on the job casualties.
But… are we like that? No way man, we’re sane people. We can do the job and take the northern elements at the same time without losing our senses. We are ideal for this type of work.
So, I’m willing to foray into that market and see what money I can make, while the opportunity is still there. Like I said, I’m tired of being poor and watching while others from the south make money in our back yard, then leave us little when they finish. Not me, man. Hoping to see a lot of people there, until next time.
