I was fortunate to attend a very important gathering at the old Downsview Airport grounds where Northcrest Developments is transforming 370 acres of land into a community that will include a beautiful transformation of the land that forms part of Treaty 13. The gathering was to celebrate The Guide for Truth and Reconciliation in Corporate Responsibility and Land Development. The document was developed by ULI Toronto with the assistance of Shared Path and many other contributors.

Many of you are aware of the treaties and the Indigenous members that once lived and hunted on these lands that Northcrest is developing as well as lands you have and will develop.

Working with Indigenous  members and respecting their culture is extremely important as we move forward. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Call to Action 92 is one of the 94 Calls to Action that relates to the numerous members of ULI.

My wife and two boys are Indigenous from a small community near Quebec City and their First Nation is Abenaki of Odanak. The Abenaki are Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy.

Our story is not a corporate one nor is it about land use or development: it’s about taking care of Indigenous youth. Our story is a 10-year journey of reconciliation, and it relates to The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Call to Action 89:

“We call upon the federal government to amend the Physical Activity and Sport Act to support reconciliation by ensuring that policies to promote physical activity as a fundamental element of health and well-being, reduce barriers to sports participation, increase the pursuit of excellence in sport, and build capacity in the Canadian sport system, are inclusive of Aboriginal peoples.”

I was walking out of a hockey arena in 2014 in Midland, Ontario with my son Ryan and I noticed a father fixing a helmet that had no protective cage on the front. I also saw other young players, both girls and boys, entering the arena with garbage bags as their hockey bags. I approached the father and asked if he could use some better hockey gear for his son and the other children and that’s when he introduced me to his girlfriend, Rosemarie McKenzie. Rosemarie told me the children were at the rink as a weekly skating program from Beausoleil First Nation on Christian Island. This is where our journey started as my son’s hockey team of 15-year-olds from Richmond Hill went home and gathered 8 bags of gear and 20 sticks. We delivered the gear to a Friendship Centre in Barrie, Ontario and we were greeted by many parents and children from Beausoleil. We also got our first TV interview with CTV Barrie. In addition, I gathered donations from a mortgage brokerage firm that I worked with and from there we purchased 4 sets of home and away jerseys with socks so Beausoleil could enter 4 teams in an upcoming Indigenous Hockey Tournament. They were planning on entering 2 teams but with our hockey gear and jersey donations they were able to enter 4 teams! All of this was extremely motivating and inspirational for my son, wife and myself so we continued to gather gear but this time we asked all of the Richmond Hill Hockey families, with the support of the Hockey Association, to donate gear. Our first hockey drive took place at a local arena and within 4 hours we gathered 35 bags and around 60 sticks. Beausoleil was the recipient of this gear and this time we delivered it to their community. Seeing the children trying on the gear and leaving with a full bag and two sticks was extremely inspirational.

The story gets bigger and better:  we now organize around 10 hockey drives  per year and gather, sort and bag approximately 1,000 bags of gently used & new hockey equipment and 2,000 sticks which we deliver to 25 to 30 Indigenous communities in Canada. As of today, we have delivered 5,500 bags and reached 70 communities including Behchoko and Inuvik in the Northwest Territories. In addition, we have delivered to 7 communities in Northern Manitoba and 3 in Quebec, near Rouyn Noranda. We also continue to deliver to Beausoleil and many other First Nation communities in Ontario including the Mississaugas of the Credit and the Chippewas of Rama.

What started as one team helping one community has grown into an ongoing initiative that has changed the lives of many youth and families living in remote communities. We have been told by many indigenous leaders that we are saving lives.

Who would know that when we went into the Midland Arena on that day we would have started something that has become so impactful and rewarding for so many people. We love the volunteer work we do, and it will never end as we receive calls, emails and texts on a daily basis from people asking to donate gear or help.

We didn’t plan to do this form of reconciliation, but it just happened naturally. Please find a way to make a difference through action.

For more information about our sports charity: https://www.theiropportunity.com/indigenoushockeyequipmentdrive