A homeowner in Inuvik is wondering why his home is listed as the Inuvik office for the company selected by Northwest Territories Power Corporation to construct the access road to Inuvik鈥檚 upcoming Wind Power station.
Brandon Johnston has lived at 7 Carmichael Dr. for several years, but said the first time he had ever heard of ONEC Nations Ltd. wasn't until asked why the company listed his home as their Inuvik office.
鈥淚 am the owner of 7 Carmichael Dr. East,鈥� said Johnston. 鈥淎nd I have have no idea who ONEC Nations Ltd. is.
鈥滻 have zero involvement with them and I am curious as to why my address is on there.鈥�
It鈥檚 not the only inaccurate NWT address on the ONEC Nations Ltd. website as of May 12 鈥� which says the site is copy-written up to 2022. A second address is listed for the company鈥檚 Yellowknife office at 5016-47th Street. However when a news reporter went to the building to confirm the address, there was no listing of the company on the building鈥檚 register 鈥� only the NWT Literacy Council, which owns the building, and Primerica Insurance Agency.
An employee of Primerica Yellowknife, Jennifer Andrews, confirmed ONEC did not have an office in the building.
鈥淭here鈥檚 us, and there鈥檚 a psychologist and then the literacy council,鈥� she said.
NTPC communications manager Doug Prendergast said ONEC was the lone company to submit a bid out of four companies invited to do so.
He said the company had 鈥渕ore than 20 years experience in engineering, procurement, construction, and maintenance.鈥�
The website for the ONEC Group of Companies describes themselves similarly. The company lists ONEC Nations Ltd. as the division responsible for managing Indigenous Partnerships.
ONEC鈥檚 main office is in Edmonton, Alberta. It also maintains offices in Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Oregon and California.
鈥淣T Energy鈥檚 review of the submitted bid identified that the ONEC/Northland Builders consortium had extensive experience working on projects in the North and was qualified to construct the access road,鈥� he added.
A corporate search of ONEC Nations Ltd. lists the company as in default. The company was formerly called ONEC Adams but changed its name on Aug. 27, 2021. Both Northland Builders Ltd. and ONEC Nations Ltd. list Rob Adams as the director, president and CEO. The company officially incorporated in the NWT in 2017, whereas Northland Builders Ltd. was incorporated in 2020.
Inuvik Drum has reached out to Adams, NTPC and the GTC for further comment.
Directed Tendering approved by cabinet
An internal GNWT email obtained by Inuvik Drum reveals cabinet voted to give the go ahead for the Gwich鈥檌n Tribal Council for a 鈥渄irected tendering鈥� process, meaning the GTC was allowed to select specific companies for Northwest Territories Energy Corporation (NTEC) to invite to bid on the project instead of an open tender.
鈥淎s you are aware there were numerous challenges with securing the necessary permitting and support from the Gwich鈥檌n Land and Water Board and the Nih鈥檛at Board,鈥� said Infrastructure Minister Diane Archie in the email. 鈥淚n November of last year, myself and officials from Infrastructure and Northwest Territories Power Corporation met with the GTC and Nih鈥檛at Leadership to try and move this project forward in order not to jeopardize the funding from the Federal Government. We came to an understanding on working together and I left it to the Infrastructure and NTPC officials work out the details with GTC and the Nih鈥檛at.
鈥淭he resulting procurement approach on the Inuvik Wind Project using directed tendering was approved by Cabinet in March of 2021.鈥�
Both the GTC and NTEC confirmed a shortlist of four companies was submitted to be invited to bid.
鈥淣T Energy recognizes the importance of maximizing local benefits and the importance of supporting reconciliation with economic opportunities,鈥� said Prendergast. 鈥淣T Energy relied on the Gwich鈥檌n Tribal Council (GTC) to identify the Indigenous owned companies to be included as part of the invitational Request For Proposals (RFP). To ensure that Indigenous-owned companies benefited from the Inuvik Wind project, NT Energy determined that an invitational RFP was appropriate for the contract to build the access road. The GTC and the Department of Infrastructure supported this approach. With four businesses approached in the invitational RFP, it was expected there would be several bids received from local contractors. However, only one bid was received. This bid was submitted by one of the four qualified Gwich鈥榠n businesses and included plans to complete the project with the support of other local Gwich 鈥榠n businesses, including some of the other businesses that had been invited to participate in the invitational RFP.
鈥淭he successful bid was submitted by ONEC/Northland Builders, which leads the consortium of Gwich鈥榠n businesses.鈥�
GTC Grand Chief Ken Kyikavichik said the consortium of businesses consisted of Bob鈥檚 Welding Ltd., Nanzu Environmental, Nehtr鈥檜h EBA Consulting and Deetrin Geomatics.
He noted the GTC was asked by NTEC to provide the shortlist of companies, but added the GTC was eager to ensure projects within the Gwich鈥檌n Settlement Area are awarded to Gwich鈥檌n businesses.
鈥淚t is the expectation of GTC that this preferential contracting occurs for any work in the GSA,鈥� he said. 鈥淚n accordance with Chapter 10 of the Gwich鈥檌n Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement (GCLCA), the Governments of Canada and the NWT commit to working with the Gwich鈥檌n Tribal Council to develop our economy and maximize opportunities for Gwich鈥檌n businesses and individuals for any work undertaken in the GSA.
鈥淭o this end the GTC is currently seeking an updated agreement with the GNWT to actively promote, recommend and select eligible registered Gwich鈥檌n-owned businesses with capacity for work within the GSA under a preferential contracting and procurement model.鈥�
