Willow Lake Métis Group partners with construction and earthmoving firm

by Jeremy Appel, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter 

(ANNews) – Willow Lake Métis Nation’s business arm has entered a strategic agreement with construction and earthmoving company Earth & Iron Inc. to help facilitate economic development in the community. 

Willow Lake Métis Group (WLMG) CEO Andy Harnett told Alberta Native News that the group’s “limited partnership” with Earth & Iron will focus “essentially on getting a construction site ready for construction.”

Stuart Gray, general manager of Earth & Iron, said in a Feb. 3 news release that the “partnership not only broadens our operational capabilities but also reinforces our dedication to community engagement and sustainable development.”

Harnett said that Earth & Iron approached WLMG about a potential partnership. 

“We did our due diligence and had our meetings with them and interviewed each other, and deemed that it was a good fit,” he said. 

According to the news release announcing their partnership, WLMG and Earth & Iron “are committed to empowering the Métis community through supporting cultural preservation, economic development, and sustainability.”

“With hard work, integrity, and dependability, they will deliver reliable, cost-effective services and ensure customer satisfaction with the goal of driving growth and creating lasting prosperity for future generations,” it reads.

Harnett described the ability to oversee projects “from start to finish” as the “piece that we were missing,” which made Earth & Iron a suitable partner, with its specialty in pad work, infrastructure repairs and tree clearing.

“Breaking ground is essentially the first portion of any large project with the oil and gas sector. The way it’s going, and the projection of some of the larger producers down [Highway] 881 on what they’re going to spend, the more they’re looking at building more well pads,” he said, referring to the northeastern Alberta highway that goes to the Fort McMurray area. 

Earth & Iron’s capabilities won’t be used just for the oil and gas industry, Harnett emphasized, citing the company’s ability to assist with forestry and road clearing. 

Earth & Iron is not to be confused with Iron & Earth, an environmental non-profit dedicated to transitioning fossil fuel industry workers to renewable energy jobs. 

But WLMG is also eyeing renewable energy investments through a “diversification portfolio,” which Harnett is overseeing. 

As part of its five-year strategic plan, Willow Lake Métis Nation is in the process of establishing its own consulting firm to pursue diversification, driven by a commitment to an Indigenous  environmental, social and governance (ESG) framework.

In May, the community received a $480,000 grant from the federal government’s Indigenous Natural Resource Partnerships Program to establish its Indigenous ESG Pathway. 

This pathway, the nation’s website reads, “will prioritize the integration of Indigenous knowledge … to create a framework that not only meets but exceeds conventional environmental standards.”

According to Natural Resources Canada, grants recipients must complete their projects by March 31, 2027.