BURNSIDE BOARDROOM: Shown left to right in R.J. Burnside's Orangeville boardroom are John Burnside, president of R.J. Burnside & Associates; Merv Dewasha, president and CEO of Neegan Burnside, and Bob Burnside, founder and chairman of R.J. Burnside & Associates. Last week, I had the chance to sit with John Burnside and Mervin Dewasha at the head office in Orangeville of Burnside Engineering and Neegan Burnside.

We were discussing the many dilemmas of living conditions on the 136 First Nations reservations and the baby steps being taken by the federal government to rectify them. We were also talking about Neegan Burnside's involvement with the work being done, but there is more to it all than just engineering.

Said John Burnside: "You'd be shocked if you saw the housing these people are living with. Sometimes, there are nine people living in a house that is only 900 square feet."

Besides the obvious discomfort of such an arrangement, Merv Dewasha pointed out: "Most children don't finish grade 8.There is more of connection between education and housing than one might first think.

"In such cramped conditions, there's no quiet space, nowhere to be alone, no spot to do homework. So, the kids fail at their schooling, miss out on their education and can't qualify for jobs that would help them help their communities — it's a vicious circle."

There have been stories of houses being built which were not only ignored and not used for living but were also damaged by the people for whom they were meant. I asked about this and Mr. Burnside explained:

"You have to go there with a 'listen first' approach; otherwise, it's never going to work. Some agencies go in there heavy handed and build without due consultation with the chiefs and the people."

Elaborating on the need for adopting an attitude that is in sync, Mr. Dewasha commented, "An appointment might be made with the chief and then, something happens — there could be a funeral — the whole community will go to it. So, the appointment has to be moved to the next day. If the 'company man' arrives with an attitude of being in a hurry and having to rush back to the city — he's not going to get much done."

The problem of education increases the further north one goes, north of Thunder Bay. There is a need for investment and employment, for local people to have some control of what is happening to their environment, to be part of it, to benefit from any new developments in their land.

As the deep water ports open up in the far north, as the opportunities develop for the timber and mining industries to expand into the region, Messrs. Dewasha and Burnside were adamant that the local people had to be employed and, indeed, have some ownership of the business being done. The aboriginals need, as well, to watch out for the affect that industry has on the environment.

There is already a trend for local entrepreneurs to establish businesses which service industry in the north. One aboriginal businessman has 17 trucks which transport supplies to the northernmost mining areas, run by DeBeers.

In the northernmost settlement in the world, at Alert, which is basically a military base, the federal government has allowed the private sector to bid on the operation of the base, given the condition that 10 per cent of the people employed are Inuit.

Nowadays, 20 per cent employed are Inuit, mostly young people.

"It's a start," Mr. Dewasha remarked. "The government can say that there has to be a minimum of native people employed in any business that is run in the north."

He enlarged on the theme of righting wrongs: "There's north wrong with the government taking leadership to correct the mistakes of the past. The feds are already starting and so is Manitoba."

Mr. Burnside added: "We are in discussion with the Ontario government at the moment. There is a whole mindset change coming."

Said Mr. Dewasha, "This provides the footing for them to get some skills to benefit all of us."

Clearly, it can only help the nation as a whole if our aboriginals are educated and working.

Indeed, Mr. Dewasha has established a not-for-profit organization, especially to raise funds through partnering with corporations and other groups to send young aboriginals to college and university.

He is determined and dedicated to the notion of educating and bringing young natives to want to go to school in order for them to find well paying and important employment. He has organised science camps for aboriginal children to attend to encourage their enthusiasm for all scientific inquiries.

Meanwhile, Neegan Burnside, of which Mr. Dewasha is CEO, is leading by example. The company is a corporate partnership with R.J. Burnside and Associates Ltd., is owned by aboriginals and is wholly involved with work in aboriginal communities. The set-up between the two companies provides the expertise of all: the nearly 300 skilled personnel of Burnside and the onsite personnel to do the work in the field of project management, etc.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, in Madagascar, Burnside International, is working on similar projects with, really, similar communities, doing all they can to bring their excellence of work and integrity there as well.

We spoke together of the personal hopes of each of the gentlemen. They were very similar.

John Burnside, who is President of Burnside: "I'm looking to create a dynamic and growing company. We are looking for a transition to grow this collection of companies to be bigger than any individual with a corporate commitment that is consistent with the initial standards of integrity and honesty that started the business."

So too, Mr. Dewasha commented: "Our company's diversity takes on our characteristic initiative. We want to grow while maintaining our set of values."