It’s been another busy year for Lheidli T’enneh First Nation as it has been busy forming partnerships with businesses, industry and breaking ground on a new daycare.
Chief Dolleen Logan said that aside from forming partnerships the one thing that really excited her this year was starting work on the new daycare facility at Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park beside Exploration Place.
The construction work began this July and the building is finally taking shape.
“It's going to be amazing once it's finished. Because we need a daycare and it's a beautiful location. It's going to be 24 hours, so the first one of its kind for all the shift workers,” said Logan.
The new facility will include space for 24 infants and toddlers, 25 for children aged three years to kindergarten and 26 for schoolaged children.
Programming will emphasize Dakelh language and culture and include elder involvement, storytelling, songs, dancing and land-based learning.
Logan said it’s been a challenge because there’s been a lot of paperwork, meetings and it's been a slow process to even break ground on the building.
However she said the building is coming along and they hope the daycare will completed next year. If everything goes as planned, the project should be completed in fall 2024.
“It's going to be a very welcoming, calming place.”
Lheidli T’enneh has also been involved with two big hydrogen projects, supporting Hydra Energy’s hydrogen refueling station, which is slated to become operational in 2024, and forming a partnership with Australian company Fortescue, who is proposing to build a green hydrogen plant in Prince George.
“The two big projects are not only green, but it'll bring bring jobs for members and non-members, for everyone in the communities,” said Logan. “We are slowly going green, everyone in the world, I think all of Canada and around the world are trying to get to net zero. We're starting.”
She said Lheidli T’enneh are stewards of the land and they have to take care of the territory.
“It is time for the world to step up and head towards going green so we have this world to hand down to generations and generations and generations. This is exciting for us.”
This summer Logan was also reelected, making history once again. When she was elected in 2021 she was the first female chief elected since 1969. The first was Mary Pius, and now Logan is the first female chief to be re-elected in the nation’s history.
“I still get nervous when I think about the reelection,” said Logan. “It was history making. I didn't realize it until after it was brought to my attention that I was the first female chief to be re-elected in Lheidli T’enneh history. "It's been exciting and I get a lot of congratulations still.”
