A new board has been named for one of the groups behind the purchase of the Churchill rail line, and Flin Flon will be represented.
Flin Flon Mayor Cal Huntley has been named a member of the newly announced board for Missinippi Rail GP, a northern Manitoba-based company that forms part of Arctic Gateway Group, the new owners of the Hudson Bay Railway and Port of Churchill property.
Representatives from several northern communities and First Nations are involved with the board. Shirley Castel and Shirley Bighetty, councillors with Mathias Colomb Cree Nation, are on the board along with Churchill Mayor Mike Spence and CAO Cory Young, Opaskwayak Cree Nation Onekanew Christian Sinclair and War Lake Cree Nation Chief Betsy Kennedy. Chief Glenn Hudson of the Peguis First Nation will also sit on the board.
Reg Meade, the mayor of Wabowden, will represent communities on the line through the Northern Association of Community Councils. Fox Lake Cree Nation Chief Walter Spence will also sit on the board, representing Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO), a group that represents 26 First Nations, mostly located in northern Manitoba.
Huntley will also serve as the treasurer of the board. Mayor Spence and Onekanew Sinclair will serve as co-chairs and co-presidents on the board, while Castel will hold the post of vice president. Chief Hudson will be the secretary.
Four nominees for the Arctic Gateway Group GP board have been named by Missinippi Rail, including Mayor Spence, Chief Kennedy, Onekanew Sinclair and Arthur Mauro, a former president, chairman and CEO of Investors Group and a former chancellor of the University of Manitoba.
“Art shares our passion for the potential of this project. He brings an unprecedented experience in all modes of transportation serving the region and has been a successful business leader at the highest levels,” said Onekanew Sinclair in a news release.
Missinippi Rail, along with One North, Fairfax Financial Holdings and AGT Limited, purchased the railway last year from Omnitrax. The City of Flin Flon owns three shares, offered and purchased at one dollar per share, in One North.
