Their vision is to be the premier Aboriginal contracting company, and Desmond Bull is helping to make that happen.
On this episode of the Indigenous Business Profile, we speak with Desmond G Bull, Indigenous consultant for Summit Ventures.
As an elected councillor for the Louis Bull Tribe of the Maskwacis Nation in Treaty 6 territory, Desmond has proven himself a leader. He has a background in education, IT, and he continues to work for his community, First Nation and the environment.
A dream for Desmond is to create an electrical system to provide all the electrical needs of his tribe and the surrounding communities. With visions like this, it’s easy to see why Summit Ventures values Desmond as a consultant.
“We definitely want to work with the First Nations communities… with an integrated model where all the resources and services are available within a community whether it be housing, education, human resources, social development programs, but also with the capacity development and training.”
There is also job placement, where an individual has the training, but also gets placed in a job that he or she is trained for.
The training is unique in regards to cultural integration, with Elders, cultural advisors, the ceremonies and protocols within the training.
“It’s that involvement of showing the necessity of truth and reconciliation through cultural integration. This form of teaching works so much better being immersed than it would be learned on video, or learning it in books or just having someone talk about it. It’s that immersion component that is very effective, especially for non-First Nations that do decide to participate in this type of program.”
His community of Louis Bull Tribe created a renewable energy program, and that program included a pipe ceremony, sweats, cultural teachings and traditional meals.
“I believe that the renewable sector is something that is just waiting to explode here within this country.” He said climate change targets are driving this, and the political will as outlined in the federal Throne Speech, and the government’s desire to move toward green technology and more renewables.
Summit Ventures is committed to working with their partners to design, build, operate and maintain projects across Western Canada and Desmond Bull will continue to play a huge role with Summit Ventures for many years.
Summit Ventures offers a range of services, including:
- construction, installation, testing and maintenance of aerial and buried telecommunications network infrastructures;
- highway lighting and signage manufacturing, assembly and installation;
- renewable energy consulting, supply, and installations;
- electrical distribution of power for street and parking lot lighting, power cabinets, receptacles, and accent lighting in a commercial-construction setting
- security and access control through the latest in video compression, wireless, and cellular networks to monitor client sites effectively and from anywhere.