Technical Advisory Services:
A wide range of Technical Advisory Services are offered. This past year, the majority of work was related to the development of operation and maintenance planning for the water systems, wastewater treatment systems, roads and buildings in our member First Nations.

Changes to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act a few years back has increased the need for the completion of more detailed environmental screening reports for federally funded projects on First Nations. The type of projects ranged from the need to complete a hydrogeological study, a water treatment plant assessment, safe water operations program, industrial park building design and lakefront improvements study.

Cost estimates and or tender packages were prepared for a number of projects including a new Roads Garage, a Youth Centre renovation, complete road reconstruction and a new elevated storage reservoir.

The Technical Services Department also provided project management services and assisted in the development of various technical policies. This assistance provided two (2) main benefits. The first benefit was skill; completing those initiatives required a solid understanding of local conditions. The second benefit was a cost saving to the First Nation. The cost saving was based on the First Nation not having to hire outside expertise to assist with these types of projects.

Housing Inspection and Advisory Services:
The second key area that our staff is involved in is the delivery of housing inspections and advisory services. The work involved with this includes the following:
o Completion of inspections on new homes and renovations funded through First Nation programs as well as those through private financial institutions such as the Bank of Montreal.
o Providing advice to contractors during the construction process.
o Completing inspections for the Residential Rehabilitation Assistance Program offered by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
o Providing advice to homeowners for the operation and maintenance of their homes.

Our inspectors have a weekly schedule in which they are in each of our communities at least once a week.

Training:
Since the Walkerton incident, there have been changes in legislation in the Province of Ontario. We have been working with two groups in our community to provide training support to meet new legislation needs. The first group is the water and watershed system operators preparing for required examinations. The second group are those involved in the delivery of housing programs at the First Nation. Housing is one of the major programs delivered at a First Nation, and staff as well as committee members are always faced with challenges. In order to address these challenges we coordinated the delivery of traing sessions to help increase the skill set of those in attendance.

In 2003, the London District Chiefs Council received approval to complete an Environmental Contamination Inventory for our First Nations. Part of this project involved the development of highly detailed and functional mapping. Once the project ended, the mapping and associated computer software remained at our offices. At this time we continue to update the mapping regularly and use it in our reports and projects. In addition, the geographic information system is being utilized in the West Nile Virus surveillance program at the Aamjiwnaang First Nation. Information from the field work is inputted into the system. This in turn provides a more visual picture of the information and assists in monitoring and developing this potentially dangerous virus.