DEER LAKE FN – Residents in Deer Lake were enjoying a barbecue and community engagement day today with North Star Air. The remote community, located almost 200 kilometres north of Red Lake is accessible in the summer only by air.
During the winter, the ice roads allow people, and traffic to connect to the community, however during the summer Deer Lake is only accessible by air. That impacts all aspects of travel, including shopping, and medical treatment.
Several hundred people came out through the day to enjoy the event. They enjoyed delicious hamburgers, smokies, and snacks.
Part of the day was invested in getting feedback for the North Star Air team as they continue to expand their services across Northwestern Ontario.
“Our goal with this event is to listen to our customers, and make sure we are offering the kinds of services, and the level of services that they need,” stated MaryEllen Thomas of North Star Air.
“This kinds of events, in the communities across the North is assisting us in our continued growth.”
North Star Air has developed partnerships with the communities that they serve.
Thomas states, “we have nine first nation partners, including Deer Lake. One of the keys to the success of our partnerships is the revenue sharing agreement with member communities.”
“A portion of the revenues from passenger service, cargo and contracts is returned to our member communities. This sharing agreement has the ability to generate significant revenues for the member communities”.
“This business arrangement is very popular with not only Chiefs and Councils of our member communities, but also to community members. Keeping things in a business way benefits communities, and business”.
The North Star team was kept busy for most of the day answering questions from residents, and keeping the barbecues going.
