Testimonial for A Métis Man’s Dream

From Cathy M:

"This is not a book review by any means. Rather a few personal thoughts that bubbled up as I read your engaging book.

Thank you for writing this book, A Métis Man`s Dream. Gordon Gill`s story has enriched my life as a Canadian. All Canadians young and old as well as all new Canadians would benefit from reading this book. Here are a few thoughts on why and why I enjoyed your book:

1. I was humbled by this story.  Remarkable, how a young Gordon Gill with a mother who was First Nations and a father who was Irish-English working traplines for months and leaving his young family to struggle with isolation, poverty and endless hardships, became one of Canada`s most successful entrepreneurs during the oil and gas exploration boom years in the Beaufort Sea and Mackenzie Delta.

2. Gordon`s core values. You present his many adventures and rise to success as a result of Gordon not only making the most of opportunities that emerged throughout the heydays of the "north of 60" boom, but that he also chose to live out his core beliefs: "where there is a will there is a way"; the "Golden Rule"; "figure things out"; "always help others and share that success".

3. There was hope in this story. For example, what a wonderful surprise and relief to read that Gordon attended the residential high school Sir John Franklin High School in Yellowknife run by the Canadian Federal Government and not a religious denomination.  You quote Gordon as saying "I really liked going to the residential school in Yellowknife. It taught me discipline. It was one of the best things I ever did."

4. And there were others examples of hope in your story; Canadians lending a hand. How fortunate for Gordon to have others who believed in him and offer him work and a chance to prove himself. i.e. his mentor Lionel Gagnier. And the 40 year work opportunity offered to Gordon`s mother Armande when new management at the Hay River hotel hired her instead of people from the south. It was so heart-warming to read this after she struggled to make ends meet in her early days as a mother. And of course Gordon meeting his wife Treena who believed in him and was key in his business success and of course family life.

5. Gordon embraced life-long learning! He was wise enough to continue his formal education by attending SAIT in Calgary. He was then well positioned with useful credentials and skills and was then in the right place at the right time to succeed . . . and create and make his personal dream come true.

6. And finally, my enjoyment and regard for your book also comes from reflecting on my own education and subsequent work and life experiences that touched briefly our Canadian northland and therefore increased my appreciation for the details of your spectacular story.

For example, in the late 70s, while I was flying into First Nation communities from Thunder Bay to Attawapiskat in the James Bay Arctic lowlands researching natural and man-made methylmercury contamination, my brother a young engineer hired by Dome Petroleum and working for the Jack Gallagher empire, was flying between Calgary and the Beaufort Sea exploration and developments. I now wonder if he came across the equipment that Gordon and his company developed like the submersible platform for drilling? Those were exhilarating times of story-telling and expressing often converging core values among friends, colleagues and at our family gatherings. (Canoeing was our way of decompressing. I remember those wonderful years very well.)

My formal education includes degrees from University of Waterloo in Environmental Studies, and graduate degrees in Education from Queens University & St. Francis Xavier University. After the James Bay Arctic lowlands project, I worked as an education programmer for Ontario Conservation Authorities, Ontario Parks, Alberta Parks and Alberta Culture, consulting with communities along the Alaska Highway for their 50th Anniversary, and many years ago I spent a memorable summer hiking Kluane National Park and Burwash Uplands."