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Wiikwemkoong’s Irving Leblanc named to Engineering Hall of Fame

MONTREAL—Wiikwemkoong band member Irving Leblanc was elected into the Canadian Academy of Engineering on May 15, joining 50 new fellows and seven international fellows at the May 27 induction ceremony in Montréal.

“It’s really a great honour being recognized by my peers, other engineers from across the country,” said Mr. Leblanc, noting that his induction was at the behest of “engineers I’ve worked with, engineers who know what I do and what I’ve done over the years.” 

Mr. Leblanc has worked for First Nations since 1995, when he left the Canadian National Railway and took up a position with Ontario First Nations Technical Services Corporation. That company provides engineering and technical services advice to all of the First Nations in Ontario.

The retired engineer is the former director, Infrastructure/Water, at the Assembly of First Nations where he held responsibility of representing that organization and advocating on the various initiatives and committees related to infrastructure, water and sanitation, source water protection, and other infrastructure related issues affecting First Nations. 

Mr. Leblanc continues to serve Indigenous interests despite his “retirement” and he is currently chair of the Community Circle on Scaling Business Innovation for Humanity, a not-for-profit organization that operates nationwide whose focus is on “co-creating sustainable water-health solutions with Indigenous and rural communities.”

Mr. Irving is also a technical committee member on Canadian Standards Association (CSA) in areas related to First Nations infrastructure, allowing him to continue his passion of supporting and allying with organizations that provide easier access to engineering for First Nation students and ensure gender balance.

Mr. Irving graduated with a civil engineering degree from the University of Waterloo in 1971 and is a member of the Professional Engineers Ontario and the American Water Works Association (AWWA).

The engineer embodies the concept of two eyes seeing and remains fluent in his ancestral Odawa language.

Article written by

Michael Erskine
Michael Erskine
Michael Erskine BA (Hons) is Associate Editor at The Manitoulin Expositor. He received his honours BA from Laurentian University in 1987. His former lives include underground miner, oil rig roughneck, early childhood educator, elementary school teacher, college professor and community legal worker. Michael has written several college course manuals and has won numerous Ontario Community Newspaper Awards in the rural, business and finance and editorial categories.