News
Great Slave Helicopters welcomes new partnership

K’ahsho Got’ine Helicopters President Harvey Pierrot, centre, and Vice President Joseph Kochon, right, congratulate each other on their partnership’s purchase of a Bell 206 LR helicopter while Jeff Denomme, K’ahsho Got’ine Helicopters Secretary/Treasurer, looks on from the left.
K’ahsho Got’ine Helicopters, a new three-way joint-venture including Yamoga Energy Services, the Behdzi Ahda First Nation Economic Development Trust and Great Slave Helicopters, has purchased its own Bell 206.
The K’ahsho Got’ine Helicopters Board of Directors, Secretary/Treasurer Jeff Denomme, left, President Harvey Pierrot and Vice President Joseph Kochon celebrate the company’s purchase of a Bell 206 LR.

Sept. 23, 2010 – Great Slave Helicopters Ltd. (GSH), has signed a new joint-venture partnership agreement related to the K’ahsho Got’ine Land District of Sahtu Settlement Area of the Northwest Territories.

The deal is a three-way partnership including Yamoga Energy Services of Fort Good Hope,
Behdzi Ahda First Nation Economic Development Trust of Colville Lake, and GSH of
Yellowknife and has resulted in the creation of majority Aboriginal-owned and controlled
K’ahsho Got’ine Helicopters Ltd.

K’ahsho Got’ine Helicopters has immediately
purchased its own Bell 206 LR helicopter which is now in service with the GSH fleet.
“We are extremely pleased to be working with Great Slave Helicopters in this way,” said Harvey
Pierrot, President of K’ahsho Got’ine Helicopters. “We’ve been involved with Great Slave for a
number of years but this new venture is very exciting, we now own our own helicopter.”
K’ahsho Got’ine Helicopters’ machine is a six-passenger Long Ranger, a versatile, smooth and
efficient intermediate class helicopter delivering low fuel use even while moving a 1,200-lbs.
external load.

“By making this investment in a helicopter that is so versatile, we have the security of knowing it
will always be flying for someone, somewhere and earning revenue for the beneficiaries of the
K’ahsho Got’ine District no matter where it works,” said Colville Lake’s Joseph Kochon, Vice-
President of K’ahsho Got’ine Helicopters. “If and when the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline moves
forward we’ll be well-positioned to profit from it, but in the meantime we’re not dependent on it or
any other activity in the Sahtu to earn profits for our people.”

In fact, K’ahsho Got’ine Helicopters’ machine is already under contract and expected to be
working in Nunavut for the remainder of the fall exploration season.
“We are extremely pleased to work with our Aboriginal partners and in this way help them to
invest in our industry,” said Jeff Denomme, President of GSH. “Our business model of creating
profitable, mutually beneficial joint-ventures with Aboriginal partners around the North is time-
tested and this addition of K’ahsho Got’ine Helicopters and its Bell 206LR to our family is a
continuation of that winning formula.”

The deal will also create training opportunities with Great Slave Helicopters by way of annual
scholarships offered to Sahtu Land Claim beneficiaries of the K’ahsho Got’ine District who are
accepted for study as commercial helicopter pilots or aircraft maintenance engineers.
“We are proud to make this investment in the future of our partner First Nations and assist them
in building capacity for tomorrow,” added Denomme.