Wednesday, February 12, 2020
Serving the Hub of the North since 1960
Volume 60 • Issue 7
Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation celebrates groundbreaking education and economic development BY JAMES SNELL
JAMES@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET
SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT BREAK-IN NEWS PAGE 2
FLIN FLON FLAG RAISED AT CITY HALL NEWS PAGE 3
OWEN SPENCE: OUTSTANDING CUSTOMER SERVICE NEWS PAGE 5
Members and leadership of the Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation (NCN) gathered in Thompson on Feb. 5, to celebrate its economic development, education, energy independence and unprecedented infrastructure development through its Atoskiwin Training and Employment Centre (ATEC). “The trainees’ incomes went from $311 per month in social assistance payments, to $3,338 per month as firstyear apprentices,” said Lawrence Deane of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA), who presented a CCPA report on NCN at the gathering. “The students were able to put in their required hours of on-the-job training as apprentices. As residents of the community, the students were able to spend significant amounts of their earnings at the local store, at the gas station, in payments to their housing providers, and to childcare providers.” NCN’s ambitious infrastructure project, through ATEC, has resulted in the construction of numerous housing units, and a 14,000-square-foot fabricating facility that manufactures super-efficient mould-resistant SIP wall panels used in the community’s expanding construction business. The goal
Thompson Citizen photo by James Snell Representatives of Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation gathered at the Mystery Lake Hotel in Thompson Feb. 6 to celebrate the success of apprenticeship initiatives through the First Nation’s Atoskiwin Training and Employment Centre. Education Training (NEET) population,” he said. “That population is growing. Last count in Nelson House was 800. We developed an intake process where they take academic assessments and career assessments to narrow down their field of interest. And then they go through one week of social readiness, where they learn about themselves. They determine themselves where they’re at.” NCN now has approximately 40 people in several different trades at various levels of apprenticeship. “We’ve graduated maybe 30 business students as well,”
he explained. “We have an 84 per cent success rate in placing people in employment.” Using alternative energy in remote communities can be a major win, both economically and for the environment, said Deane in his report. Many northern communities rely on diesel fuel, which is dirty and expensive, but that is changing. “Many remote communities are outgrowing their capacity for diesel generation,” he said. “It is common to have load restrictions because of limited supply. This means that the number of new houses or buildings that can be
added in these communities is limited. In the Northwest Territories, there are more than 200 solar installations in remote communities.” NCN leaders plan to replicate ATEC, creating a pan-Canadian education, business, and healing movement among Indigenous communities. “Graduates will be encouraged to lead and manage social enterprises that emerge from this training,” said Deane. “Indigenous YouthBuild Canada will develop local chapters tailored to local conditions and localized cultural conditions.”
Eyres out, Cazzola in as head of Vale Manitoba Operations BY IAN GRAHAM
EDITOR@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET
MUNN CUP WEEKEND SPORTS PAGES 6 & 7
is net-zero housing (which produces as much energy as it consumes) using supplemental solar power and simple but high-tech construction methods. Jim Moore, executive director at ATEC and former chief of the First Nation, is happy with the expanding innovation at NCN. “Today we are celebrating a couple things,” he said. “ATEC has been recognized internationally as one of the YouthBuild International centres under Indigenous YouthBuild Canada. ATEC has been very successful in developing programming that leads to employment.” Moore said ATEC learners are being trained in cutting-edge, green-tech construction. “We built the manufacturing facility for the SIP panels that our youth are learning to fabricate,” he said. “They are also learning to market, and use that material to build new homes. (And) at ATEC, we get no core funding from the federal government, the province, or our own government. Our revenue is based on proposals and tuition, and our students are learning business concepts too.” Moore explained that ATEC training targets young, unemployed people. “We pick students from the Not in Employment and
Vale’s Manitoba Operations have undergone a change at the top. Gary Eyres, who took over leadership of mining and milling operations in Thompson in March 2019, is no longer with the company after less than year on the job. He has been replaced by Franco Cazzola, who was the manager of the Copper Cliff mine since August of last year and of the Copper Cliff nickel refinery since September 2018. Cazzola was
formerly the manager of health and safety for Vale’s Manitoba Operations from January 2005 to October 2008. He graduated from the University of Guelph with a bachelor in applied science in 1985. “Franco brings years of leadership experience managing surface plants and mines all across the Vale Ontario Operations and has a track record of delivering on safety, production and cost commitments with a sharp focus on risk management,” said Tara Ritchie of Vale Manitoba Operations in a Feb.
7 email. “He is excited to take on this new role and to lead our Thompson team to achieve the safety and productivity requirements that will support Thompson’s future.” Eyres made headlines in November when he told the Thompson Chamber of Commerce that the company might spend up to $1 billion over five years to enable miners to access new nickel ore sources around Thompson. He was the third person to oversee Vale’s Manitoba Operations since vice-president
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Mark Scott’s position was eliminated in July 2018, following in the footsteps of Vale North Atlantic mining heads Alistair Ross and Mike McCann. The company was considering taking Birchtree Mine off care and maintenance and shifting it into inactive status, said Warren Luky, president of United Steelworkers Local 6166, which represents hourly Vale employees in Thompson, but informed the five workers still employed there Feb. 7 that it was remaining on care and maintenance for now.
Mining stopped at Birchtree at the end of September 2017. “Since that time, there has been no production, although the site has been managed to ensure it remains in a safe and stable condition,” Ritchie said Feb. 6 in response to an inquiry from the Thompson Citizen. “We are currently looking at all our options although no decisions have been made at this time with regards to the future status of the mine.” Ritchie said she should be able to provide another update in a few weeks.