Mushkegowuk COMMENTARY proposes growth Aboriginal women offer solution to skilled worker shortages strategy for a ‘man’s world’ is as commonplace today in the North than their male counterparts. Daniel Bland Northeast as it is in the South. To break down that stereotype, But few women are enrolling in mining-related
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ushkegowuk Council proposes working with the Northeastern Ontario Municipal Association to develop a regional growth strategy. Les Louttit, deputy grand chief of Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN), spoke to members of the municipal association about the idea Sept. 21. At the request of Mushkegowuk, NAN helped develop a proposal for the partnership, which would foster economic development in the mining, forestry and tourism sectors. A similar partnership already exists in northern Quebec between the James Bay Cree and Abitibi-Témiscamingue municipalities, Louttit noted. The Mushkegowuk Council and its eight member First Nations would review the plan, then send it to the municipal association for consideration, said Louttit.
Lawsuit relies on treaty diaries
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he diaries of three treaty commissioners serve as key pieces of evidence in a lawsuit being launched by Mushkegowuk against the Ontario and Canadian government. A statement of claim sent to the Ontario Superior Court on July 4 by Mushkegowuk Council asserts that the governments of Ontario and Canada have “no power or right under Treaty 9 to unilaterally restrict or extinguish” the harvesting rights of the Mushkegowuk people by authorizing resource companies to develop on their traditional territory. The claim states that the “oral assurances of continued and undiminished” trapping, hunting and fishing rights made by the treaty commissioners were critical to First Nations deciding to agree to sign Treaty 9. The diary of Ontario treaty commissioner Daniel G. MacMartin made several references that oral promises were made in 1905, in which the First Nations who signed “were allowed of as of yore to hunt and fish as they pleased.” If the court rules in Mushkegowuk’s favour, Grand Chief Stan Louttit said it could not only force the government and resource companies to “consult” with First Nations, but to have their consent. The plaintiff of the lawsuit is Peter Archibald of Taykwa Tagamou First Nation. Two mining companies have staked claims that overlap with Archibald’s traditional trapline. Northern Shield Resources and Lake Shore Gold are also defendants in the suit.
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FALL 2013
Instructor, Eeyou Mining Skills Enhancement Program
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you need women who have proven it false by their own effort and success. In most remote Aboriginal communities, that is not a professional, university-educated woman. It is someone like the Cree woman here who spent a year as a dishwasher in a work camp and each day as she watched the big 20-ton trucks drive by, said to herself, “I could be doing that.” And you know what? She could. And she did. She enrolled in a training course, graduated top of her class and today works as a heavy equipment operator.
hile economists and labour market researchers agree one of Canada’s greatest challenges over the next decade will be how to solve skilled worker shortages, there seems to be no consensus about just how to do that. The skills shortage will be particularly acute all across northern Canada, where natural resource development and mining projects are projected to grow the northern economy over 90 per cent from 2011 to 2020. Led by northern B.C.’s mining output, which will increase by a whopping 300 per cent, that is more than four times the growth rate forecast for the Canadian A Cree woman takes economy over that same period. the wheel during a And while that is good news on many heavy equipment fronts, the fact that many of the largest operator’s course in mining projects are close to remote First Mistissini, Quebec. Nation communities, with populations that have limited formal education and skills training, is cause for growing concern. Our work in essential skills assessment and training for mining jobs with the James Bay Cree Nation in northwestern Quebec has taught us some valuable lessons about what employers can do to maximize human resources in remote Aboriginal communities. For mining companies setting up operations on or near Aboriginal land, get to know the people who live in the communities near If you are serious about attracting First Nation your mine. They are probably very young – almost women, that’s the kind of woman to profile in half under the age of 25 – and more than half of them recruiting brochures and to include on your hiring probably do not have a high school education. In committees. some remote northern communities, that figure is Second, design training programs specifically for closer to three-quarters. With high school graduation Aboriginal women. rates in First Nation schools across the country Our experience here suggests Cree women have running at about 35 per cent, these numbers are as many – or more – basic literacy and numeracy unlikely to change much during the life of your mine. skills as Cree men. They are the building blocks for This group of young men and women is the most the technical and on-the-job training most Aboriginal important, affordable and accessible source of labour people will need if they want to work in the mines. for your mine. How can you make the most of it? Vocational instructors tell us women are consistently First, focus on the women. Get women directly among their top students. On-site trainers and mine involved in recruitment. supervisors tell us female employees take better care The belief that mining is a ‘man’s job’ and a mine is of their equipment and pay more attention to detail
training programs or applying for jobs at the mines. In spite of the fact that women are more likely to be high school graduates and make up 50 per cent of the population across Cree territory, less than 10 per cent of all the participants in mining-related training programs in this part of northern Quebec are women. Why? Employers need to understand that until their young children are taken care of, most Aboriginal women are simply not going to consider mining a viable employment option. Doing all you can to provide quality, affordable child care, whether in nearby Aboriginal communities or at mine sites themselves, is the single most effective way to attract more Aboriginal women to mining in the North. If you are operating near Aboriginal communities, consider funding day cares in communities close to your mines. If there are waiting lists for access, do all you can to ensure women who want to work for you have a spot for their young children. And if there aren’t any licensed early learning and care programs nearby, see how you can help set one up. If you operate a remote, fly-in, fly-out mine where young mothers will have to spend 12 or 14 days at a time on the job and away from their children, consider providing on-site child care. Too big an expense? Maybe. But companies typically spend millions of dollars equipping their remote camps with weight and exercise rooms, indoor hockey rinks and an assortment of recreational equipment for their predominantly male workers. Why not match that with child-care facilities for female employees with young children? You will diversify your workforce by attracting and retaining more women employees. And over time, such an investment in Aboriginal women may well pay off in helping keep Aboriginal families together and strengthening the social fabric of remote, First Nation communities. Addressing skills shortages in the North will require a long-term investment in northern communities. Aboriginal women are an untapped resource that could go a long way in helping solve the problem.
Daniel Bland is lead instructor for the Eeyou Mining Skills Enhancement Program, an initiative of Cree Human Resources Development, in Mistissini, Quebec.
Free entry, prospectors and the junior sector Stan Sudol
Onotassiniik Columnist
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ho are Benny Hollinger, Jack Wilson and Sandy McIntyre? They are the three prospectors who discovered the Porcupine gold camp in 1909. That transformative event led to the establishment of Timmins as Canada’s second biggest mining community, and the production of almost 70 million ounces gold and counting. In contrast, the Klondike gold rush lasted roughly 10 years and produced about 12 million ounces. Almost a hundred years later, in 2007, an interesting mix of six geologists and junior mining executives – Richard Nemis, Mac Watson, Frank Smeenk, John Harvey, Neil Novak and Don Hoy – collectively discovered the geologically rich Ring of Fire. Located in the isolated James Bay Lowlands, the Ring of Fire’s nickel, copper, platinum group elements and massive chromite deposits are tentatively worth $60 billion and counting. Ontario is the largest mineralproducing province in Canada. It has a long and colourful history of mineral development that has created enormous wealth and hundreds of thousands of well-paying jobs, established the province as a global leader in all facets of mineral development, and made Toronto an international centre of mine financing. All of this was the result of the “free entry” system that allows the ability to claim stake Crown land that will give prospectors or junior explorers the exclusive right to do further geological work in the hope of finding a valuable mineral deposit.
During the past few years, many environmental organizations and some First Nations communities have been arguing for the elimination of the free entry system. That would be collectively shooting ourselves in both feet, and putting at risk more than a century of mining expertise and enormous economic wealth creation. Before I continue about the free entry system, I need to give an overview about prospectors and the junior exploration sector. To start, there is an enormous difference between the junior exploration sector – these companies are often called junior miners even though they usually produce no commercial quantities of minerals – and the seniors with operating mines. Prospectors and junior explorers are the critical lifeblood of Ontario’s “mining ecosystem” and the work they do could be considered the industry’s version of research and development. Over the previous few decades, there has been a significant change in who does exploration. Today, the majors do significantly less grassroots exploration work, focusing instead on deposit delineation at their operations. Without new discoveries by the juniors, the majors of the mining world would have problems replenishing their declining ore bodies. Without a doubt, mineral exploration is a very risky business. Only one out of every 10,000 discoveries becomes a commercial operation, and it often takes about 10 years before the mine is built and production starts. Prospectors usually make their money by selling or optioning their properties to interested junior explorers, while juniors with economical deposits are most often bought out by producing majors.
Since the odds of finding an economic deposit are low, it’s vital that the mineral exploration sector have access to as large a land base as possible to lower the risk. The vast majority of junior mineral exploration companies rely entirely on the financial capital markets by selling shares to investors to fund their exploration activities. That funding activity helps make Toronto a global financial powerhouse. The Toronto stock and venture exchanges have the largest number of listed mining and energy companies in the world. In 2011, 60 per cent of global mining equity capital was raised on these two exchanges. Last year, the province’s mining sector was worth $9.6 billion, while exploration expenditures were at $903 million – 23 per cent of the Canadian total. Exploration expenditures are roughly split between the major producers and junior grassroots and advanced exploration. A healthy and vibrant junior exploration sector is fundamental to finding and developing the next generation of mines. And the critical policy initiative that is essential for all this economic activity is the free entry system. Free entry protects the intellectual property and knowledge of prospectors or junior explorers. Regardless of the name, it is not free. After one year, claim holders must conduct, on an annual basis, a variety of costly assessment activities. This work may include geophysics or geochemical surveys, stripping or trenching, line cutting, drilling or bulk sampling, all of which have a low impact on the environment. First Nation reserves are closed and cannot be claim staked but their traditional territories – which encompass
much, if not all of the Crown land in northern Ontario – are open. Claim staking is a private and highly competitive undertaking, due to the fact that millions or even billions of dollars can be on the line if the prospector has chosen the right mineral-rich ground. For this potential payoff, most explorers endure years of tough economic conditions, harsh weather, uncomfortable insect-infested swamps, and rugged forests with the occasional cranky bear or moose. Historically, it was this system that allowed many of the great mineral discoveries that made both Ontario and Canada global mining powerhouses. As of last year, changes in the Ontario Mining Act now allow First Nation communities to withdraw sites of Aboriginal significance so mining claims cannot be staked, therefore eliminating potential conflict. More thorough Mining Act rules require the filling out of exploration plans and permits, which will be vetted by Aboriginal communities. As the developing world continues to urbanize and industrialize – despite the current economic slowdown – they will need the many mineral commodities located throughout northern Ontario. The wealth is definitely there but we need to allow the prospectors and junior explorers access to the land to find these future mines that will eventually provide long-term, well-paying jobs to many Aboriginal communities. Stan Sudol is a Toronto-based communications consultant and mining policy analyst who owns/edits RepublicOfMining.com.