Kivalliq delegates attend biggest trade show in North America
Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Rankin Inlet (Mar 14/01) - The mayors and SAOs from three Kivalliq hamlets are rubbing elbows with some of the mining industry's elite this week.
The six are attending the Prospector and Developer Association of Canada trade show and convention from March 11-14 in Montreal.
A number of representatives from Kivalliq Inuit associations and government departments are also attending.
Arviat SAO Darren Flynn says the trade show and convention is the largest of its kind in North America.
He says the main reason for Arviat being represented is to develop contacts directly with companies such as WMC.
"We never see their representatives on their own turf, so we'll be participating in a number of presentations and taking the opportunity to do some further networking," says Flynn.
Arviat's approach at the conference is to place its emphasis on the recruitment of local employees.
Flynn says he and Mayor David Alagalak will be exploring opportunities they may be able to open up for people in the community.
"To say we want to see local people getting the first crack at jobs is all fine and dandy, but what conditions or skills do they need in place to be able to do that?
"Are there programs we could be running in town to prepare individuals or businesses?"
The mayors and SAOs are being financed through the Department of Community Government and Transportation's (CG&T) broad Community Development Fund, used to develop and enhance community capacity.
CG&T's Shawn Maley says he selected the three Kivalliq communities with the most mining activity -- Baker Lake, Arviat and Rankin Inlet -- to attend the conference.
Maley says the group will be meeting the biggest mining players in the region, going to seminars and finding out what the mining industry is all about.
There's another group of people they'll also be meeting that Maley is quite keen on them talking to.
"The most important reason I had for sending them to this was for them to meet municipal officials from such places as Thompson, Sudbury and Lynn Lake, places where the mines have come and gone," says Maley.
"That will show them it's not all good news. And, although they should enter with excitement, they should also enter with trepidation because there's no shortage of pitfalls in the mining industry."
