NUNAVUT - Almost half of the witnesses consulted during a year-long parliamentary review of Northern economic development spoke on behalf of Nunavut-focused businesses, government departments and organizations, and while their concerns about Canada's youngest territory ran the gamut, one demand came up regularly among witnesses: training, training, training.

Nunavut needs to ramp up its training initiatives in order to meet the demand for labour created by sectors like the mining industry, witnesses from Nunavut have told a Parliamentary committee that recently released a report on Northern economic development. Here, Jonathan Tugak of Baker Lake works in the assay lab at the Meadowbank gold mine near Baker Lake. - Guy Quenneville/NNSL photo

But as witnesses made clear, Nunavut – now home to Agnico-Eagle's Meadowbank gold mine as well numerous exploration projects with the potential to grow the mining sector – needs not only entry-level mine workers but also residents – Nunavut-based residents, specifically – equipped to take on highly-skilled positions in business, finance and administration as well as the territory's underfunded regulatory bodies.

In April 2009, Parliament's Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development (the Committee) began its study of economic development barriers and solutions in Nunavut, the NWT and Yukon. The report, tabled last May and released last week, contained 35 recommendations intended to strengthen the territories' economy.

Among 96 witnesses, approximately 45 spoke to issues preventing economic growth in Nunavut.

The usual suspects turned up: a lack of infrastructure, high unemployment among Northern Aboriginals, a lack of consultation with regional organizations by the federal government.

The need to train Nunavummiut so that future jobs within the mining sector don't go to Southerners was highlighted several times.

"The majority of the skilled workforce is still coming from southern Canada," said Lawrence Connell, director of sustainable development for Agnico-Eagle. "This trend needs to be reversed for the North to become economically sustainable."

But it's not just the mining sector that sounded that call.

Dionne Filliatrault, executive director of the Nunavut Water Board, said Nunavut's regulatory boards have managed to employ a number of Inuit beneficiaries over the years after putting them through the Nunavut Implementation Training Committee (NITC), funded via a one-time grant negotiated as part of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement.

But future funding is not certain, she added.

"The boards were advised by NITC in April 2010 that unless new funding could be negotiated (as

was expected in 2003) all training programs would be discontinued within two years," said Filliatrault. "This would severely limit the boards’ ability to train Inuit beneficiaries, especially to enter senior positions within the organization."

The operations of the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency (CanNor) also came under scrutiny from witnesses.

Some CanNor funding is simply ill-timed, according to Mark Morrissey, acting chair of the Nunavut Economic Forum.

"New year funding is often withheld [by the federal government] pending submission of activity reports and, in many cases, audited financial statements. Realistically, at least here in Nunavut, many organizations are not able to provide audited statements until September," he said.

"That being the case, organizations that are intending to use funding to purchase equipment and supplies have already missed the cutoff dates for sealift and are now forced to fly in goods at a much higher cost.

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