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Harper returns North Prime Minister announces $100 million in funding for geomapping over seven years, lauds aboriginal training ahead of 2017 mining boom
Daron Letts
Northern News Services
Published Monday, August 26, 2013
HAY RIVER
Prime Minister Stephen Harper returned North for the eighth time earlier this month, visiting Hay River, Gjoa Haven and Rankin Inlet along the way. He spoke about the importance of training aboriginal mine workers and announced $100 million to fund Arctic geoscience research.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper shares a lighthearted moment with the crowd as Nunavut MP Leona Aglukkaq looks on during a gathering at the Rankin Inlet Community Hall to welcome Harper to the hamlet on Aug. 21. - Darrell Greer/NNSL photo
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He began the NWT-leg of his tour on Aug. 19 with his first visit to the Hub, where he re-announced $5.8 million budgeted for the Mine Training Society's Mining the Future Program.
“The mining sector is already the biggest private employer in the territory,” he said, during a private event in the Don Stewart Recreation Centre on Aug. 20. “We want to make sure we open the doors to the great treasure for Northerners, and to see it benefit all people in the North."
The Mining the Future Program is designed to remove barriers to employment for aboriginal residents of the NWT and Nunavut's Kitikmeot region by providing skills training and seeking criminal records suspensions for workers.
The Prime Minister told the invitation-only audience he wants to encourage aboriginal communities, with their young and growing populations often located close to mine sites, to seek training for industry jobs.
The NWT is expected to experience a burst of mining jobs by 2017, according to Hilary Jones, general manager of the society. Nearly 5,000 mining positions and another 9,000 related service jobs, such as fuel handling, logistics, expediting and catering, are anticipated.
To meet the approaching increase in demand for skilled labour, the society is consulting with industry partners to help prepare more than 32 programs for 2013-15, representing an estimated 260 students, 220 of whom are predicted to find employment in the mining sector.
"(The mines) are going to be able to draw on a lot of skilled individuals that have been trained in the area of heavy equipment operating, geoscience field assistant, and underground mining," Jones said.
An underground mining program is being offered in Hay River next month.
Hay River Mayor Andrew Cassidy said training NWT residents will help more workers take advantage of emerging employment opportunities.
“We’re competing globally for skilled labour and having more training located in the North will hopefully reduce the number of workers we have to bring in,” he said.
Federal money for the Mining the Future program comes from Human Resources and Social Development Canada. The program is also funded by society partners including aboriginal governments, the GNWT, Kitikmeot Inuit Association, Diavik Diamond Mine, De Beers Canada, Dominion Diamond Corporation, Avalon Rare Metals Inc. and Canadian Zinc Corporation.
Geo-Mapping in Nunavut
The Prime Minister announced a $100 million investment distributed over seven years for an extension of the Geo-Mapping for Energy and Minerals program.
The program provides the geoscience knowledge for private sector exploration companies to guide investment decisions, as well as inform the government's land-use decisions, such as the creation of parks and other protected areas. The research is administered by the Geological Survey of Canada, the Polar Continental Shelf Project, the Earth Sciences sector and Natural Resources Canada.
The program began in 2008 with a five-year, $100 million investment, 75 per cent of which was focused on the Arctic.
The first annual instalment of the new funding will be $12 million, followed by $22 million for each of the remaining six years.
“Our investment in resource exploration will continue to unlock the full economic, mineral and energy potential of the region, while generating new government revenues, private sector investment and jobs," the Prime Minister said. "This critical knowledge will also help Northerners make informed decisions about land use and preserve our Northern environment."
The vast size and remote locations of mining operations in the NWT and Nunavut present a challenge for sustaining and growing the resource extraction industry. Adequate geological knowledge has been collected for only about one third of Nunavut, for instance, according to the Department of Natural Resources.
“At one third the area of Canada, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories are the two most under-mapped jurisdictions in the country,” stated Cathie Bolstad, President of the Chamber of Mines, in an Aug. 22 news release. “The Prime Minister’s announcement to modernize geoscience information will really help our industry to efficiently focus exploration attention and dollars in areas more likely to host economic mineral deposits, thus increasing the probability of discovery. This will help us sustain the great benefits our industry is providing to the North.”
According to the Prime Minister, this latest phase of geoscience funding will further develop modern geological maps and data sets that will completely cover Canada’s North by 2020.
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