MORRISBURG, ONT.
A chance meeting at this year's Iqaluit trade show has led to former Quttiktuq MLA Ron Elliott agreeing to become the Nunavut representative for the Morrisburg, Ontario-based Operating Engineers Training Institute of Ontario.

Baffinland's camp at Milne Inlet. Training Nunavummiut is a priority for increasing Northern participation in the industrial workforce. Former MLA Ron Elliott is now the Nunavut representative for the institute, and hopes to connect more Nunavummiut to industry opportunities in Nunavut. - photo courtesy Baffinland Iron Mines Corp.

Elliott has seen first hand the improvements that come with mining jobs in the North.

"About a year ago, we had 40 per cent unemployment," Elliott said about his come community of Arctic Bay. "We've had a big improvement since then thanks to mine hiring."

The mine hiring Elliott is referring to is at Baffinland Iron Mines Corp.'s Mary River iron ore mine which began producing iron ore last month.

Elliott has lived in his adopted home of Arctic Bay since 1991 and has worked to improve the challenging living conditions that come with living in remote Northern communities.

It came as no surprise then that Elliot would be concerned about a recent labour market report prepared for Baffinland that showed the company will face difficulties finding enough trained Northern workers to fill out its workforce.

Nunavut News/North reported last month that, according to the report, nearly 80 per cent of jobs at the Mary River site and the related port at Milne Inlet may have to go to a southern fly-in-fly-out workforce due to a lack of qualified Northern workers.

The majority of the 326 total jobs available between the Mary River site and the Milne Inlet site will require, at minimum, a high school diploma or occupation specific training. Of those 326 jobs, 177 will require higher-level college or apprenticeship training.

"The workforce is supposed to be representative of the population, but that is hard to do because you need a skilled labour force," Elliott said. "It's going to be a generation before we can get to that point."

Elliot estimates there are at least 30 Arctic Bay residents working at Mary River, and he believes there's room for improvement.

To that end, Elliott has forged a relationship with the institute.

"They've trained approximately 500 Nunavummiut in the last eight years," Elliott said. "I've been contracted by them to promote the training they do in Morrisburg. The (nine) people who have been sent down from Arctic Bay now all have jobs working at Mary River making good money."

With nine already working, connecting more Nunavummiut to the same opportunity is now Elliott's job.

"There are a lot of opportunities with the mines that are happening in the North," he said. "The average salary is around $100,000 with benefits."

Work at the mine is based on a two-week-in, two-week-out cycle.

"It's not a typical way of working in the 9-to-5 sense," Elliott said. "But the guys have the money they need to go hunting with their two weeks off. Even one new job in the community is a tremendous asset. With extended families, you're not just supporting the one family."

Elliott pointed to Baffinland's Arctic Bay employment liaison as just one example of how the company is making good on its commitment to hire locally. But he added that Northerners can't expect mining companies to provide all the solutions to increasing local employment.

"From what I've seen, Baffinland is trying their hardest, but they are behind the eight-ball," Elliott said.

"They're operating an active mine (and) it's hard to do training on top of it."