Fate of De Beers funding unknown
Company says Snap Lake Mine's socio-economic
donations to be reviewed in wake of December closure
Kassina Ryder
Northern News Services
Monday, January 11, 2016
NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
De Beers' December announcement that it was shutting down operations at its Snap Lake mine has some organizations in the territory concerned about replacing funding formerly provided by the company.
Maverick Beaulieu, a Grade 1 student at Deninu School in Fort Resolution, flips through an offering at the De Beers Books in Homes program. The annual program has brought literature into some of the territory's smaller communities up until last year. With the company reviewing its funding in the wake of the Snap Lake Mine closure, there is no word on the future of programs such as this. - NNSL file photo |
De Beers provided nearly $240,000 in arts, culture and heritage funding to organizations in the Northwest Territories in 2014, according to the Snap Lake Mine Socio-Economic Report released that same year.
The NWT Heritage Fair society received $5,000 of that funding in 2014, said society president Monique Marinier.
"Does it affect us? Of course it does," she said. "It seriously cuts into our minimal budget."
While the society didn't receive any money from De Beers last year, Marinier said previous funding had made a big difference when it came to running the territory's annual Heritage Fair.
"If you're taking $5,000 out of $40,000, that's a lot of money," she said. "When they gave us $5,000 dollars, our whole budget was $40,000. That's all we had."
The money helped pay for expenses, especially the cost of bringing students to the heritage fair's
territorial showcase in Yellowknife in May.
"That is our big issue, the activities and food is minimal," Marinier said.
"You're talking principally about travel."
In early December, De Beers announced that it was closing the Snap Lake Mine, which is located northeast of Yellowknife.
More than 400 workers were laid off, including 100 from the territory.
It is still unclear what the closure will mean for the funding previously provided to organizations from De Beers, said Tom Ormsby, senior external and corporate affairs manager. During a phone call with News/North on Jan. 7, Ormsby said nothing had changed since his comments were published in a previous News/North story about the NorthWords writers festival. De Beers had announced it would be cutting about $19,250 in cash and in-kind annual funding the company had provided to the festival since it began a decade ago. In the story, Ormsby said the company would review any remaining funding and decide how it should be distributed.
Marinier said she hoped De Beers would make that decision sooner rather than later.
"When you lose a little bit of funding ... it's a big loss," she said.
De Beers had also funded the Books in Homes program, which distributed books to schools in communities near its mines. The program hosted an annual book fair and allowed students to each take home three books, which were purchased through the Yellowknife Book Cellar, according to De Beers.
It provided nearly 40,000 books to schools since it began in 2003, including Deninu School in Fort Resolution. Principal Kate Powell said the program was popular and was a great way to get students interested in reading, especially because the books were brand-new and offered a wide range of subjects and reading levels.
"We don't have a bookstore here in Fort Resolution," Powell said.
"Although the students do like to order them through Scholastic, there is something nice about being able to go and browse a lot of books at the same time."
Once students selected their books, they read them both at school and at home. Powell said the program will be missed if De Beers isn't able to fund it this year.
"It was definitely a positive program and we looked forward to it every year," she said.
