Onotassiniik Summer 2014

NORONT RESOURCES: Eagle’s Nest Innovation & Environmental Assessment

Onotassiniik Wawatay’s Mining Quarterly

SUMMER 2014

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Over 30 Northern First Nations involved in past projects A Few Northern Projects  Lower Mattagami River Projects—3 Substations & 1 Switching Station—2013  Kapuskasing River Projects—4 Substations—2013  Detour Lake Gold Mine—185km 230kV Transmission Line—2012  Greenwich Wind Farm—10km 2 circuit 230kV T-Line & 32km collector system—2011  DeBeers Victor Mine—115kV Substation—2006  Umbata Falls Hydro Project—23km 115kV T-Line—2006  Omushkego Ishkotayo—270km 115kV T-Line & Stations along James Bay Coast—2001  Musselwhite Mine—Site Substation—1997  Lac Des Iles Mine—70km 115kV T-Line, Substation & Site Distribution—1996

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PARTNERSHIPS VOLUME 2, NUMBER 2 Onotassiniik (translated from Oji-Cree as ‘People Who Work With Rocks’) is a forum for sharing knowledge about the mining industry in northern Ontario with First Nation communities, individuals and leaders. The magazine emphasizes best practices within the industry, while providing information about mining activities and agreements involving First Nations.

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Photo: Bryan Phelan Stephen Lindley, left, vice-president of Aboriginal and Northern Affairs for SNC-Lavalin Group, chats with Mike Metatawabin of Fort Albany First Nation, president of Five Nations Energy Inc., during the 2013 Ontario Mining Forum in Thunder Bay.

Contributors Canada 2020, Lenny Carpenter, Daniel Bland, Rick Garrick, Raymond Goulet & Herb Shields/Stantec, Matawa First Nations Management, Cory McPhee/ Vale, Noront Resources, Stephanie Wesley

First Nations Mining Corp. will seek joint ventures

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everal First Nations in northern Ontario have teamed with one of the leading construction and engineering groups in the world to form the First Nations Mining Corporation (FNMC).

The First Nations of Flying Post, Lac Seul, Mattagami and Wahgoshig have reached a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to capitalize the proposed corporation with SNCLavalin, which has offices across Canada and in more than 40 other countries around the world.

Other partners to the MOU are Cementation Canada Inc. and the Morris Group Limited. Each partner will become a shareholder in FNMC. In a Jan. 30 news release, the FNMC partners explained that the corporation will form joint venture partnerships with local Aboriginal communities to promote, develop and carry out engineering, construction, environmental and other services for mining companies in Ontario. FNMC will also work to strengthen ties

Goldcorp & Mishkeegogamang agree to co-operate

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between Aboriginal communities and mining companies to facilitate the training and hiring of Aboriginal workers, and the procurement of goods and services from Aboriginal suppliers.

“We are very pleased with this new partnership, which is a solid model for sustainable development in First Nations communities,” said Stephen Lindley, vice-president of Aboriginal and Northern Affairs for SNC-Lavalin Group. “Our partners have worked diligently with Aboriginal leadership, companies and organizations across Canada to create business opportunities which contribute to sustainable social and economic development throughout Ontario’s Aboriginal communities. Through strategic alliances and partnering, we will ensure we meet these goals while also providing top-tier services to the mining industry.”

Lindley said the FNMC concept originated with Dave Morris, owner of the Morris Group.

“… It will provide further opportunities to support First Nations communities in deriving real and lasting benefits through their involvement in mining projects,” John Pollesel, CEO of the Morris Group, said of FNMC. According to its news release, FNMC will focus on helping First Nation communities enhance their understanding of the mining industry; identify opportunities; build capacity; and develop their own First Nation companies to support mining projects. The corporation will also facilitate Aboriginal employment by developing programs to upgrade skills, and to provide training and certification.

“With this agreement, FNMC will offer a competitive, Aboriginal-owned alternative for the design, construction and operation of mining projects,” the partners noted, “while helping mining companies obtain social licences to operate throughout the province.”

Romios signs letter of intent with North Caribou Lake

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omios Gold Resources Inc. has received an he Mishkeegogamang Ojibway Nation and exploration permit from the Ministry of Northern Goldcorp Inc. have signed a “co-operation Development and Mines for its claims in the vicinity of agreement” for working together.

Announced in a joint news release Jan. 22, Akow Lake, in the North Caribou Lake area.

Along with the issuance of the permit, Romios the agreement applies to Goldcorp’s activities in signed a binding letter of intent with North Caribou Mishkeegogamang’s traditional territory.

Lake First Nation – broadly defined as the community It sets out the terms of employment and of Weagamow Lake, its traditional territory, chief and training opportunities; business opportunities; council, and trappers – the company said in a Feb. 19 ongoing communication; and news release. financial contributions to the Based on the letter of intent, both community and local land parties will work towards completing a users affected by Goldcorp’s memorandum of understanding that will Musselwhite Mine. govern their relationship during the early The Musselwhite Mine, exploration phase on the Lundmarksituated near Opapimiskan Akow Lake property. The proposed Lake in northwestern Ontario, exploration “has been the subject of has operated since 1997. A ongoing discussions with the North portion of the mine’s access Caribou Lake First Nation for some time,” road and ancillary facilities, Romios noted in its release.

“Romios looks forward to developing including a power line, cross Chief Connie Gray-McKay the positive relationship with the North through Mishkeegogamang Caribou Lake First Nation in accordance with the letter territory near the township of Pickle Lake.

“It is important that companies whose activities of intent, which recognizes the need for both parties may impact our community or our traditional lands to benefit and co-exist through a process of mutual work with us to conclude appropriate agreements,” respect, ongoing dialogue and regular interaction …,” since consent is required for such activities, said the release continued.

The exploration permit, effective for three years, will Mishkeegogamang Chief Connie Gray-McKay. “We allow Romios to resume exploration at the Lundmarkappreciate the commitment and respectful approach Akow Lake property, located within the North Caribou the company has taken.”

Lake greenstone belt of the Patricia Mining Division The new agreement, which gained community in northwestern Ontario. Earlier exploration carried support through a series of local consultations, out by Romios identified indications of widespread builds on a longstanding relationship between gold mineralization. In addition, the company Mishkeegogamang and Goldcorp. discovered an extensive zone of stringer-type copper “Goldcorp Musselwhite Mine has a history of mineralization, believed to reflect a more massive successfully working in co-operation with local First copper sulphide occurrence at depth.

Nations,” said Bill Gascon, general manager of the Romios is a Canadian exploration company with mine. “This agreement is another example of our a primary focus on gold, silver and copper. It has commitment to creating shared value and ensuring significant property interests in Ontario, Quebec, that First Nations can benefit from our activities.”

British Columbia, and Nevada.

Xmet-Constance Lake agreement for Blackflake project

James Brohm Bryan Phelan Tom Scura Matthew Bradley Vicky Angees Grant Keesic

phone (807) 737-2951 toll free 1-800-243-9059 fax (807) 737-2263 16 Fifth Ave. P.O. Box 1180 Sioux Lookout, ON P8T 1B7 Advertising Tom Scura toms@wawatay.on.ca phone (807) 344-3022 toll free 1-888-575-2349 fax (807) 344-3182 2nd Floor Royal Bank Building, Suite 202 Victoriaville Centre 620 Victoria Ave. East Thunder Bay, ON P7C 1A9

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met Inc. has signed an exploration agreement with the Constance Lake First Nation that enables the exploration and development of the company’s Blackflake project 60 kilometres northwest of Hearst, Ontario.

Blackflake consists of two separate blocks of claims near Zenyatta’s Albany project. A significant hydrothermal graphite deposit was discovered at the Albany project in 2011, and the Blackflake claim blocks share similar geological and structural features.

The agreement between Xmet and Constance Lake, which took effect Jan. 23, outlines the working relationship between the two parties for exploration activities within the First Nation’s traditional territory. Xmet agreed to provide: compensation to the Constance Lake First Nation community, subject to achieving certain thresholds; environmental protection; employment, business and training opportunities; and mitigation of impacts on the First Nation’s traditional territory. In connection with the execution of the agreement, Xmet will issue 200,000 common shares in the capital of Xmet, then 200,000 common share purchase warrants in each of the next three years.

“Management and I look forward to continuing to work with the Constance Lake First Nation community as the Blackflake project progresses,” Alexander Stewart, Xmet’s chairman and CEO, said in a Jan. 27 news release.

Two months later, Xmet announced it had contracted with Asinii Drilling to start drilling at Blackflake, with the drill program expected to last several months.

onotassiniik.com

On the Cover Photo: Rick Garrick Aroland Councillor Samson Meshake presents band member Leanne Gagnon, holding her three-year-old daughter, with an achievement award during a Kiikenomaga Kikenjigewen Employment and Training Services graduation ceremony for its Aboriginal Skills Advancement Pilot Program (ASAPP). Gagnon and 45 other graduates from Matawa communities celebrated their achievement with a ceremony April 4 in Thunder Bay. “The ASAPP program has been set up to help our community members get the skills and training they need to improve their lives in the new economy that is emerging due to resource development,” said David Paul Achneepineskum, CEO of Matawa First Nations Management.

For more on the graduation, see page 15.

WAWATAY’S MINING QUARTERLY

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CLAIMS

It is one thing to have an idea or a bold objective, quite another to deliver. As Thomas “ Edison once observed, ‘vision without execution is hallucination.’

Northern Ontario’s Ring of Fire is a classic example of our potential and our problem. It has been described as ‘the most promising mining opportunity in Canada in a century.’ And yet, despite its unparalleled potential, the project has been hamstrung for years by uncertainties about Aboriginal concerns, by infrastructure limitations and environmental challenges.

If properly developed, significant deposits of copper, zinc, nickel, platinum, vanadium and gold could contribute more than $25 billion in economic activity and almost $7 billion in government revenues. What is desperately needed is a concrete action plan and an enhanced spirit of partnership to bring that promise to life.

The Ring of Fire is in a very real sense a microcosm of our broader challenge. The biggest challenge is uncertainty.

The resource sector has hugely capitalintensive projects with a long life. But these projects cannot go forward if they become captives of seemingly endless processes and reviews. Public policy has a critical role to play in reducing some of that uncertainty …”

–Part of a speech by former prime minister Brian Mulroney, answering the question “What is the next big thing for Canada?” Mulroney delivered the keynote speech April 8 at the Canada 2020 dinner in Ottawa. He called for the establishment of a Canadian “Resource Development Office” to expand resource development, speed up infrastructure construction and streamline regulatory reviews.

Photo: Canada 2020

“With more than 400,000 Aboriginal youth projected to be ready to enter the labour market over the next 15 years, helping Aboriginal youth to succeed in school and graduate is critical to increasing their participation in Canada’s economy. Their talents and their ambition should be part of the solution to Canada’s looming labour shortage. … The Ring of Fire is a perfect example. It has incredible potential to benefit the Northern Ontario economy, including remote First Nations with a limited economic base.”

–Bernard Valcourt, minister of Aboriginal affairs and northern development, says in a Feb. 18 speech to the Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce

Photo: Rick Garrick

“I’m not asking you to marry me or love me or even to kiss me. I’m saying, quite simply, that if we have a common vision about development in the North, it should be based on the historical relationship, which was mutual gain and friendship.”

– Ovide Mercredi, former national chief and current Misipawistik Cree Nation councillor, speaks at the Grow Greenstone Expo in Thunder Bay, March 18, about resource development relations between First Nations and Canada

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SUMMER 2014

“Ontario has the second lowest level of provincial taxes in the mining industry.

B.C. basically pays companies to take its resources. Ontario seems to just give the resources away. This matters to the North.

The definition of sustainable development for mining is collecting a share of your mineral wealth and investing in other productive assets.”

–David Robinson, who teaches natural resource economics at Laurentian University, writes Jan. 29 in Northern Ontario Business

Photo: Rick Garrick

UPFRONT

Consulting firm gets key Ring of Fire role MNDM spokesperson said before the Deloitte appointment.

Onotassiniik “Using a development corporation model to advance infrastructure development will ensure he Ontario government has enlisted First Nations can participate in the governance Deloitte LLP to help set up a development and use of the transportation infrastructure,” Frank corporation expected to build, finance and Iacobucci, Ontario’s lead negotiator for Ring of Fire operate infrastructure to the remote Ring of Fire talks with Matawa, said in November when the mining region. That infrastructure would include province introduced the concept. a transportation link to the area, 540 kilometres Matawa’s chief negotiator, Bob Rae, said in early northeast of Thunder Bay, and its $60 billion worth March the First Nations he represents wouldn’t of known mineral potential. participate in the development corporation “Deloitte will act as a neutral, third-party initiative until they had reached a framework resource for key partners, including First Nations, agreement with Ontario for broader negotiations the provincial and federal on Ring of Fire development. The governments, and industry,” the agreement was signed later that A long-term Ministry of Northern Development month. strategic approach and Mines (MNDM) announced KWG Resources, which owns 30 to infrastructure Feb. 14. per cent of the Big Daddy chromite As one of Canada’s leading investment will deposit, indicated in an April 28 news consulting and corporate release it had met several times with be required to negotiation firms, “Deloitte LLP the Deloitte consultants to discuss fully capitalize on will work with Ring of Fire partners the creation and financing of the Canada’s mining to set clear paths and timelines for development corporation. KWG has decision-making, create guiding opportunity, staked claims for a potential northprinciples for the development south rail line between the Ring of particularly in corporation, and seek consensus Fire and Nakina.

Canada’s North. on the corporation’s next steps,” “KWG is very supportive of the MNDM stated in a news release. proposed development corporation,” –The Mining “Work is also underway to noted the exploration company’s Association of Canada help partners build a common release. “Some great Canadian cites “improved understanding of infrastructure infrastructure projects, such as infrastructure” as one needs in the region … and Pearson International Airport, of the top needs of establish a common technical exemplify what can be achieved the Canadian mining basis to inform decisions to when an industry and those served maximize the economic and industry in 2014. by it are given governance of a public social potential of the Ring of Fire institution.” region.”

Earlier in April, the First Nations As part of that work, a third-party of Marten Falls and Aroland said in a joint research report will examine existing infrastructure news release their preference is for a north-south proposals, which include proposals for a north- road that would pass through their traditional south railway and an east-west road. territories to the Ring of Fire.

The nine member First Nations of the Matawa Noront Resources, meanwhile, is proposing tribal council have been invited to participate an east-west road to link its planned Eagle’s Nest as partners in the development corporation, an mine to the Pickle Lake North Road.

Bryan Phelan

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photo: Office of the Prime Minister/Jason Ransom Prime Minister Stephen Harper and David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, look on as Greg Rickford is sworn in as minister of natural resources during a ceremony at Rideau Hall.

Rickford becomes natural resources minister Bryan Phelan Onotassiniik

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reg Rickford, member of Parliament for Kenora, has been promoted from being a junior minister in the Conservative government to its minister of natural resources.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper made the appointment March 19 as part of a cabinet shuffle made necessary by the resignation of Jim Flaherty as finance minister. (Flaherty died of a massive heart attack the following month.) Harper replaced Flaherty with Joe Oliver, who until then had been natural resources minister. Ed Holder, MP for London West, took over from Rickford as minister of state for science and technology.

In addition to taking on the natural resources portfolio,

considered one of the most important in government, Rickford continues his responsibility for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario (FedNor), for which he became minister of state in 2013. His role as head minister for the Ring of Fire mining development is also ongoing.

As natural resources minister, Rickford takes the lead on the larger Conservative goal of transforming Canada into an “energy superpower,” with an expected $650 billion in resource development over the next decade.

“Among the top files he will have to grapple with: stickhandling the government’s consultations with B.C. First Nations over the proposed and controversial Northern Gateway pipeline, and working with Ontario to make

progress in the Ring of Fire mining development,” Shawn McCarthy wrote in The Globe and Mail. “In both cases, the government’s relationship with Aboriginal communities and its willingness to help finance their development is key.”

Rickford’s experience working with First Nations should help.

In 2011, three years after being elected to the House of Commons, he became parliamentary secretary to the minister of Northern and Indian Affairs.

Previously, he worked for eight years as a nurse in remote First Nation communities in northwestern Ontario. When he later became a lawyer, the focus of his work remained on First Nations in the region.

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$1 billion pledge for Ring of Fire access Bryan Phelan Onotassiniik

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he Ontario Liberals committed in their 2014 budget $1 billion to develop an all-season transportation corridor to the Ring of Fire for industrial and community users, contingent on a matching amount from the federal government.

The Liberals announced the funding April 28, and included it in the budget presented three days later. However, the next day, May 2, provincial NDP leader Andrea Horwath said her party had lost confidence in the Liberal minority government and would vote with Conservatives against the budget. Premier Kathleen Wynne responded by asking Lt.-Gov. David Onley to dissolve the legislature, setting the stage for a provincial election on June 12.

“Our government is committed to making a significant investment to fund transportation infrastructure development in the Ring of Fire,” Michael Gravelle, minister of northern development and mines, said earlier in a news release announcing his government’s $1-billion commitment. “We have made important progress over the past few months to bring partners and divergent interests together. Now we need the federal government to match this commitment so that we can move forward on realizing the Ring of Fire’s potential.”

Alan Coutts, president and CEO of Noront Resources, which aims to open the first mine in the Ring of Fire, called the funding promise “a vital milestone” for development and remote communities in the region. “Mining and the associated job creation can’t happen without infrastructure, so we are pleased to see the province make a clear public commitment to funding a transportation corridor in the Ring of Fire. All-season road access, stable, affordable power and the opportunity to participate in the

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economic development of the region will benefit local communities, resource companies and government.”

But Vic Fedeli, finance critic for the Ontario Conservatives and MPP for Nipissing, argued the $1-billion pledge wasn’t credible. “After six years of doing nothing to advance the Ring of Fire opportunity for northerners, they’re now promising the moon without having put forward a concrete plan,” he said in news release. “It’s simply not believable.” Fedeli noted there was no timeline for development and no firm indication on the orientation of the transportation link.

Fedeli’s party in September 2013 released a policy paper on the North. “As a first step, we need to work with business and Aboriginal communities to expedite the construction of an all-season transportation link to the Ring of Fire deposits,” the Conservatives said.

In November 2013, the Liberal government said it would facilitate the creation of a development corporation to lead infrastructure development for the Ring of Fire. Since then it has enlisted a consulting firm to help set up the corporation.

In a letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper when the development corporation idea was introduced, Premier Wynne projected capital investment required for industrial infrastructure to the Ring of Fire would be up to $1 billion.

Another $1.25 billion would be needed to connect remote First Nation communities in the area to all-season access roads, she estimated.

“This is a priority benefit for the First Nations,” Raymond Ferris, Matawa’s Ring of Fire coordinator, has said of all-season roads for Matawa communities currently without them.

In response to Ontario’s call for matching Ring of Fire infrastructure funds from the federal Conservative government, Greg Rickford, minister of natural resources, said it’s up to the province to prioritize and apply for infrastructure money under the new Building Canada fund.

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BEST PRACTICES

‘Extraordinary opportunity’ unlocked at nickel mine Representatives of Vale, a global company that mines nickel in Canada, made a presentation March 25 to a parliamentary committee for Human Resources, Skills and Social Development. The topic being studied by the committee was “Opportunities for Aboriginal Persons in the Workforce.” Other presenters to the committee included speakers from the mining companies Goldcorp, Noront Resources and Rio Tinto. Below are excerpts from the Vale presentation by Cory McPhee, vice-president of corporate affairs, along with responses by Bob Carter, Vale’s manager of corporate affairs, to related committee questions.

Cory McPhee

Vice-President, Corporate Affairs Vale

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here is perhaps no better example of the results that effective collaboration can deliver with the appropriate partners, participation and commitment than at our mine site in Voisey’s Bay, Labrador. …

In the late 1990s, Vale, which was then Inco, acquired the rights to develop a significant nickel deposit at Voisey’s Bay. In 2005, the construction of the development was completed.

The Voisey’s Bay deposits are located on the traditional lands of the Innu and Inuit of Labrador. Given their rights over these lands, Vale entered into impacts and benefits agreements, IBAs, that set out how the land would be used and the benefits that would accrue to the Innu and the Inuit.

The subsequent development of this resource has resulted in billions of dollars in investment benefitting all levels of government and most importantly, transforming the economic prospects of the residents in adjacent communities. Beyond generating 5,000 jobs during construction, the operations currently employ around 500 people on a permanent basis.

From the outset, Vale, the federal government and our Aboriginal partners had an explicit focus on economic development that delivered both direct employment and contracting to Aboriginal businesses, and built capacity for the long term.

This common commitment among partners delivered an outcome that sees greater than 50 per cent Aboriginal direct employment at Voisey’s Bay operations – levels that Vale maintains to this day.

During the construction phase of the mine’s

development from 2002 to 2005, Vale awarded rate of Aboriginal employees and consistent $515 million in contracts to Aboriginal businesses. follow-through on commitments has created Since operations began in 2005, the company an enduring relationship between Vale and our has flowed more than $1.2 Aboriginal partners. billion in contracts to The involvement Aboriginal businesses of the federal Long-term relationships to support the government in ongoing operations providing training The thing you have to understand of the mine. On a support was a key continuous basis, component of the about mining is that it takes a long more than 80 per success experienced time to get a project started. In our cent of our contracts during the initial case, in Labrador, it was about 10 years are with Aboriginal phase at Voisey’s from when we discovered the property owned or operated Bay. Federal support businesses. for training was to when we could actually break ground.

(Bob Carter: Most essential to enabling In that 10 years we spent a lot of time of the businesses job readiness and in the (Innu and Inuit) communities that support our eventually putting … making sure that the communities operations are joint people to work. … ventures. … When We are proud understood what the opportunities were we signed the IBAs, to have partnered and what our requirements were. Thus, it was very clear … with the federal we developed relationships with training government, as well that all business institutions, with governments, with opportunities as the Innu and Inuit, flowing from our to develop a training communities, and they’ve stood us well operations would and employment over time. be given first, as a model that has –Bob Carter, manager of priority, to Aboriginal brought benefits to companies. We, in all. Collaboration, corporate affairs, Vale fact, had to educate consultation and the business community early alignment among that if they wanted to do business with us in the partners unlocked extraordinary opportunity.

Labrador, they must find an Aboriginal partner. …

(Bob Carter: We have no immediately adjacent What we’ve seen mature over 10 years is … community but we have about seven communities more capacity being built within the Aboriginal that we interact with, the closest being about communities themselves to manage the 40 kilometres away from our site. We’re a fly-in, businesses. … Thus, our ability to flow over $1 fly-out site. What we’re seeing is that most of the billion in supply contracts to the businesses is Aboriginal people who are working with us are indicative of how successful that model is.) living in their home communities. … They are This combination of an impressive retention bringing economic wealth to the communities.

They are promoting themselves (in) roles that students can aspire to achieve. We’re seeing higher graduation rates in high school and more students aspiring to do post-secondary programs.

It’s just scratching the surface, though. Some of the inherent problems that we see in the North are still there, and it requires real jobs and real economic generators that I think the mining industry offers to communities to create that kind of significant shift that needs to occur.)

This success is relevant as we look to the future. In the coming years, Vale plans to move ahead with developing the underground deposits at Voisey’s Bay. This will extend the life of the mine as well as the employment horizon by decades. In employment terms, developing the underground is expected to produce more than 800 construction jobs, and an additional 400 permanent jobs when underground mining begins in late 2019.

There is clear opportunity ahead of us but from an Aboriginal employment standpoint it involves a new challenge. The employment needs for the underground phase are different from those of the current surface operation, and very technically driven. All parties require significant lead time to develop the skills required to work underground. In anticipation of these needs, Vale has already begun to engage its Aboriginal partners in discussions to determine the metrics, the structure and the timeframe for taking on the training challenges associated with this next phase. …

Together the private sector, government and local communities can develop approaches that will ultimately produce rewarding, skilled jobs in the communities where people live. Ultimately, this is something we all want.

Students experience underground mining simulation Lenny Carpenter Onotassiniik

H

igh school students in the Thunder Bay area had the opportunity to try a video game-like mining simulator during the Fort William First Nation Mining Conference in March.

Using a video game controller, students took turns navigating and operating a virtual scoop tram in a first-person view through an underground mine. The scoop tram, a piece of heavy equipment used primarily underground for moving loose rock ore, traverses narrow corridors illuminated by the tram’s onboard light.

“We’ve been taking this to communities to show that this an underground project,” said Scott Jacob, community relations manager for Noront Resources, “and we invite people of all ages to try it out and see what it’s like to work in the environment.”

For the past two years, Noront has taken its mining simulator to First Nation communities such as Webequie, Neskantaga, Mishkeegogamang, Eabametoong, Nibinamik and Photo: Lenny Carpenter Noront Resources’ game-like simulator proves a popular way for students to learn about work as a miner.

6

SUMMER 2014

Attawapiskat, as well as to the townships of Pickle Lake and Ignace.

Since Noront is planning

an underground mine for its Eagle’s Nest project in the Ring of Fire, the simulator is a tool to show career opportunities that

will be available.

The feedback? “So far it has been positive,” Jacob said.

“It has generated a lot of

discussion in terms of what are the real requirements of anyone interested in underground mining or heavy machinery,”

he said. “But people realize it’s like a game, and they realize that a real-life situation could be different.”

SPECIAL REPORT PEAWANU K FIRST NATION

499,600

249,600

ON BEARSKIN LAK E FIRST NATION

WEENUS K FIRST NATION

KITCHEN UHMAYK OOS IB FIRST NATION

999,600

SACHIGO LAKE FIRS T NATI

749,600

N " ò

>

-400

6,000,000

A

WAPEKEKA FIRST NATION MUS KRAT DAM FIRST NATION KEY-WAY-WIN FIRST NATION

KASABONIKA FIRST NATION WAWAKAPEW IN FIRST NATION

NOR TH CAR IBOU LAK E FIRST NATION MUS SELWHITE GOLD MINE

KINGFISH ER FIRST NATION WUNNUMIN LAKE FIRST NATION

NIBINAMIK FIRST NATION

WEBEQUIE FIRST NATION

_ ^

VICTOR DIAMOND MINE

ATTAWAPISKAT FIRST NATION

MINE SITE

KASHECHEWAN FIRST NATION FORT ALBANY FIRST NATION

NESKANTAGA (LAN SDOWNE HOU SE) FIRST NATION

5,750,000 CAT LAKE FIRST NATION

Pickle Lake

Red Lake

V U

SLATE FALLS FIRST NATION

MAR TEN FALLS FIRST NATION

EABAMETOO NG (FOR T HOPE) FIRST NATION

HWY 599

B

FORT SEVERN

MISH KEEGOG AMANG FIRST NATION

Moosonee MINE SITE RED LAKE

OJIBWAY NATION OF SAU GEEN LAC SEU L FIRST NATION

\GIS\F igs\A7 24_rA .mxd; SAVED: I:\1\02\0039 0\01\A

_ ^

_ ^

Savant Lake

TRANS-LOAD FACILITY

ARO LAND FIRST NATI

ENGLISH RIVER FIRST NATION

Geraldton LAKE NIPIG ON FIRST NATION

_ ^

MOOSONEE NAKINA THUNDER BAY

ON

LONG LAKE #58 FIRS T NATION

TIMMINS

WAWA

Nakina GULL RIVER FIRST NATION

5,500,000

Dec 24, 2013 8:16 AM;

skozmick

Sioux Lookout

PICKLE LAKE

TRANS-LOAD FACILITY

MOOSE CREE FIRST NATION

SAULT STE. MARIE

CON STAN CE LAK E FIRST NATION

GINO OGAMING FIRST NATION

SUDBURY

Hearst TORONTO

Kapuskasing

V U

Fort Frances

HWY 17

LEGEND:

_ ^

DRAFT

MINE SITE AND TRAN S-LO AD FACILITY NOTES: COMMUNITY MINE RAL CLAIMS HELD

BY NORONT OPERATING MINE MINE RAL CLAIMS HELD 1. BASE MAP: © HER MAJESTY THE QUEE

BY OTH ERS EXISTING ALL-SEAS N IN RIGHTS OF CANA RESO URCES (2009 ).

ON ROAD DA DEPARTMENT OF ALL RIGHTS RESERVED NATU RAL PROPOSED ALL-SEA .

SON TRAN SPO RTAT FORT WILLIAM FIRS 2. COOR DINATE GRID ION CORRIDO R EXISTING WINTER ROA IS IN METR ES. T NATI ON D COOR DINATE SYSTEM: NAD 1983 UTM ZONE RAILWAY 17N. 3. PROP OSED ALL-S WATER EASO N TRAN SPORTATIO N CORR IDOR PROV (NOV 26, 2013).

IDED BY NORONT RESO PARK URCE S LTD. 4. EXIST ING WINTER FIRST NATIONS RES ROAD NETWORK CREA ERV E TED FROM DATA PROV GROU P INC. (MAR CH IDED 24,

A

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REV

DATE

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BY SNC-LAVALIN THE OMNR LIO DATA BASE (2009).

5. ACTIV E NORONT CLAIM BOUNDARIES WERE PROVIDED BY NORO (MAY 23, 2013).

NT RESO URCES LTD. 6. ACTIV E CLAIM BOUN DARIES BY OTHE RS PROVIDED BY MINIS AND MINE S (AUG UST TRY OF NORT HERN 2012).

DEVELOPM ENT

0

150

SCALE B 0 SCALE A

25

300

50

600

100

Smooth Rock Falls 900

1,200ane Cochr

150

1,500 km

200

250 km

NORONT RESOURCE

S LTD. EAGLE'S NEST PROJ ECT

LOCATION OF PROJ

ECT ACTIVITIES P/A NO.

REF NO.

NB102-390/1

FIGURE ES.1

Noront’s

32

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A

ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT details innovative underground milling & backfilling plans, wetland road design

Bryan Phelan Onotassiniik

N

oront Resources intends to open the first mine in the Ring of Fire. And in building that mine, it plans to use technological innovation that could guide the development of other mines in the James Bay Lowlands and elsewhere.

When Cliffs Natural Resources late last year suspended activities associated with its proposed Black Thor chromite mine, Noront suddenly found itself the mining company “leading the charge” in the Ring of Fire, as MP Greg Rickford put it shortly before his appointment in March as Canada’s new minister of natural resources.

Alan Coutts, Noront president and CEO, this spring expressed hope construction of his company’s Eagle’s Nest mine for nickel, copper, platinum and palladium could start during next winter road season, and be operating by the end of 2017.

Noront reached an important milestone in that direction, he said, with the completion in December of a draft environmental report.

The report is necessary to meet requirements for a provincial

environmental assessment (EA) of the Eagle’s Nest project and for a related federal environmental impact statement (EIS). A draft version has been circulated for review and comment by the public and government agencies.

Available on Noront’s website, the massive report is organized in four volumes. The main EA/EIS report section, Vol. 2, runs over 865 pages. Even the table of contents is nine pages long. Other volumes of the report include a Cumulative Effects Assessment and an Environmental and Social Management Plan. Main points are presented in an executive summary, Vol. 1.

Noront notes in the report there are two key technological innovations proposed for Eagle’s Nest: the mine’s processing mill will be placed underground, as will all of its tailings and waste rock; and a specialized design will be used in building an all-weather road across muskeg to the mine. “These are unique approaches to mine development.”

CONTINUED ON 8 WAWATAY’S MINING QUARTERLY

7

CONTINUED FROM 7

157 .5

155

549,000

5 16 7.

16 7 .5 1 67 .5

167 .5

162.5

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17 5

175

175

175

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175

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17 5

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17 5

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CRO WN PILLAR

17 0

172.5

170

175

175

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17 5

17 5

175

# *

175

5 17

WASTE FACILITY R WITH INCINER ATO

5 17

180

-SEA SON PROPOSED ALL N CORRIDOR TRANSPORTATIO

0 18

175

172.5

175

172 .5

5,845,500

175

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MUK E

167.5

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175

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175

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TRIP PROPOSED AIRS OTHERS TO BE BUILT BY

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NOTES:

(2010).

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EMBER 26, 2013 (NOV S NEER ENGI

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177 .5

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* #

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177.5

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2,000 m

1,600

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NB102-390/1

REF NO.

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32

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A

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.5 177

16 5

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5,700,000

17 7.

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PORTAL

175

SUMMER 2014

547,500

165 0 16

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8

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170

5 17

• creating annual economic impact of an estimated $686 million during construction and $1.215 billion during operations.

160

5,847,000

172 .5

• providing business opportunities for Aboriginal people; and

157 .5

ò

Noront has identified a number of ways the project may contribute to sustainable development in the region, including:

• providing training and employment opportunities, with direct employment for about 780 during construction and 390 during operations;

The best transportation route, north-south or east-west, and method, all-weather road or rail, to support future mines in the remote Ring of Fire has been the subject of study, debate and legal wrangling over the past couple of years. Currently, the Ontario Government is working to create a Ring of Fire development corporation of stakeholders in the region, including industry and First Nations, to

N "

Sustainable Development

• establishing infrastructure, which will reduce the cost of year-round access to four First Nations and could lower the cost of living in these communities;

Roadwork

546,000

544,500

The Eagle’s Nest mine site is on the traditional lands of the First Nations of Marten Falls (125 km to the south), Webequie (75 km to the northwest) and Neskantaga (125 km to the south-southwest). Attawapiskat First Nation is downstream of the mine site. Aroland is located near to the terminus of a previously considered north-south transportation corridor.

Noront has had several meetings with each of these communities.

Open houses that began in 2011 are ongoing.

“We recognize that advancing the project will require First Nations to be integrally involved in the development,” Noront stated in an April news release. “We’ve had many conversations with local First Nations communities as part of our EIS/EA process, and plan extensive additional consultation this spring and summer.”

In order to help identify any potential sites of cultural or spiritual importance, Noront has developed an Aboriginal Traditional Knowledge Study plan to help ensure these sites are avoided, or mitigated appropriately. For example, Noront agreed to divert the road routing south of Webequie to avoid an area of cultural importance identified by the community.

All work will be undertaken with the consent of the communities.

16 7 .5

Noront-First Nation Relations

From early in the design process for the Eagle’s Nest mine, Noront recognized working in a peat bog with little dry ground would require innovative methods, says Mark Baker, an engineer and Noront’s vice-president of projects.

For starters, Noront plans to set up the mine’s processing facility underground.

This has been done at mines in other parts the world, for various reasons.

“Mineral processing plants have been placed underground elsewhere … when conditions like avalanche risk have warranted it,” Baker says in written response to questions from Onotassiniik.

“Mineral processes like grinding the rock into fine particles have also been moving underground to reduce the cost and time for hauling rock to a surface mill.” In the case of Eagle’s Nest, he says, “Noront decided to minimize surface infrastructure because limiting surface disturbance is important to local communities and non-governmental organizations.”

Even more unique is Noront’s plan to keep underground all tailings (waste material) from the process that upgrades the mineral concentrate.

This hasn’t been done before, Baker points out.

It makes sense at Eagle’s Nest in part because at the surface there isn’t the rock needed for building roads, an airstrip or pads for infrastructure above ground, such as accommodation and office buildings. As a result, aggregate for these construction purposes will come from rock mined during the underground development. “Noront’s decision to mine the Canadian Shield rock in

170

Noront Resources is a Canadian mining company active in the Ring of Fire, a base metal camp in the James Bay Lowlands of northern Ontario, with claims on more than 1,100 square kilometres. Over the past seven years, the company has spent more than $200 million exploring for base metals in the area.

Noront’s Eagle’s Nest deposit, about 700 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, contains mineable quantities of nickel, copper, platinum, and palladium.

The Eagle’s Nest project involves the construction, operation and closure of a proposed underground mine, processing facility, and associated ore transportation and handling infrastructure. Capital costs for the project are estimated to be $600-700 million.

Noront projects a mine life of 11 years for Eagle’s Nest, with potential for an additional nine years of production.

Underground

>

Eagle’s Nest Overview

make decisions about transportation and other infrastructure.

Noront has always preferred an east-west road linking Eagle’s Nest, 700 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, to get its concentrate to market and supply Eagle’s Nest with equipment and materials. It proposes an all-weather road, close to 300 kilometres long, from the Pickle Lake North Road to the mine. The first 200 km mostly follows an existing winter road alignment. The company contends this road can be built at a lower cost than other options for accessing the Ring of Fire, and that it would benefit the most remote First Nation communities (Neskantaga, Nibinamik, Eabametoong and Webequie previously proposed a similar route for an all-weather road to the provincial highway network).

Environmentally, Noront notes in its EA report, using the winter road path will: minimize impacts because the corridor has already been disturbed; have less impact on high-quality caribou habitat; and avoid any major river crossings and provincial waterway parks.

“It’s not necessarily guaranteed that this will be the road that will be first built,” Coutts said in April after attending a Ring of Fire forum in Thunder Bay. “We’re hoping it is. There’s only one mining company that’s actually going through this EA and permitting process, … developing its project, and that’s us.”

Noront budgeted capital expenses of $600700 million for Eagle’s Nest but didn’t include the cost of building the all-weather road (or branch roads to First Nation communities). “What we’re assuming is that we will be a user of this largescale infrastructure that the provincial and the

underground caverns created space underground to hold all waste products (tailings),” Baker says, and makes unnecessary any surface tailings ponds.

Eagle’s Nest holds high-grade ore, he says, which means 3-4 per cent of the total rock to be mined is nickel, copper, platinum and palladium.

Mineral processing will separate the valuable metal-bearing rock from other rock, producing a concentrate with 15-20 per cent valuable metal content. This concentrate will be dried at the surface next to a power plant to make use of waste heat, and then be hauled from the mine site destined for a smelter in eastern Canada.

The leftover tailings will be stored underground.

In areas where the ore has been mined, Noront proposes blending the tailings with cement and water so structural properties can be gained when the large openings are filled. This is important, Baker says, since sections next to these mined-out areas will also be mined after the cemented tailings have solidified and can help support the walls.

This ‘backfilling’ will only use some of the tailings. The remaining tailings can be placed in the openings created to mine aggregate rock used for road building and other uses on surface.

A

RE REV

5,600,000

Sioux Lookout

LEGEND:

_ ^

MINE SITE AND TRANS-LO COMMUNITY OPERATING MIN E RAILWAY EXISTING ALL-SEA SON RO CON CENTRATE HAUL ROUT PROPOSED ALL -SEA SON TR EXISTING WIN TER ROAD STEAM/RIVER/D RAINAG E

24DE C'13 DATE

ISSU ED WITH REP

ORT

Eagle’s Nest EA/EIS Draft Report Highlights Wetland Ecosystems The project will interact with wetland ecosystems during development. The primary effect will be the loss of wetland ecosystems due to site clearing – 18 hectares at the mine site. An additional 327 ha of wetland ecosystems will be lost during the clearing of the 30 m right-ofway for the all-season road. These losses become minor relative to the size of the regional study area, Noront states.

Photo: Noront Resources Handshake: Chief Johnny Yellowhead of Nibinamik and Paul Semple, chief operating office of Noront Resources.

Surface Water

federal governments, and maybe some other parties, will build it and we will pay a toll,” Coutts explained.

In a feasibility study for Eagle’s Nest, he said, Noront accounted for paying a road toll of $10 million per year for the first 11 years of the mine.

It also prepared detailed engineering for the road.

While traditional road building removes all organic layers and excavates to load-bearing material – “In a wetland this would require excavating down many metres; over 20 m in some cases,” says Baker – Noront proposes an alternate method.

“Wetland road-building techniques have been developed that use woven cloth and mesh – geogrid – placed across wider road bed dimensions to create structural properties that allow the road to be built on top of the wetland,” Baker says of the technique, which has been applied in northern Saskatchewan, Alberta, the southern U.S. and other parts of the world. “The weight of the road materials compresses the strong fibrous peat and a lower level of the geogrid distributes the weight of the materials. An upper level of geogrid distributes the weight of the haulage vehicles.”

When the Eagle’s Nest mine is in production, a dozen trucks, each with 35-tonne capacity, will carry concentrate daily across the new road, the Pickle Lake

North Road and Hwy. 599 to a trans-load facility on the Canadian National Railway mainline, near Savant Lake.

There’s another benefit to Noront’s road design.

“Regular placement of culverts along the road ensures water continues to flow through the road to keep the wetland saturated, not cutting off the natural flow in the peat,” Baker says.

Human Health

Learning Experiences Development of Eagle’s Nest as the first mine in the Ring of Fire “will mark an important new chapter in the story of northwestern Ontario,” Noront proclaims in its EA report.

And the company’s unique approaches to mine development “will provide valuable learning experiences that may set precedents and help guide future mine developments” in this region and beyond, the report suggests.

Noront also hopes these innovations will contribute to approval of a final EA/EIS report before the end of this year, in time for road construction to start during the winter of 2014-15.

–with files from Rick Garrick

KINGFISHER FIRST NATION

–Noront CEO Alan Coutts tells Global Business Reports in March

WEBEQUIE FIRST NATION

NIBINA MIK FIRST NATION

_ ^ NESKANTAGA (LANSDOWNE HOU SE) FIRST NATION

CONSTRUCTION PHASE W INTER ROAD FOLLOWED BY AN ALL-SEASON ROAD (106 KM)

V U

Aboriginal Resource & Land Use Noront doesn’t anticipate adverse effects on hunting, fishing and plant harvesting opportunities. Some traplines will be reduced and fragmented from the development. However, changes to harvest volumes from trapping are not expected.

It is estimated that 1,000 ha of highsuitability woodland caribou habitat will be lost due to construction, while caribou will no longer use 100,000 ha of such habitat because they avoid infrastructure and sensory disturbances. Noront will develop a biodiversity management plan in co-operation with regional wildlife management and research related to caribou and other species.

Waterfowl

EABAMETOO NG (FORT HOPE) FIRST NATION

HWY 599

The results of a Screening Level Risk Assessment for human health, which examined impact on water and air quality, concluded the project would not have adverse effects. No transport pathways into ‘country foods’ – local plants harvested and consumed by Aboriginal people – were identified and these foods are expected to remain safe for consumption.

Wildlife

MINE SITE

NEW ALL-SEAS ON WITHIN EXISTING ROAD W INTER ROAD CORRID OR (176 KM)

Pickle Lake

LATE FALLS RST NATION

“In summary, the small footprint, the underground mill, the fact that we will not be discharging any processing water and the underground placement of our tailings make our project very unique.”

599,600

MUS SELWHITE GOLD MINE

Photo: Rick Garrick

499,600

399,600

299,600

199,600

NOR TH CAR IBO U LAKE FIRST NATION

Interaction with surface water will be limited compared with most mining projects, as no major water takes, diversions or discharges are proposed. At the mine, treated sewage and mine water will be released to a single wetland/stream system with limited connectivity to the Muketei River. These discharges will meet regulatory limits. Water will be recycled from mineral processes, so no discharge is expected.

Twenty waterfowl species were observed during investigations within the regional study area but only one species, Canada goose, was seen at the mine site.

Other waterfowl species were observed on the nearby Muketei River.

MAR TEN FALLS FIRST NATION

MISHKEEGOGAM ANG FIRST NATION

Fish The project will result in losses of fish habitat, mainly due to culvert and bridge installations along the transportation corridor. Noront has developed a conceptual fish habitat compensation plan intended to mitigate these habitat losses.

EXISTING ALL-SE

ASON ROAD (231 KM)

OJIBWAY NATION OF SAU GEEN

_ ^

DRAFT

Savant Lake

OAD FACILITY

OAD TE RAN SPO RTATIO

TRANS-LOAD FA CILITY NOTES:

PAR K FIRST NATION S RESERV E WATER

N CORRIDOR

DESCRIPT ION

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3. PROPOSED ALL -SEASON TRANSP INFR ASTRUC TUR ORATION COR RID E ENGINE ERS OR PRO VIDED (NO VEMBER 26,

BY KIEWIT 2013).

4. EXISTING WIN TER ROAD NET WORK CRE ATE LAVALIN GROUP D FROM DATA PRO INC . (MARCH 24, VIDED BY SNCDATABASE (200 2011) AND DATA 9).

FROM THE OMN R LIO

ARO LAND FIRS T NATION 0 10 20 SCALE

40

NORONT RESO

60

Conclusion 80

100 km

URCES LTD.

EAGLE'S NEST PROJECT PROPOSED TR

ANSPORTATIO

N CORRIDOR

P/A NO.

NB102-390/1

FIGURE ES.3

REF NO.

32

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The project will not result in significant adverse effects to the biophysical, social, economic and cultural environments, Noront concludes.

(Non-governmental organizations have questioned the thoroughness of the EA process, since the project is within an almost completely undeveloped area, in one of largest wetlands in the world.)

WAWATAY’S MINING QUARTERLY

9

MATAWA CHIEFS SPEAK “I am optimistic that this regional framework allows us to be more involved in development and the decision-making that is going to happen. …

We are working to set the course to move our First Nations away from dependence so that we can capture the maximum benefits and move towards community wellness and increase ambition for our people.”

–Chief Elijah K. Moonias, Marten Falls First Nation “This framework demonstrates that our First Nations are open for development that is sustainable and respects our lands.”

–Chief Sonny Gagnon, Aroland First Nation

“The regional framework is not about selling our land, but sharing our land as our Elders envisioned for the benefit of all. Nibinamik First Nation understands the importance of balance between economic development that is required to ensure community growth and productivity, and the need to sustain cultural values and beliefs, particularly as related to the land.”

–Chief Johnny Yellowhead, Nibinamik First Nation Photo: Rick Garrick “This is a special and significant event,” Chief Cornelius Wabasse of Webequie said of signing a framework agreement for Ring of Fire negotiations. “It is now time for the real work to begin and we look forward to working with Ontario and our fellow First Nations.” “ᒥᑐᓂ ᑭᒋᓀᑕᑲᐧᐣ ᐅᐁᐧ ᑲᐃᔑᒋᑲᓄᐊᐧᐠ,” ᐃᑭᑐ ᐁᐧᐱᑫᐧ ᐅᑭᒪᑲᐣ ᑲᓀᓂᔭᐢ ᐊᐧᐸᐢ ᑲᑭᒪᓯᓇᐦᐅᑎᓱᓇᓄᐊᐧᐠ ᒪᒪᐃᐧ ᐃᐧᑕᓄᑭᒥᑐᐃᐧ ᐯᐸᐣ ᑫᓂᔑ ᒪᒪᐃᐧᓂᑲᑌᐠ ᐱᐊᐧᐱᑯᑫᐃᐧ ᐊᓄᑭᐃᐧ ᐅᓇᒋᑫᐃᐧᓇᐣ. “ᐊᔕ ᑲᔦ ᑎᐱᓭ ᒋᐊᓂᑲᑫᐧ ᒪᒪᐃᐧ ᒪᑕᓄᑭᔭᑭᐸᐣ ᒥᓇ ᓂᑕᔓᐊᐧᐸᑕᐣ ᒋᐃᐧᑕᓄᑭᒪᐠ ᐅᐣᑌᕑᐃᔪ ᐅᑭᒪᐅᐣ ᒥᓇ ᓂᒋᐊᓂᔑᓂᓂᒪᐠ.”

“We have spent considerable effort over the last year to have productive conversations about resource stewardship on our lands. Our community has given us a strong mandate to negotiate with the Province on these important issues.”

–Chief Elizabeth Atlookan, Eabametoong First Nation

Framework set for regional Matawa-Ontario negotiations

“Our community members, both on and off reserve, will be very engaged in this process. Our neighbours in Greenstone and the entire northern Ontario region should be pleased that we now have a process. This is a milestone for everyone in Ontario.”

–Chief Allen Towegishig, Long Lake #58 First Nation

Bryan Phelan Onotassiniik

M

atawa First Nations and Ontario have reached a “regional framework agreement” to guide negotiations for development in the Ring of Fire.

“The agreement ensures First Nations and Ontario can work together to advance Ring of Fire opportunities, including regional long-term environmental monitoring and enhanced participation in environmental assessment processes, resource revenue sharing, economic supports, (and) regional and community infrastructure,” the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (MNDM) noted in a news release.

Leaders from the nine member First Nations of the Matawa Chiefs Council signed the agreement March 26 after nine months of talks with the province. Signing the agreement for Ontario was Michael Gravelle, minister of northern development and mines.

They agreed “to move forward with a negotiation process on a community-based, regional approach to development in the Ring of Fire,” according to the MNDM release.

Matawa communities committed to this process through the agreement are the Premier Kathleen First Nations of Aroland, Constance Lake, step forward.’

Eabametoong, Ginoogaming, Marten Falls, Neskantaga, Nibinamik, Long Lake #58, and Webequie.

“The negotiations under this framework will complement the essential, direct negotiations Webequie is having with the Province of Ontario on a range of issues related to the Ring of Fire,” said Chief Cornelius Wabasse of Webequie. “Success in both of these negotiations will chart a course for a different future for all of us.

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SUMMER 2014

It is now time for the real work to begin, and we look forward to working with Ontario and our fellow First Nations.”

Wabasse added that he looked forward to an official celebration of the agreement, which came April 24 in Thunder Bay. Premier Kathleen Wynne joined Matawa chiefs and community members for the celebration, which included First Nation traditional ceremonies, a commemorative signing ceremony and an exchange of gifts.

“With this agreement we have taken an important step forward together,” Wynne said in a news release that day. “We have adopted a different kind of negotiating process that is based on respect. We now have a framework to guide our discussions as we work toward achieving our common goals and ensuring that everyone benefits from development in the Ring of Fire.”

Alan Coutts, president and CEO of Noront Resources, which proposes a $600-700 million mine for nickel, copper, platinum and palladium in the Ring of the Fire, publicly welcomed the agreement.

“What the framework does is allow the playing field to be established and understood,” he said after participating in a panel discussion on “recalibrating the Ring of Fire,” April 10 in Thunder Bay. “Into Photo: Rick Garrick that comes the industry proponents that Wynne: ‘An important want to develop the mines. We know we have clarity on how this is going to work, and then we can develop our projects in tandem with some of these partners.”

The province values the known mineral potential of the Ring of Fire, 540 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, at $60 billion. The area holds the largest deposit of chromite ever discovered in North America.

–with files from Rick Garrick

“I am so proud to stand with our nine chiefs and sign this regional framework today. My community members back home have been waiting a long time to have meaningful negotiations with Ontario. This is just the beginning.”

–Chief Fred Sackaney, Constance Lake First Nation “My community and I have worked hard to get to this day. … This signing signifies the willingness for First Nations and Ontario to establish a governmentto-government relationship that includes discussions on revenue sharing and joint decision making that will allow our communities to become self-sufficient.”

–Chief Peter Moonias, Neskantaga First Nation “I want to thank all my First Nation members.

We have worked really hard at the community level to get where we are today. This is just the beginning of much more work and planning that needs to be addressed, especially in terms of health and social wellness, and infrastructure.”

–Chief Celia Echum, Ginoogaming First Nation

ᒪᑕᐊᐧ ᐅᑭᒪᑲᓇᐠ ᐅᑎᑭᑐᐃᐧᓂᐊᐧ Matawa chiefs, clockwise from top: Fred Sackaney, Constance Lake; Sonny Gagnon, Aroland; Elizabeth Atlookan, Eabametoong; and Allen Towegishig, Long Lake #58.

“ᐣᑐᒋᒥᓀᐧᑕᐣ ᑕᐡ ᐅᐁᐧ ᑲᑭᐃᔑ ᒪᒪᐃᐧ ᒪᓯᓇᐦᐅᑎᓱᓇᓄᐊᐧᐠ ᑫᑭᓇᐃᐧᐟ ᐃᒪ ᒋᐅᒋ ᐸᐸᒥᓯᑲᑕᒪᐠ ᑲᐃᐧᔭᓂᔑ ᐅᓀᑕᑲᐧᑭᐣ ᑫᐊᓂᑐᒋᑲᑌᐠ. … ᓂᑲᑫᐧ ᓂᑲᑌᐃᐧᓇᒥᐣ ᓂᑕᓂᔑᓂᓂᒥᓇᓂᐠ ᐁᑲ ᐊᐊᐧᔑᒣ ᐊᐯᓂᒧᐃᐧᓂᐠ ᒋᓯᓭᐊᐧᐨ ᑭᓇᐃᐧᐟ ᐃᑯ ᒋᔭᓂ ᑲᒋᑎᓇᒪᓱᔭᐠ ᑫᐅᐣᑕᒋᐦᐃᑎᓱᔭᐠ ᒥᓇ ᑫᓄᒋᒥᓄᔭᒪᑲᐠ ᑭᑕᓇᐱᐃᐧᓂᓇᐣ ᒥᓇ ᒋᐊᓂ ᐱᒋᓂ ᑲᐡᑭᐦᐅᐊᐧᐨ ᐊᓂᔑᓂᓂᐊᐧᐠ.”

–ᐅᑭᒪᑲᐣ ᓇᐃᒐ ᒧᓂᔭᐢ, ᐊᑯᑭᐠ

Photos: Rick Garrick

“ᐅᐁᐧ ᒪᒪᐃᐧ ᒪᓯᓇᐦᐅᑎᓱᐃᐧᐣ ᓇᑲᐧᓂ ᑭᑕᓂᔑᓂᓂᒥᓇᓂᐠ ᐁᐊᐧᐸᑕᐦᐃᐁᐧᐊᐧᐨ ᐁᓇᑕᐁᐧᑕᒧᐊᐧᐨ ᐊᓄᑭᐃᐧᐣ ᒋᑐᒋᑲᑌᓂᐠ ᑭᓇᐧᑲᐡ ᑫᐱᒥᓭᓂᐠ ᒥᓇ ᒋᐅᒋ ᒪᓇᒋᑕᒪᐃᐧᑕᐧ ᐅᑕᑭᒥᐊᐧ.”

– –ᐅᑭᒪᑲᐣ ᓴᐣᓂ ᑲᐣᔭᐣ, ᐁᕑᐅᓫᐊᐣᐟ “ᑲᐃᐧᓂᐣ ᐣᑎᑭᑐᓯᒥᐣ ᐁᔭᑕᐊᐧᑫᔭᐠ ᐣᑕᑭᒥᓇᐣ ᑲᑭᒪᒪᐃᐧ ᒪᓯᓇᐦᐅᑎᓱᓇᓄᐊᐧᐠ ᐊᓄᑭᐃᐧ ᓇᑯᒥᑎᐃᐧᐣ, ᐃᐁᐧ ᐱᑯ ᐁᐃᐧᐅᐣᒋ ᒪᒪᐃᐧᐊᐸᒋᑐᔭᐠ ᑲᑭᐃᔑ ᓂᑲᓂᐊᐧᐸᑕᒧᐊᐧᐸᐣ ᑭᑭᒋᐦᐊᒥᓇᓂᐠ ᒋᐅᒋ ᒪᒪᐃᐧᒥᓄᓭᐊᐧᑫᔭᐠ. ᐅᒪ ᓂᐱᓇᒥᑲᐧᓂᐠ ᐅᓂᓯᑐᑕᓇᐊᐧ ᐁᑭᒋᓀᑕᑲᐧᐠ ᒋᑕᐱᑕᐃᐧᐡᑲᒪᐠ ᔓᓂᔭᐃᐧ ᒪᒋᑕᒪᓱᐃᐧᐣ ᑲᓇᑕᐁᐧᑕᑲᐧᐠ ᒋᐊᓂᐱᒥᑭᒪᑲᐠ ᑭᑕᔑᑫᐃᐧᓂᓇᓂᐠ ᒥᓇ ᒋᑲᓇᐁᐧᑕᒪᐠ ᑭᑕᓂᔑᓂᓂᐃᐧ ᐱᒪᑎᓯᐃᐧᓂᓇᐣ ᑭᑕᑭᒥᓇᓂᐠ ᑲᐅᒋᒪᑲᐠ.”

–ᐅᑭᒪᑲᐣ ᒐᐧᓂ ᐅᓴᐃᐧᑎᑲᐧᐣ, ᓂᐱᓇᒥᐠ “… ᓂᑭᐱᑭᒋᐊᓄᑭᒥᐣ ᒋᐊᓂᐅᑎᑕᒪᐠ. ᓂᑕᓂᔑᓂᓂᒪᐠ ᐸᑯᓭᓂᒧᐃᐧᐣ ᐅᑕᔭᓇᐊᐧ ᓂᑲᐣ ᐁᐃᓇᐱᐊᐧᐨ ᐊᔕ ᐊᐱᐣ ᐅᐁᐧ ᑲᓂᐊᐧᐸᑕᒧᐊᐧᐨ ᒋᔭᓂᒪᒋ ᐊᓂᒧᒋᑲᑌᐠ ᐊᓄᑭᐃᐧ ᐃᔑᒋᑫᐃᐧᓇᐣ ᑲᐃᐧᐊᔑᑕᐱᐨ ᐅᑭᒪᐅᐣ.”

–ᐅᑭᒪᑲᐣ ᐊᓂᓯᐸᐟ ᐊᑕᓄᑲᐣ, ᐊᐸᒪᑐᐠ “ᑲᐅᒋᐯᔕᐧᐸᒪᑭᑕᐧ ᑯᑕᑭᔭᐣ ᑕᓇᐱᐃᐧᓇᐣ, ᐊᑲᐧᒋᐠ ᒥᓇ ᐱᐣᒋ ᐃᐡᑯᓂᑲᓂᐠ, ᑫᐃᐧᓇᐊᐧ ᑕᐅᒋᐸᐸᒥᓯᐊᐧᐠ ᐅᒪ ᑲᐃᐧᔭᓂ ᒪᒋᓄᒋᒋᑲᑌᐠ. ᐃᑭᐁᐧᓂᐊᐧᐠ ᑲᐅᐣᒋ ᐯᔕᐧᐸᒪᐣᑭᑕᐧ ᑕᔑᑫᐃᐧᓂᐠ ᑯᕑᐃᐣᐢᑐᐣ ᒥᓇ ᐱᑯ ᒥᓯᐁᐧ ᑭᐁᐧᑎᓄᐠ ᐅᐣᑌᕑᐃᔪ ᐅᑲᒥᓀᐧᑕᓇᐊᐧ ᐊᔕ ᐊᐱᐣ ᑲᐃᐧᔭᓂ ᒪᒋᒋᑲᓂᐊᐧᐠ. ᒥᐦᐅᒪ ᑫᓄᒋ ᐅᐡᑭᒪᒋᐡᑲᐊᐧᐨ ᑲᑭᓇ ᐊᐃᐧᔭᐠ ᐅᒪ ᐅᐣᑌᕑᐃᔪ.”

–ᐅᑭᒪᑲᐣ ᐊᓫᐊᐣ ᑐᐁᐧᑭᔑᐠ, ᓫᐊᐧᐣᐠ ᓫᐁᐠ #58 “ᓂᑭᒋᓀᑕᐣ ᐁᐃᐧᒋᑲᐸᐃᐧᑕᐊᐧᑲᐧ ᐅᑯᐁᐧᓂᐊᐧᐠ ᓴᐣᑲᓱ ᓂᒋᐅᑭᒪᑲᓇᐠ ᑲᑭᒪᒪᐃᐧ ᒪᓯᓇᐦᐅᑎᓱᓇᓂᐊᐧᐠ ᓄᑯᑦ ᑲᑭᔑᑲᐠ. ᓂᑲᐯᔑᐃᐧᓂᐠ ᓂᑕᓂᔑᓂᓂᒪᐠ ᐊᔕ ᐁᐧᐡᑲᐨ ᑭᐱᐅᐣᒋᐱᐦᐅᐊᐧᐠ ᒋᐊᓂᑲᐡᑭᒋᑲᑌᐠ ᑲᐧᔭᐠ ᒋᔑᓇᑲᐧᓂᐠ ᐅᐣᑌᕑᐃᔪ ᑭᐃᐧᑕᓄᑭᒥᑯᐃᐧᓂᓇᐣ. ᐊᔕ ᑕᐡ ᑭᐊᐧᐸᑕᒥᐣ ᒋᔭᓂᒪᒋᒋᑲᑌᐠ.”

–ᐅᑭᒪᑲᐣ ᑊᓫᐁᐟ ᓴᑲᓂ, ᑲᐧᐣᐢᑎᐣᐢ ᓴᑲᐃᑲᓂᐠ “ᓀᐡᑲᐣᑕᑲ ᒥᓇ ᐅᑭᒪᑲᐣ ᐱᑕᐣ ᒧᓂᔭᐢ ᓂᒪᓯᓇᐦᐃᑫᑕᒪᐊᐧ ᐅᒪ ᒪᓯᓇᐦᐅᑎᓱᐃᐧᓂᐠ, ᒥᑐᓂ ᐅᑭᐱ ᑭᒋᐊᓄᑲᑕᐣ ᒋᔭᓂᐊᐧᑲᐃᐧᓂᑲᑌᐠ ᒋᔭᓂᒪᒋᓂᐡᑲᒪᑲᐠ. ᒥᑐᓂ ᑲᔦ ᓂᒋᑫᑕᒥᐣ ᑲᑭᐃᔑᑲᐡᑭᒋᑲᑌᐠ ᒋᔭᓂᒪᑕᓄᑲᑌᐠ ᒥᓇ ᓂᑕᔕᐧᐸᑕᒥᐣ ᒋᔭᓂ ᒪᒪᐊᐧᓄᑲᑕᒪᐠ ᑭᑕᐊᐧᔑᔑᒥᓇᓂᐠ ᐅᓂᑲᓂᒥᐊᐧ.”

–ᐅᑭᒪᑲᐣ ᑲᓇᐱᐡᑲᐊᐧᐨ, ᕑᐊᔾ ᒧᓂᔭᐢ, ᓀᐡᑲᐣᑕᑲᐠ “ᒥᑫᐧᐨ ᓂᑎᓇᐠ ᓂᑕᓂᔑᓂᓂᒪᐠ. ᓂᑭᐱᑭᒋᐊᓄᑭᒥᐣ ᓂᑕᓇᐱᐃᐧᓂᓇᓂᐠ ᐁᑲᑫᐧᑌᐱᓇᒪᐠ ᓄᑯᑦ ᑲᑭᔑᑲᐠ ᐅᐁᐧ ᐊᔕ ᑲᑭᐃᔑ ᐅᑎᒪᑲᐠ. ᐣᑕᔕᐧᐸᑕᐣ ᑫᓂᐣ ᒋᐊᓂᐃᐧᑕᓄᑭᒪᑲᐧ ᓂᒋᐅᑭᒪᑲᓇᐠ ᐊᔑᐨ ᑲᔦ ᐅᐣᑌᕑᐃᔪ ᐅᑭᒪᐅᐣ ᒋᔭᓂᒪᒋ ᐊᓄᑭᓇᓄᐊᐧᐠ.”

–ᐅᑭᒪᑲᐣ ᓯᓫᐃᔭ ᐃᒐᑦ, ᑭᓄᑲᒥᐠ

Chiefs listen to Premier Wynne.

ᒪᑕᐊᐧ ᐅᑭᒪᑲᓇᐠ ᒥᓇ ᐅᐣᑌᕑᐃᔪ ᐅᑭᒪᐃᐧᐣ ᒪᓯᓇᐦᐅᑎᓱᐊᐧᐠ ᐃᐧᑕᓄᑭᒥᑐᐃᐧ ᐯᐸᐣ ᑲᑭᑎᐸᒋᒧᐨ ᑊᕑᐊᔭᐣ ᐱᓫᐊᐣ ᑲᑭᐃᓀᐧᑕᒪᑫᐱᐦᐃᑫᐨ ᐱᑐᓂᔭ ᐊᐣᒋᐢ

ᒪ

ᑕᐊᐧ ᐊᓂᔑᓂᓂᐊᐧᐠ ᒥᓇ ᐅᐣᑌᕑᐃᔪ ᐅᑭᒪᐅᐣ ᑭᐃᐧᒋᐃᓀᑕᒧᒥᑐᐊᐧᐠ ᐁᑭᒪᒪᐃᐧ ᒪᓯᓇᐦᐅᑎᓱᐊᐧᐨ ᐅᓇᑯᒥᑐᐃᐧᓂᐊᐧ ᐃᐧᑕᓄᑭᒥᑐᐃᐧ ᐯᐸᓂ ᑫᓄᒋ ᑭᑭᓄᐡᑲᒪᑯᐊᐧᐨ ᐊᓂᐱᒥᔭᓂᒧᑕᒪᑐᐊᐧᐨ ᑫᓂᔑ ᐱᒥᐅᓇᒋᑲᑌᐠ ᐅᐡᑭ ᐱᐊᐧᐱᑯᑲᓂ ᐊᓄᑭᐃᐧᐣ. “ᐅᐁᐧ ᓇᑯᒥᑐᐃᐧᐣ ᐅᑲᐃᐧᒋᐦᐃᑯᓇᐊᐧ ᐊᓂᔑᓂᓂᐊᐧᐠ ᒥᓇ ᐅᐣᑌᕑᐃᔪ ᐅᑭᒪᐅᐣ ᒋᐃᐧᑕᓄᑭᒥᑐᐊᐧᐨ ᑫᓄᒋᐱᒥ ᐊᓄᑲᑕᒧᐊᐧᐨ ᐅᐡᑭ ᐱᐊᐧᐱᑯᑫᐃᐧ ᐊᓄᑭᐃᐧᐃᔑᒋᑫᐃᐧᓇᐣ, ᐊᔑᐨ ᒥᓯᐧᐁ ᑲᐅᒋ ᒪᒪᐃᐧ ᑲᓇᐊᐧᐸᒋᑫᒪᑲᑭᐣ ᑕᔑᑫᐃᐧᓇᐣ ᑭᓇᐧᑲᐡ ᒋᐱᒥᔭᒪᑲᐠ ᐊᐦᑭᐃᐧ ᐱᒥᓇᓇᑐᑭᑫᒋᑫᐃᐧᐣ, ᔓᓂᔭᐃᐧ ᑲᐡᑭᒋᑫᐃᐧ ᐸᑫᐧᓇᒪᑫᐃᐧᐣ, ᔓᓂᔭᐃᐧ ᒪᒋᑕᐃᐧᓇᐣ ᒋᐊᓱᐡᑭᑲᑌᑭᐣ, ᒥᓯᐧᐁ ᑌᑎᐸᐦᐃ ᒥᓇ ᐱᐣᒋ ᑕᔑᑫᐃᐧᓇᐣ ᒋᐅᔑᒋᑲᑌᑭᐣ ᐊᓄᑭᐃᐧᑲᒥᑯᐣ,” ᑭᐃᑭᑐᒪᑲᐣ ᐅᑭᒪᐅᐣ ᑭᐁᐧᑎᓄᐠ ᐊᓄᑭᐃᐧᐣ ᒥᓇ ᒧᓇᐦᐃᔓᓂᔭᐁᐧᐃᐧᐣ (MNDM) ᑲᑭᐸᑭᑎᓂᑲᑌᐠ ᑎᐸᒋᒧᐃᐧᐣ. ᑲᓂᑲᓂᑕᒪᑫᐊᐧᐨ ᓴᐣᑲᓱ ᑲᐅᐣᒋᑎᐯᑕᑲᐧᑭᐣ ᒪᑕᐊᐧ ᐅᑭᒪᑲᓇᐠ ᑲᐅᒋᐃᐧᑕᓄᑭᒥᑐᐊᐧᐨ ᑭᒪᓯᓇᐦᐅᑎᓱᐊᐧᐠ ᓇᑯᒥᑐᐃᐧᓂ ᒣᑲᐧᐨ ᒥᑭᓯᐃᐧᐱᓯᒧᐣ 26 ᓴᐣᑲᓱᐱᓯᑦ ᑲᑭᐃᐡᑲᐧ ᐱᒥᐊᓂᒧᑕᒪᐊᐧᐊᐧᐨ ᐅᐣᑌᕑᐃᔪ ᐅᑭᒪᐣ. ᐊᐧᐁᐧ ᑕᐡ ᑫᐃᐧᐣ ᑲᑭᒪᓯᓇᐦᐅᑎᓱᑕᒪᐊᐧᐨ ᐅᐣᑌᕑᐃᔪ ᐅᑭᒪᐣ ᒪᐃᑯ ᑯᕑᐊᐯᓫ, ᑲᐅᑭᒪᐃᐧᐨ ᑭᒋᐊᓯᓂᑫᐃᐧᑭᒪ. ᑭᓇᑯᒥᑐᐊᐧᐠ “ᒋᔭᓂ ᒪᑕᓄᑲᑕᒧᐊᐧᐨ ᑎᐱᓇᐁᐧ ᑲᑭᐃᔑᓇᑕᐁᐧᑕᒧᐊᐧᐨ ᐊᓂᔑᓂᓂᐊᐧᐠ ᒋᔑᒪᒋᒋᑲᓂᐊᐧᓂᐠ ᐯᑭᐡ ᒋᐅᒋ ᒪᒪᐃᐧ ᐊᓄᑲᑕᒧᐊᐧᐨ ᑲᐅᒋᐃᐧᒋ ᑎᐯᓂᒥᑎᓱᒪᑲᑭᐣ ᑕᔑᑫᐃᐧᓇᐣ ᐃᐧᔭᓂ ᐅᓇᒋᑲᑌᐠ ᐱᐊᐧᐱᑯᑲᓂ ᐊᓄᑭᐃᐧᐣ,” ᑭᐃᑭᑐᒪᑲᐣ ᑎᐸᒋᒧᒪᓯᓇᐦᐃᑲᐣ. ᒪᑕᐊᐧ ᑕᓇᐱᐃᐧᓇᐣ ᑭᐸᑭᑎᓂᑎᓱᒪᑲᓄᐣ ᒋᐃᐧᒋᑕᐧᒪᑲᑭᐣ ᐅᒪ ᓇᑯᒥᑐᐃᐧᓂᐠ ᐁᑲᐧ ᒥᐅᓄ ᐃᐡᑯᓂᑲᓇᐣ ᑲᑭᐅᐣᒋᓇᑯᑕᒧᐊᐧᐨ ᐁᕑᐅᓫᐊᐣᐟ, ᑲᐧᐣᐢᐱᐣᐢ ᓫᐁᐠ, ᐊᐸᒪᑐᐠ, ᑭᓄᑲᒥᐠ, ᐊᑯᑭᐠ, ᓀᐡᑲᐣᑕᑲ, ᓂᐱᓇᒥᐠ, ᓫᐊᐧᐣᐠ ᓫᐁᐠ #58, ᐁᑲᐧ ᒥᓇ ᐁᐧᐱᑫᐧ. “ᐅᐁᐧ ᑲᑭᒪᒪᐃᐧ ᒪᓯᓇᐦᐅᑎᓱᓇᓄᐊᐧᐠ ᑕᐅᐣᒋ ᐃᐧᒋᐦᐃᐁᐧᓭᒪᑲᐣ ᒪᔭᑦ ᐁᐧᐱᑫᐧ ᑕᓇᐱᐃᐧᓂᐠ ᑲᐅᐣᒋ ᐱᒥ ᐊᓂᒧᑕᒪᑯᔭᐠ ᐅᐣᑌᕑᐃᔪ ᐅᑭᒪᐅᐣ ᑲᒥᔑᓄᓭᑭᐣ ᑫᑯᓇᐣ ᑲᐃᐧᔭᓂᔑ ᒪᑕᓄᑲᑌᐠ ᐱᐊᐧᐱᑯᑲᐣ,” ᐃᑭᑐ ᐁᐧᐱᑫᐧ ᐅᑭᒪᑲᐣ ᑲᓀᓂᔭᐢ ᐊᐧᐸᐢ. “ᑭᐡᐱᐣ ᐅᓄᐁᐧᓂᐊᐧᐣ ᐃᔑᑲᐡᑭᒋᑲᑌᑭᐣ

ᒋᐊᓂᒥᓄᐡᑲᒪᑲᑭᐣ ᓂᑲᐣ ᑲᓂᒥᓄᓭᐦᐃᑯᒥᐣ. ᐊᔕ ᑲᔦ ᑎᐱᓭ ᒋᔭᓂᑲᑫᐧ ᒪᒪᐃᐧ ᒪᑕᓄᑭᔭᑭᐸᐣ ᒥᓇ ᓂᑕᔓᐊᐧᐸᑕᐣ ᒋᐃᐧᑕᓄᑭᒪᐠ ᐅᐣᑌᕑᐃᔪ ᐅᑭᒪᐅᐣ ᒥᓇ ᓂᒋᐊᓂᔑᓂᓂᒪᐠ.”” ᐊᐧᐸᐢ ᑲᔦ ᑭᔭᓂᑭᑐ ᐁᑭᐊᔓᐊᐧᐸᑕᐠ ᒋᑭᒋ ᒪᒪᐃᐧᐡᑲᓄᐊᐧᓂᐠ ᑲᐃᐧᑭᑭᓇᐧᐊᑌᑕᑯᒋᑲᑌᐠ ᐅᐁᐧ ᒪᒪᐃᐧ ᓇᑯᒥᑐᐃᐧᐣ, ᒣᑲᐧᐨ ᓂᑭᐱᓯᑦ 24 ᑲᐃᓇᑭᓱᐨ ᑕᐣᑐᕑ ᐯ ᐊᒥ ᐊᐱ ᑲᑭᒪᒪᐃᐧᐡᑲᓄᐊᐧᐠ. ᐅᐣᑌᕑᐃᔪ ᐅᑭᒪ ᑲᑎᓫᐃᐣ ᐃᐧᐣ ᑫᐃᐧᐣ ᐃᒪ ᑭᐱᔕ ᐁᑭᐱᐃᐧᒋᐊᐧᐨ ᑲᑭᒪᒪᐃᐧᐡᑲᐊᐧᐨ ᒪᑕᐊᐧ ᐅᑭᒪᑲᓇᐟ ᒥᓇ ᒪᑕᐊᐧ ᐊᓂᔑᓂᓂᐊᐧᐠ ᑲᑭᒪᒪᐧᐃ ᒥᓇᐊᐧᒋᑲᑌᐠ, ᑭᐊᓂᔑᓂᓂᐃᐧ ᐃᔑᒋᑲᓄᐊᐧᐣ, ᑭᒪᓯᓇᐦᐅᑎᓱᓇᓂᐊᐧᐣ ᒥᓇ ᑭᒪᒥᑭᐁᐧᓇᓂᐊᐧᐣ ᑫᑯᓇᐣ. “ᑲᑭᒪᓯᓇᐦᐅᑎᓱᓇᓂᐊᐧᐠ ᒥᐦᐅᒪ ᑫᓄᒋ ᒪᒪᐃᐧᒪᒋᓂᐡᑲᒪᐠ ᑲᑭᒋᓀᑕᑲᐧᐠ ᑫᑯᐣ,” ᐃᑭᑐ ᐃᐧᐣ ᐊᐱ ᑲᑭᐸᑭᑎᓂᑲᑌᐠ ᑎᐸᒋᒧᐃᐧᐣ. “ᓄᑯᑦ ᐸᑲᐣ ᑕᐃᔑᓇᑲᐧᐣ ᑫᓂᐱᒥᐊᓂᒧᒋᑲᓂᐊᐧᐠ ᒋᐊᔑᑎᓂᑲᑌᐠ ᑎᐸᐸᒥᑐᐃᐧᐣ. ᐊᔕ ᑭᐅᓇᑌ ᒪᒪᐃᐧ ᐃᐧᑕᓄᑭᒥᑐᐃᐧ ᐯᐸᐣ ᑫᐱᒥ ᑭᑭᓄᐃᐧᓂᐁᐧᒪᑲᐠ ᐊᐱ ᐊᓂᐱᒥᐊᓂᒧᒋᑫᓇᓄᐊᐧᐠ ᑲᐃᐧᔑ ᑲᑫᐧ ᑲᒋᑎᓇᑲᐠ ᑭᒪᒪᐃᐧ ᒥᓴᐁᐧᑕᒧᐃᐧᓂᓇᐣ, ᐯᑭᐡ ᒥᓇ ᑲᑭᓇ ᐊᐃᐧᔭᐠ ᑫᑭᐅᐣᒋ ᒥᓄᓭᐊᐧᑫᐊᐧᐨ ᑲᐃᐧᐊᓂ ᒪᑕᓄᑲᑌᐠ ᐱᐊᐧᐱᑯᑫᐃᐧ ᐊᓄᑭᐃᐧᐣ.” ᐊᓫᐊᐣ ᑯᐟᐢ, ᑲᐅᑭᒪᐃᐧᐨ ᒥᓇ ᒪᔭᑦ ᑲᓂᑲᓂᐱᒧᑐᐨ ᓇᐧᕑᐊᐧᐣᐟ ᐊᓯᓂᑫᐃᐧ ᐊᓄᑭᐃᐧᓂ, ᑲᐃᐧᒪᒋᑐᐨ $600-700 ᒥᓫᐃᔭᐣ ᐱᐊᐧᐱᑯᑲᓂ ᐊᓄᑭᐃᐧᓂ ᑲᐃᐧᓇᓇᑐᓇᐃᐧᐨ ᐊᐧᐱᐢᑭᔓᓂᔭᓇᐱᐠ, ᐅᓴᐃᐧᔓᓂᔭᓇᐱᐠ, ᑲᑯᓯᑲᐧᐱᑲᐠ ᐱᐊᐧᐱᐠ ᒥᓇ ᑯᑕᐠ ᔓᓂᔭᐊᐧᓯᓂᐊᐧᐱᐠ ᐃᒪ ᑲᐃᐧᐃᔑ ᐅᐡᑭ ᐱᐊᐧᐱᑯᑲᑌᐠ, ᑫᐃᐧᐣ ᐅᑭᐃᐧᐣᑕᐣ ᐁᒥᓀᑕᐠ ᑲᑭᒪᓯᓇᐦᐅᑎᓱᓇᓂᐊᐧᐠ. “ᐊᒥ ᑫᐃᔑᑲᓇᐊᐧᐸᒋᑫᒪᑲᐠ ᐅᐁᐧ ᐃᐧᑕᓄᑭᒥᑐᐃᐧ ᐯᐸᐣ ᑯᑕᑭᔭᐠ ᐅᑕᓄᑭᐠ ᒋᐊᓂᐅᑎᓂᑕᐧ ᒥᓇ ᓂᓯᑕᐁᐧᓂᒥᑕᐧ,” ᑭᐃᑭᑐ ᐊᐱ ᑲᑭᐃᐡᑲᐧ ᐃᐧᒋᐦᐃᐁᐧᐸᐣ ᒪᒪᐃᐧ ᐊᓂᒧᒋᑫᐃᐧᓂᐠ ᐊᓂᐣ ᑫᐃᔑ ᑭᐁᐧ ᒪᒥᓄᐱᒋᑲᑌᐠ ᐱᐊᐧᐱᑯᑫᐃᐧ ᐊᓄᑭᐃᐧᐣ,” ᒣᑲᐧᐨ ᐊᐱ ᓂᑭᐱᓯᑦ 10 ᑲᐃᓇᑭᓱᐨ ᐁᐧᑎ ᑕᐣᑐᕑ ᐯ. “ᒥᑕᐡ ᐃᒪ ᑫᐃᐧᓇᐊᐧ ᐅᑭᒋᐅᑕᓄᑭᐠ ᑲᓇᑕᐁᐧᐣᑕᒧᐊᐧᐨ ᒋᐱᔑ ᐊᓄᑭᐊᐧᐨ ᒋᐅᔑᑐᐊᐧᐨ ᐱᐊᐧᐱᑯᑲᓂ. ᓂᑭᑫᐣᑕᒥᐣ ᐊᓂᐣ ᑫᑭᑐᒋᑲᑌᑭᐸᐣ, ᐁᑲᐧ ᐊᐱᐣ ᓂᑲᓂᔑ ᑎᐸᓂ ᐅᓇᑐᒥᐣ ᐊᓄᑭᐃᐧᓇᐣ ᒋᐅᒋ ᐃᐧᑕᓄᑭᒪᔭᑭᑕᐧ ᐊᑎᐟ ᐃᐧᑕᓄᑭᒪᑲᓇᐠ.” ᒥᑕᐡ ᐁᓀᒋᑲᑌᐠ ᔓᓂᔭᐊᐧᓯᐣ ᑲᐃᔑᐱᒪᐱᑭᔑᐠ ᐃᒪ ᑲᐃᐧᐃᔑ ᐅᐡᑭ ᐱᐊᐧᐱᑯᑲᑌᐠ, ᓇᐣᑕ ᐱᑯ 540 ᑭᓫᐊᒥᑐᕑᐣ ᐊᐱᓯᓇᑲᐧᐣ ᑭᐁᐧᑎᓄᐠ ᐊᐧᐸᓄᐠ ᐃᔑ ᑕᐣᑐᕑ ᐯ, ᐁᑲᐧ ᒥᓂᑯᐠ ᒋᐅᒋᐸᐣ $60 ᐱᓫᐃᔭᐣ ᑕᓴᐧᐱᐠ. ᒥᐦᐅᒪ ᒪᐊᐧᐨ ᒥᐢᑕᐦᐃ ᐁᐊᔭᒪᑲᐠ ᑲᑯᓯᑲᐧᐱᑲᐠ ᐱᐊᐧᐱᐠ ᒥᓂᑯᐠ ᐅᒪ ᑲᐊᐱᑕᑲᒥᑲᐠ ᓇᐧᕑᐟ ᐊᒣᕑᐃᑲ.

WAWATAY’S MINING QUARTERLY

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Quebec and Ontario:

Quebec Liberals promise royalty sharing under Plan Nord+ Bryan Phelan Onotassiniik

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n successfully campaigning to become premier of Quebec, Phillipe Couillard vowed to improve and implement his Quebec Liberal Party’s Plan Nord. Now, having won a majority government in the Quebec election April 7, Couillard’s Liberals are in a position to follow through on that promise for northern development.

Ex-Liberal premier Jean Charest first outlined Plan Nord in 2011 but the Parti Quebecois defeated his party in an election the next year and set aside the project.

“In scope and ambition, the so-called Plan Nord resembles Ontario’s strategy to unlock the mineral-rich Ring of Fire north of Thunder Bay,” Allan Woods of the Toronto Star’s Quebec bureau reported in March when Couillard said the plan remained a Liberal priority. “In essence, the government would build the infrastructure and the private sector would build the mines and pay royalties.”

different mining acts for similar issues Herb Shields and Raymond Goulet Stantec

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n the 2012-2013 Fraser Institute Mining Survey, Ontario and Quebec virtually tied for 8-9th positions in a global ranking of mining jurisdictions.

Both Canadian provinces have taken a serious look at their respective mining acts and made significant changes to address concerns and pressures from their constituents. What are the chief reasons for these changes and what do they mean for mineral exploration and development in each province?

Aboriginal communities Quebec’s act now contains three provisions that relate specifically to Aboriginal communities. First, Quebec is to draw up an Aboriginal community consultation policy specific to the mining sector; second, the act states that it is to be construed in a manner consistent with the obligation to consult Aboriginal communities; and third, the act requires Quebec to consult them separately.

Driving the Ontario Mining Act amendments was a need to enhance Aboriginal consultation approaches. Ontario’s modernized Mining Act included several regulations and subsequent policies whose objective is to implement effective consultation protocols and foster positive Aboriginalgovernment-industry relations. Those protocols now in effect in Ontario include a wide range of programs and policies: from mandatory online education, to a graduated permitting system that includes exploration plans and permits, to more incentives for exploration companies to consult, including assessment work credits related to consultation with Aboriginal communities.

Mining economics

“A Liberal government undertakes

to share a part of royalties emanating from exploitation of mining, oil and gas resources, so local and Native … communities profit directly.”

–Phillipe Couillard, while successfully campaigning to become Quebec’s premier

Couillard said that if elected, the Liberals would build upon the original plan and re-launch it in the first year of their mandate as “Plan Nord+,” which would be part of a larger effort to create 250,000 jobs over the next five years.

“A Liberal government undertakes to share a part of royalties emanating from exploitation of mining, oil and gas resources,” Couillard said while campaigning in Val d’Or, “so local and Native … communities profit directly.” This would also increase the capacity of those communities to further support resource development and reap ongoing social and economic benefits, he suggested.

Couillard made another promise during the Val d’Or campaign stop: to establish new regulations “to maximize local benefits in terms of employment and local contracts, notably leading to training programs adapted to the needs of young Native persons.”

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SUMMER 2014

Quebec has taken a robust approach to managing exploration projects that could potentially turn into significant long-term economic opportunities. In Quebec, an application for a mining lease will now have to be accompanied by a project feasibility study and a scoping and market study. Quebec will have the power, before mining operations begin and for the life of the lease, on “reasonable grounds” (what those grounds are is still undefined) to require that any economic spinoffs of mineral extraction be maximized within Quebec. Additional conditions of obtaining a Quebec mining lease include establishing a monitoring committee to engage the local community in the project.

In Ontario, the traditional approach to encouraging economic growth in the mineral production sector continues to reign.

Ontario does not require community monitoring committees, maximization of economic spinoffs or a detailed accounting of project feasibility to obtain a mining lease or a closure plan.

Environmental considerations Another area where Ontario and Quebec have parted ways is how they view the interaction between environmental regulations and their respective mining acts.

In Quebec, the act sets out certain additional environmental conditions that must be satisfied before granting a mining lease. In the future, mining leases will require prior approval of a rehabilitation and restoration plan, and authorization under the Environment Quality Act. In Ontario, closure plans are longstanding requirements that provide an opportunity for the mining proponent to outline how the affected land will be rehabilitated and the costs associated with doing so. A closure plan must be developed and acknowledged by Ontario before mine development can begin. Ontario has chosen not to explicitly tie filing closure plans to other environmental regulatory requirements.

Mining-incompatible territories Both Ontario and Quebec have seen a rash of pressure in recent years to designate certain areas and regions of their jurisdictions off-limits to mineral exploration and development.

Each jurisdiction has reacted to these concerns in its own particular way.

“Driving Ontario’s Mining

Act changes has been a string of legal defeats and Aboriginal consultation requirements.”

In Quebec, the Act Respecting Land Use Planning and Development has been amended by the Mining Act to allow regional municipalities to designate any “mining-incompatible territory” in their land use and development plans. In comparison, no Ontario municipality has the capability to designate mining-incompatible territory in its land use plan.

Instead, Ontario has unveiled the Far North Act, which stipulates that more than half of the Far North of Ontario (that region in which no forestry licences are issued) is to be withdrawn from mineral staking.

Conclusions One could say the new Quebec Mining Act reflects the current politics and sentiments in that province: ongoing environmental concerns, greater transparency, decentralized planning and downloading to municipalities, and a legislative need to mandate economic concessions, while tacking on enhanced Aboriginal consultation.

Will these changes make Quebec a more attractive place to conduct business? A municipality or private landowner will see enhanced land planning controls and close co-ordination with environmental regulations, but not necessarily more business. A large mineral producer, now facing legislative mandates for market studies and potentially more delays, will be asking if these changes add clarity and certainty to conducting business.

Driving Ontario’s Mining Act changes has been a string of legal defeats and Aboriginal consultation requirements. This is reflected in the amount of attention the new Mining Act regulations and policies have focused on Aboriginal consultation enhancements and incentives to industry, with less focus on environmental regulations and satisfying private property owners.

Junior to mid-sized exploration companies will see Ontario as providing more certainty. Senior mineral producers, given the few new incentives in the Mining Act and the lack of infrastructure, power and certainty in the Far North of Ontario, would be hard-pressed to see a dramatic shift in clarity or certainty.

The Mining Act changes are a good step forward, but going forward Ontario should anticipate only moderately enhancing its global ranking as a mining jurisdiction.

–Herb Shields, an Aboriginal relations specialist with Stantec, has more than 13 years of experience building relationships between the minerals sector, First Nations, Métis and Crown regulators. As a policy advisor in the Ontario public service, he supported development of policies related to some of Ontario’s key natural resource and Aboriginal initiatives, such as the province’s Mining Act, Far North Act, Endangered Species Act, and the Crown’s response to the Ipperwash Inquiry.

Raymond Goulet, principal (environment services) with Stantec, is an earth scientist with more than 30 years of experience in environmental assessment in Quebec and abroad.

‘An agenda to move forward’: Webequie councillor Rick Garrick Onotassiniik

E

Photos: Rick Garrick [above] Elder Ananias Spence, [right] Coun. Roy Spence

lder Ananias Spence of Webequie First Nation says he wants to see benefits for future generations from Ring of Fire mineral resource projects.

At the same time, “It is important that we have environmental assessments so that the earth and the work we do on it is safe, and that everything works properly,” Elder Spence said at the conclusion of a panel discussion about “recalibrating the Ring of Fire,” hosted April 10 in Thunder Bay by the Canadian Council of Aboriginal Business.

Elder Spence was part of a group of Webequie citizens, including councillors Roy Spence and Elsie MacDonald, who attended the event.

Panelists included MacDonald; Alan Coutts, president and CEO of Noront Resources; Thunder Bay Mayor Keith Hobbs; Bob Rae, an advisor to the Matawa tribal council; and Frank Iacobucci, Ontario’s lead negotiator for the Ring of Fire. The panel moderator was Michael Fox, president of Fox High Impact Consulting.

Coun. Roy Spence looks forward to working with nonFirst Nations government on Ring of Fire issues. “There is an agenda to move forward for negotiations at a governmentto-government level,” he said.

Webequie and other member First Nations of the Matawa tribal council on March 26 reached an agreement with the Government of Ontario that provides a framework for negotiations on development in the Ring of Fire – negotiations that will be based on respect, said Premier Kathleen Wynne.

Coun. Spence shared his view on what that respect entails.

“If we work together with more mutual respect amongst the parties – the industry, the government and First Nations – it has to be fully recognized that (First Nations) have their Aboriginal and treaty rights in the territory that is going to be developed. In the long run, I think we will get there through self-governance and government-to-government negotiations with the (outside) government and industry.

Industry has to help us and the public has to help us in order to get there.”

Coun. Spence helped Noront locate the best river crossings for the junior mining company’s proposed east-

First Nations ‘obvious solution’ to shortage of miners Bryan Phelan

The Chamber recommends three steps to address mining labour market needs:

O

• Ontario’s employers and post-secondary institutions need to expand training partnerships that seek to build skills in the Aboriginal labour force;

Onotassiniik

ntario needs a “labour force strategy” to ensure thousands of future mining jobs in the province are filled, suggests an Ontario Chamber of Commerce a report on “uncovering the economic potential of the Ring of Fire.”

The report, titled Beneath the Surface, was released in February. Based on consultation with 150 mining stakeholders, it identifies seven priority issues where progress is necessary to develop the Ring of Fire. One of those priorities is addressing labour market needs.

Over the next 10 years, Ontario’s mining industry will require 59,000 workers, in part because tens of thousands currently employed in the sector are expected to retire over that period. Meanwhile, the report notes, Canada’s post-secondary system isn’t producing enough graduates with the skills needed for employment in the industry.

In areas such as Ontario’s Far North, there are other recruitment challenges for the industry as well. “The weather, high cost of living and relative isolation make mining in remote regions an unattractive career option for many workers,” explains the report.

For the Ring of Fire, the mineral-rich area in the James Bay Lowlands more than 5,000 square kilometres in size, “An obvious solution resides within the existing labour pool of northern communities, particularly in the surrounding First Nations communities.”

However, the Chamber of Commerce also points out that relatively low education levels in those communities, where federal funding for Aboriginal education falls short of provincial education spending levels, presents another challenge.

“Stakeholders have stressed the fundamental importance of ‘starting early’ in both skills development and capacity building in First Nations communities,” the report continues.

“As one expert noted, ‘building a workforce is an incredibly long process.’ ”

west road between the Ring of Fire and the Pickle Lake area.

“There are no major river systems on the east-west route,” he said.

Still, he noted, at this point his community does not have a preference for either the east-west route proposed by Noront or the north-south route proposed by Cliffs Natural Resources.

It will be important the First Nation perspective and indigenous knowledge is part of decisions “on how the infrastructure is going to be developed and what kind of bridges and crossings over creeks will be engineered and designed,” he said. “We have to provide input on it.”

Ontario is leading the creation of a development corporation to build, finance and operate infrastructure to the Ring of Fire, and has invited chiefs of the nine Matawa First Nation communities to participate in the corporation.

“What is going to be in place to access the Ring of Fire, that has not been decided yet,” noted Elder Spence. “We have to determine how this agreement (between Matawa First Nations and the Government of Ontario) will set these issues out. We have to talk about what our wishes and hopes are, (and ensure) that the expectations that people have are taken into consideration.”

4th Annual

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MINING READY? Valhalla Inn, Thunder Bay, ON | October 28th - 29th, 2014 Do not miss out on this definitive provincial mining and business summit and tradeshow event!

• The Government of Canada and First Nations groups should follow through on a new framework for First Nations education; and

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• Ontario should leverage its secondary and post-secondary systems to produce the next generation of mining experts. The major players should collaborate on a mining force strategy for the provincial mining sector.

- Gain access to leaders in the mining industry - Raise brand awareness with contractors, suppliers, mining professionals, government and First Nation communities - Promote your products and services through presentations

“Rapid action is required to address the labour shortages in the sector and to leverage the untapped labour potential of Aboriginal communities,” the report stresses. “Ontario requires deliberate and co-ordinated action across governments, the mining sector, the postsecondary education sector and the affected communities, aimed at cultivating more local talent.”

As an example of progress, the report singles out the Ring of Fire Training Alliance, a partnership between Kiikenomaga Kikenjigewen Employment and Training Services, Noront Resources and Confederation College. It is expected to develop a highly skilled Aboriginal workforce for the Noront Eagle’s Nest mine project.

Allan O’Dette, president and CEO of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, explained in an introductory message the motivation for the Beneath the Surface report. “Our economic analysis shows that the Ring of Fire will generate tens of billions of dollars in economic activity and created thousands of new jobs across the province,” he wrote. “However, there are growing concerns within Ontario’s business community about the glacial pace at which the Ring of Fire is undergoing development.”

Early Bird Registration: $300 [register by September 26, 2014] Regular Registration: $350 [after September 26, 2014] Tradeshow Exhibitor Registration: $1,000 [limited space available] Mining Ready Summit Dinner with Keynote Speaker [TBA]: $100 *HST included in all pricing*

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EDUCATION & TRAINING

Learning new workplace culture, meeting personal challenges Cree mine mechanic training strikes balance between technical skills & work readiness Daniel Bland

Lead Instructor Eeyou Mining Skills and Enhancement Project Cree Human Resources Development

T

he program took shape last summer, bringing together the necessary partners.

There was a mining company operating in Quebec Cree territory in need of mechanics for its new gold mine; a vocational training centre with a successful track record; and Cree Human Resources Development, recruiting Cree people eager to be trained for employment in the mining sector. And so it was that Vancouver-based Goldcorp joined forces with the Centre de Formation Professionnelle Lac-Abitibi in the small town of La Sarre, Quebec, and with Cree Human Resources Development. Together they launched what is proving to be one of the most successful Aboriginal training programs in northern Quebec.

Goldcorp interviewed each of the nine Cree trainees last November, when they began their sixmonth training in mobile mine mechanics. The mining company has targeted the future mechanics for jobs at its Eléonore gold mine.

The students at the training centre in La Sarre are from four Cree communities. Their schedule is gruelling. They are in class or the engine shop six days a week, three of them until 9 p.m. But all agree the eventual payoff of a full-time job and career as a mine mechanic makes the hard work worthwhile.

Solomon Masty is from Whapmagoostui, population 900, located a thousand kilometres north of Montreal.

Solomon has a wife and three children. He says he feels very lucky to be in the training group.

At the same time, he admits it hasn’t been easy. “It’s hard not being with my kids; not being able to help my wife with all the things she has to do now that she’s alone with them at home. It’s a sacrifice we are making now,” he says, “for something that will help us as a family in the future.”

The La Sarre program is different from traditional Aboriginal training programs in a number of ways.

First, it was designed with a specific employer to meet a specific need. The training was customized to cover curriculum Goldcorp needed and that LacAbitibi trainers were experienced at teaching. Second, in addition to the technical skills and hands-on learning that are the cornerstones of other Aboriginal vocational programs, several other elements were included to help the Cree trainees adapt to a changing employment scenario they are facing.

With few exceptions, the Cree people of northern Quebec have worked with, and for, other Crees. Most have been seasonally employed and, like many other First Nations people, caught up in a job, layoff, employment insurance and job search cycle that is repeated year after year in Cree communities.

But with a youth population demographic exploding across Cree territory – ‘under 25s’ now constitute up to 60 per cent of the Aboriginal population in some parts of northern Canada –Cree businesses and government and social service employers are no longer able to absorb the hundreds of Cree youth entering the job market each year.

What other option do these young Cree people have? They can look to non-native employers such as Goldcorp. And that means becoming familiar with the expectations of these companies and understanding how they operate. It means understanding non-native work culture.

Since they share a culture and similar upbringing – and frequently know the families of their workers – some Cree employers in Cree communities tend to make allowances when an employee

is a little late in the morning, for example, or has to leave work a little early from time to time.

Accommodations are made and, over the years, many Cree workers have come to expect that will always be the case. It won’t.

The jobs the Cree men in La Sarre are training for will be the first full-time jobs any of them will have for a non-native employer in a non-native workplace, where these kinds of accommodations won’t be made. This training program is among the first to try to build an understanding of that as part of vocational training.

Along with discussion of what employer expectations are likely to be at a mine site, there is also dialogue about the benefits of a ‘career’ versus a ‘job’ and about communicating effectively at work in what for Cree people is a second language.

It has also meant addressing alcohol and drugs.

With mine work rotations likely to be seven days on and seven days off, the ability to go at least a week without a drink of alcohol will be critical to each of the trainees. Three months into their training, they were challenged to go 10 days without any alcohol. The fact they were all living in a motel with a bar on the premises made it even more of a challenge, but it was a challenge they understood and accepted. Each participant now knows he is capable of meeting that challenge because he has proven it to himself.

A month later came a discussion of drugs. Like other mines, Eléonore strictly enforces a ‘zero tolerance for drugs’ policy and workers onsite are subject to random drug tests. All nine trainees agreed it was time to tackle the drug issue and agreed to a voluntary drug test. No date was given, just an assurance that results would be confidential, communicated directly from doctor to student. Each of them would become familiar with the testing procedure and more importantly, know exactly where he stood.

Would he be able to hold on to the mine mechanic job he was working so hard to get?

Once again, the group met the challenge, with all nine testing negative for drugs.

In addition to their heavy schedule of technical training, these are the kinds of issues the group here has been dealing with. This is what sets it apart from other Aboriginal training programs. Rather than steering clear of ‘social issues’ like alcohol and drugs, they agreed it was time to acknowledge and face them honestly and constructively.

The La Sarre group began with a motto of ‘no one left behind.’ Different ages, educational levels and backgrounds meant no single student understood everything they were learning. But together, they knew there was enough understanding and knowhow in the group of nine to cope with almost anything that came their way.

Aboriginal training programs across the North are in transition. From skills training to programs to improve competencies and enhance an individual’s chance of finding a job, they are beginning to move toward the La Sarre model – employer-driven programs tailored to train a select group to meet a particular employment need.

As more and more young Aboriginal people look for work with non-native employers, they will need not only the skills to get a job but also a real understanding of the workplace where they will put them into practice, so they can keep that job. Job retention is often the real challenge facing First Nations workers and their non-native employers, and Aboriginal job seekers need to become not only skilled but work ready.

The success of programs like the one in La Sarre suggests it will be by addressing relevant issues such as alcohol and drug use, while integrating workplace culture and technical skills in training, that this challenge will be met.

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EDUCATION & TRAINING

More Matawa graduates from skills pilot program F

orty-six adult learners recently completed the Aboriginal Skills Advancement Pilot Program (ASAPP) offered by Kiikenomaga Kikenjigewen Employment and Training Services (KKETS). Many of them also graduated with a general education development (GED) diploma or Ontario secondary school diploma.

They celebrated their achievement April 4 with a ceremony at the Airlane Hotel and Conference Centre in Thunder Bay. ‘Kiikenomaga Kikenjigewen’ translates to English as ‘Teaching Knowledge.’ Matawa First Nations established KKETS to ensure members of their nine communities receive the training and education they need to secure jobs and capitalize on opportunities from resource development in the Ring of Fire.

Primary objectives of the ASAPP program are to: develop an educated and highly skilled workforce in the North; structure learning opportunities to help participants with entry to the labour market; and further post-secondary, apprenticeship trades or specialized training that is synchronized with the growth of the mining sector and related support industries.

“It is great to see 46 of our community members graduate and move on to more training,” said David

takes a culturally appropriate “skills laddering” approach to academic upgrading, while providing social, emotional and cultural supports. It also offers basic industrial certifications to ensure relevance to the learner’s career goals.

“The program has proven to be successful in preparing members of the Matawa First Nations for new careers and I want to congratulate today’s graduates on their achievement,” David Zimmer, Ontario minister of Aboriginal affairs, said in a news release on graduation day.

The provincial Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (MTCU) had funded ASAPP to the end of Photo: Matawa First Nations Management March 2014. To coincide with the ASAPP graduation, Michael Gravelle, minister of northern development and mines, announced the provincial government Paul Achneepineskum, CEO of Matawa First Nation Management. “I believe the KKETS approach is going would provide another $565,000 to KKETS. Now, with to help hundreds, possibly thousands, of First Nation the additional funds coming from MTCU, the KKETS Aboriginal skills advancement program will continue members achieve a better life for themselves, their families and their communities.” for at least another year.

“There is a strong interest …, which has resulted Morris Wapoose, KKETS program manager, in a wait list of approximately 260 applications,” detailed the success of ASAPP since the program notes the KKETS section of the Matawa website. began in November 2012: “ASAPP has seen 63 adult Three more classes of students are now expected to learners graduating with a high school diploma out of 101 participating students, which is tremendous start the skills advancement program in May 2014, success from a flexible and unique program.” ASSAP and another class will begin in June.

[top] Morris Wapoose, KKETS program manager, stands behind Webequie First Nation graduates Alvin Wabasse, Marlene Shewaybick and Sherilyn Wabasse.

[below] Ginette Magiskan of Aroland was one of two valedictorians for the graduating class.

The other was Don Ostamas of Eabametoong.

Photo: Rick Garrick

Offering encouraging words to graduates was Glen Wabasse of Webequie, who is enrolled in an environmental technician college program. He graduated from ASAPP in June 2013.

Photo: Rick Garrick

Fort William mining conference inspires students Stephanie Wesley Onotassiniik

M

ore than 300 people, most of them high school and postsecondary students, attended the Fort William First Nation (FWFN) second annual mining conference March 2426.

The conference, held at the FWFN community centre, included a trade show with 18 booths from highprofile organizations. Some of the organizations represented at the threeday event were Confederation College, PARO Centre for Women’s Enterprise, TBT Engineering, Wasaya Airways, the Community Economic Development Commission of Thunder Bay, and Sumac Forest Information Systems Ltd. A conference bus tour took students and other participants to the aggregate crushing and quarry site in FWFN, which is operated by community members.

The gravel that is extracted is used to repair the community’s roads.

Presentations at the conference, whether mining related or purely motivational, came from a diverse group of speakers.

“This year’s speakers come from different backgrounds and have achieved different goals, but they all share the common theme of inspiring our people to go and achieve their goals,” noted Walter Bannon, director of economic development for FWFN. Bannon gave a presentation on the proposed FWFN Training Centre, which will provide heavy equipment operator training. This training is to prepare First Nation community members to enter the mining industry with a complete set of skills and experience.

Adam Rose, manager of engineering services at True Grit Consulting Ltd., talked about his company’s Oshki-Aki joint venture partnership with FWFN. Nishnawbe Aski Development Fund

S

even Generations Education Institute will train and provide work experience in mining sector jobs to 315 Aboriginal people, with a focus on work available in the Thunder Bay-Rainy River area.

Through its Skills and Partnership Fund, the federal government is contributing more than $5.2 million to the project, Greg Rickford, minister of natural resources, announced April 4 in Kenora. Four other partners will also fund the project, including Aboriginal organizations and private sector partners, for total funding of more than $11.4 million.

Successful participants are expected to secure jobs in industries such as mining and trucking.

“Today’s federal

[right] Graduates in the front row, from right: Misty Dore of Long Lake #58 and from Eabametoong, Garnet O’Keese, Norine Keeskitay and Bradley Head.

Photo: Matawa First Nations Management

Seven Generations will train 300+ for mining jobs

provides financing and other supports to Aboriginal businesses in northern Ontario. Three speakers from the organization, Charlton Thompson, Colleen Martin and Denise Hardy, gave separate presentations and hosted a question and answer panel.

Renee Boucher of FWFN and Elaine Kerr from Northwest Employment Works gave a presentation on apprenticeships.

Caleigh Sinclair of KBM Resources Group talked about the work her company does in aerial surveying and geographic information systems (GIS), the types of jobs KBM has for that type of work, and the education and training required for those jobs.

Dave Bradley of Outland Camps gave a presentation on the full-service remote workforce and catering.

Yes Employment’s Sharon Kovacic spoke about the kinds of services her program offers, including: job search assistance, job matching and

placement, and assistance with job and training retention.

Dorothy Roberts, community liaison and student recruitment officer at Oshki-Pimache-O-Win, presented on education and training, while Fay Zoccole, an education navigator with Nokiiwin Tribal Council, talked about promoting and supporting First Nation students in achieving academic success.

Jade Willoughby, a Whitesand First Nation member and model for Wilhemina Models agency, talked to youth and students about how she overcame many obstacles in pursuit of her modeling dreams.

Almost half of the 300 people who attended the conference were students from the area high schools of Churchill, St. Ignatius and St. Patrick’s.

Post-secondary students from Matawa Education, Confederation College and Lakehead University Faculty of Law also attended.

government announcement provides Seven Generations Education Institute with the opportunity to support Aboriginal learners with access to much-needed training and skills to participate in the mining industry and contribute to the Canadian economy.”

–Delbert Horton, CEO, Seven Generations Education Institute

The Skills and Partnership Fund encourages Aboriginal organizations to create partnerships with government, business and community organizations to improve skills training and create job opportunities for Aboriginal people.

Seven Generations Education Institute offers post-secondary programs at its campuses in Fort Frances and Kenora, and operates a secondary school, a college readiness program, and a course on “essential skills training for the workplace.”

According to its mission statement, Seven Generations “is dedicated to excellence in lifelong learning and empowerment through Anishinaabemowin, by providing community-based and studentcentered learning opportunities for Anishinaabeg.” As part of its operating philosophy, the institute “encompasses the traditional education process by blending culture, tradition, information and technology.”

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