These are good questions, in particular for first nations, Métis, and Inuit.
What are the operating engineers doing? Six years ago we were approached by the Government of Nunavut Board of Education, in particular to deal with the mining boom in Nunavut. To date, we've trained.... We're closing in on 700 Inuit in six years. We're enjoying an employment rate of over 90%. That's Local 793, in conjunction with the Government of Nunavut Board of Education and the Operating Engineers Training Institute of Ontario.
In regard to your question about Six Nations, yes, I'm very familiar with that program with Six Nations. Brandi Jonathan actually heads up that program. We've worked with Brandi for the past 10 years, and in particular in the last two years supporting that program by busing down 15 aboriginal students from Six Nations. We put them into a program, indentured them into apprenticeship, and they're now out in the workforce. We're just negotiating to do the same again for the third year.
Right now we're in partnership—to answer your question about partnerships—and very active with AECON. I hope everybody is familiar with AECON. We're working with Six Nations and Brandi Jonathan, the Ring of Fire, northwestern Ontario. The Ring of Fire is nine aboriginal bands. We're now creating a partnership with them to access the resources from the Six Nations aboriginals, the Ring of Fire, who do not necessarily have that expertise. We're putting together a proposal to train aboriginals to work in northwestern Ontario in the boom—the construction, the railway, the roads that are going to be going in for the billions of dollars' worth of projects.
So yes, we're very active. And let's face it, the most available workforce in Canada is the first nations, Métis, and Inuit. We've recognized that. Again, funds are crucial to make this all happen. Government support is crucial to make this all happen. Much of these programs are in-kind donations from our union, in particular, the busing, putting these students up, and giving them some short courses to get them indentured and interested in the apprenticeship programs we offer.