Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee.
I am here this morning representing Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited. AEM is one of the top 10 gold companies in the world and a Canadian success story. In addition to our operations in Canada, which are centred in Quebec and Nunavut, we are also operating mines in Mexico and northern Finland. The Canada Pension Plan is one of our largest shareholders.
I know that my time is very limited, so I will skip to the essence of my presentation.
The mineral resources are in Nunavut. In many cases they have been located and are awaiting development. The mining industry has the capacity to change the economy of Nunavut in a positive manner. This change can occur in this generation with strategic support from the Government of Canada. AEM believes in this potential and has invested $1.5 billion of its own financial resources to become a key player in this region.
Based on our experience, we've put in front of you three initiatives that could significantly increase the economic viability and pace of development of the mineral resources of the Kivalliq region of Nunavut to the benefit of all Canadians and ensure that the people of the region can use this development to advance their economic well-being in a sustainable manner.
The first initiative is an investment in the people of the north, the Nunavummiat. The creation of a sustainable future requires that we maximize northern-based employment. Mining is a non-renewable extractive industry. As an industry, we can balance what we take from the land by leaving behind transferrable skills that will allow the people of this region to participate in their own economic well-being after we have departed. The challenge is the lack of a skilled workforce in Nunavut. The solution is to invest in training and to teach employment and life skills to northern employees.
AEM will be spending $9 million over the next three years for specific job skill training at its Meadowbank mine in Nunavut. We are also participating with the Kivalliq Inuit Association, the Government of Nunavut, and the community of Baker Lake to find other ways to train and to prepare northerners for employment in the mining industry. But more is needed.
We ask the Government of Canada to help by providing additional investment, both in dollars and administrative help, in adult training and education focused on the skills required by the mining industry--miners, heavy equipment operators, and trades such as heavy equipment mechanics, millwrights, welders, instrument technicians, etc.--investment in programs to encourage Nunavut students to go on to post-secondary training, to be in a position to take on technical and managerial careers in the mining industry, and to work with industry to deliver this training now before these opportunities pass, leaving northerners behind. Only the Government of Canada has the resources to make this happen fast enough to help this generation. Without federal involvement we stand to lose having this generation of Nunavummiat be able to fully participate in the resource development occurring now.
The second initiative is the investment in the development of a new deep water port in the Kivalliq Region of Nunavut--Rankin Inlet being the desirable site. Transportation and logistics are critical components and often obstacles for mineral resource development in the north. It is expensive to work and live in the north, potentially reducing the attractiveness to future development of the north's mineral wealth. The Government of Canada can help change this by taking the lead in developing critical transportation infrastructure to open up Canada's north.
In Kivalliq, the construction of a deep water port in or near Rankin Inlet will significantly lower the high cost of transportation to the region, lowering the cost of living and laying the way for increased mineral development. For example, ocean shipping costs to the Meadowbank project are in excess of $20 million a year. An immediate first step is for the Government of Canada to complete a feasibility study. Over the long term, this type of federal investment will be cost-recovered through growth in the mineral sector in the Kivalliq region. Only the Government of Canada has the resources to make it happen now.
The third initiative is to assist the community of Baker Lake with investment in critical infrastructure that they need to participate in the mineral development that is occurring on their doorstep now. I will be brief here, as I know you will also be hearing this morning from the hamlet of Baker Lake.
Baker Lake is in the middle of a band of highly prospective mineral potential. The Meadowbank gold mine is under construction and will start in early 2010. The Kigavik uranium mine is now in the environmental assessment process as a high-level exploration is occurring in the lands around the community.
The hamlet of Baker Lake needs help to build capacity, infrastructure, and small business development to allow it to take advantage of these developments and not let these opportunities pass them by. The Government of Canada can help by strategic investments in the expansion of transportation infrastructure and in assistance to small business development in Baker Lake to allow the community to develop in support of the mineral industry in a sustainable fashion.
In conclusion, I offer the following thoughts for your consideration.
The economic future of Canada is aligned with the economic future of Nunavut. The mining industry has proven that there's a long-term resource development potential on which to build a solid sustainable economy in Nunavut. This is the opportunity of a generation for the people to acquire skills, jobs, and opportunities comparable to those in southern Canada. That potential can only be realized with strategic investment by the Government of Canada. These investments in infrastructure, skills, and education make resource development viable by dramatically improving project economics and making northern development costs closer to those of other regions in Canada and the world.
These investments will pay for themselves in new taxes, royalties, and reduced dependence on the federal government, while demonstrating to the world Canada's commitment to its Arctic territory. The cost is small. The payback is enormous for the people of Nunavut and Canada.
Thank you.