Evidence of meeting #39 for Indigenous and Northern Affairs in the 40th Parliament, 2nd session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was training.
President, Peregrine Diamonds Ltd.
It's very important, and I hope the committee would seriously consider extending those benefits to the exploration industry because sometimes, especially in difficult market conditions, that is one of the few ways that companies, especially small companies, have of raising capital. It's very important.
Liberal
Larry Bagnell Liberal Yukon, YT
Mr. Mark, I assume that if we approved the ports in some of the smaller communities and if we had a port here, you could get a lot more supplies in by ship. Then they wouldn't have to fly so many things in. It would lower the cost of living.
Sealift Administrator, Nunavut Sealink & Supply Inc.
Yes. Three ports is what we would be looking at, because I know a lot more vessels come in each year.
Conservative
Conservative
Greg Rickford Conservative Kenora, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to the witnesses.
My questions will be for you, Mr. Clements.
On April 8, 2009, Minister Strahl announced the start of public consultations on a legislative proposal for land use planning and impact assessment processes in Nunavut. This is consistent with the integrated northern strategy, and we heard from witnesses earlier today, specifically around integrated economic development, that land use planning is a key part of that. It also happens to be a special interest of mine, so I'm going to attempt to drill down on some of this.
You emphasized the importance of consultation with industry specifically with regard to land use planning, and some of the questions for you so far have taken us closer to that. First of all, has that consultation taken place with industry, as you would purely define it? Perhaps we could have just a yes or no on that question.
President, Peregrine Diamonds Ltd.
It's really not a yes-or-no question, because it is in this new legislation that the land use plans are germinating. There are a couple here, but there isn't one for this area of Baffin. A lot of this legislation spells out the details of how these land use plans are formulated.
Conservative
Greg Rickford Conservative Kenora, ON
Fair enough. In that case, what key recommendations would industry make with respect to land use planning? Could you shed some light on the differences between the communities where these prospective mines may be, and Iqaluit's role in that? To what extent would your recommendations consider, engage, and perhaps include some of the traditional principles of land management and land use planning?
President, Peregrine Diamonds Ltd.
I probably shouldn't comment on the... The mining industry right now is reviewing aspects of the legislation and is going to formalize a very detailed analysis in response that will probably be available for the House when the legislation comes before you to consider.
The main point I really wanted to put forward is a recognition that the mining industry is important in all this and that the mining industry and other proponents should be a part of the whole process. I don't know that it's really in the existing legislation; at least, it's not formally recognized; it might be informally recognized. It's important to include industry, and specifically, for me, it's very important to have the mining industry as part of the process.
Conservative
Greg Rickford Conservative Kenora, ON
I can appreciate that.
I'm struck by your comment emphasizing the importance of consultation with industry specifically regarding land use planning. Can you be more specific?
President, Peregrine Diamonds Ltd.
Yes, I will be more specific in one area.
For example, a big part of the land use plan will be exclusions. I don't know how many are slated to be formulated for Nunavut. It might be eight, or something like that. A specific component assesses areas within the regional land use area that might be considered for parks as excluded areas, areas not open for mineral exploration. A key thing would be to consult the mining industry and experts in government on the potential for resource development in these areas considered for exclusion before these areas are just drawn out to be excluded as national parks and things like that. That's a key one.
Also, in areas of regional land use plans where there are advanced developments, the details of the land use plan will affect the developments. The proponents should be brought to the table and asked for their thoughts on all components of the land use plan, because it will affect them quite dramatically.
Conservative
Greg Rickford Conservative Kenora, ON
I'm assuming that part of this consultation gives considerable deference to traditional land use practices.
Conservative
Greg Rickford Conservative Kenora, ON
Are there any issues around that, or is there anything specific around parks, currently or moving forward, that the industry is preoccupied with? I don't necessarily mean that in a negative way.
President, Peregrine Diamonds Ltd.
There aren't any issues from my perspective. I think most of us, if not all, accept that if it's a park, it's just off limits, and that's gone forever. That's why I say that in considering future parks and things like that, we have to remember that once it becomes a park, by law it's excluded from mineral development forever, so let's not lose that opportunity if it's a possibility.
Conservative
Greg Rickford Conservative Kenora, ON
I'll shift gears a little bit and build on the questions of my colleague. I realize it's speculation, but you talked about perhaps hundreds of jobs per mine site. Do you have any anticipation of, or projections on, revenues from any of these mines at this point?
President, Peregrine Diamonds Ltd.
No, I don't, because the range is just so great. The possible range is from a few billion dollars in the ground to many billions of dollars of potential revenue in the ground. It's really hard to speculate. It could be a mine with 60 or 80 employees; it could be a mine with 500.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Bruce Stanton
Yes, that's it. Thank you, Mr. Rickford.
Before we do this, I should say that we have a number of guests here today. It's great to see you all. If you wish to have interpretation, there are devices on the table. I think there should be some around. There may be some on the table here. Please help yourselves for interpretation if you wish. Please help yourselves.
Maintenant nous allons à M. Gaudet. Vous disposez de cinq minutes.
Mr. Gaudet, you can go ahead.
Bloc
Roger Gaudet Bloc Montcalm, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My question is for Mr. Clements.
As for the mines you mentioned, the ones located 120 kilometres and 250 kilometres from the villages, whose names I cannot remember, how long will the exploration last? Will it be for a limited time, or could it go on for 10, 15 or 20 years?
President, Peregrine Diamonds Ltd.
First off, the two places I spoke of really are not mine sites, they're early-stage exploration projects. If everything would go perfectly for those projects, you would hope to first put them into production five to ten years from now, and you would hope to have say a ten- to twenty-year mine life, maybe longer if it's really spectacular.
President, Peregrine Diamonds Ltd.
Right now, probably this year, we've spent $9 million here on our Chidliak project, and probably 20% to 25% of that went to local goods and services, using his ships, purchasing food for the camps here, to a local air service provider who did all of our fixed-wing flights to the property. There were 18 employees, but if it were to be a development that would increase significantly. At the early stages of exploration, there are a lot of things like drills and helicopters that consume a large proportion of your budget. As you move farther and farther into development, you have more employees, and you can use local goods and services more.
Bloc
Roger Gaudet Bloc Montcalm, QC
Does your vision for the medium and long terms include training people from the local communities?
You are not doing any exploration, you want to. But when the time comes, will people from the local communities be able to work with you?
Are you asking the territory for assistance with training, anything, so that locals will be able to work with you?
President, Peregrine Diamonds Ltd.
We are working on some possible programs that exist here to participate in those, but we will also be doing our own training. These are exploration jobs, things like field technicians, camp maintenance staff, but we are going to spend a significant amount of time getting people up to speed in doing the jobs that we have now properly. So yes, that will be, even at this early stage, a significant component of our program this year.