I will give the rest of my time to Mr. Lévesque.
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.
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.
2 p.m.
Bloc
Yvon Lévesque Bloc Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Clements, let's talk about training. We know that the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency has a training program. When the deputy minister, Ms. Jauvin, appeared before the committee, she said that companies would be asked to help train workers. No matter how much on-the-job training, as you say, is provided to work underground or extract mineral ore, you will still need a lot of tradespeople, such as electricians, plumbers and mechanics.
Do you have an idea of how many tradespeople you might need? Have you discussed it with the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency?
2 p.m.
President, Peregrine Diamonds Ltd.
We haven't yet, because at the moment our project is early-stage exploration. In the positions we have right now, we don't have electricians, plumbers, heavy equipment operators, and things like that, but I know that several of our people are talking with various agencies about training programs. Some of those evolve around on-the-job training, where maybe there is even a subsidy for the company to bring people on the job and train them. But as the project advances, and as more skilled positions are needed, training of local people will become a much larger part of the overall effort, for sure.
2 p.m.
Bloc
Yvon Lévesque Bloc Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC
I mention it now because training someone in a trade takes a minimum of two years. In your forecasts, in the event that you are able to undertake extraction, you should anticipate the number of tradespeople you would need to train locals so they could benefit from the activity, as soon as work gets underway.
2 p.m.
President, Peregrine Diamonds Ltd.
Long before we would need them, we would begin those kinds of studies. We just haven't yet, but of course we would begin the studies long before we would start production.
2 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Bruce Stanton
Thank you, Mr. Lévesque and Mr. Gaudet.
Now I'm going to take one of the government's spots just to ask a couple of questions myself.
Mr. Mark, I wonder if you could describe from your own point of view what you, as a seaman and someone who's familiar with the aspects of shipping as it relates to the north and to Nunavut, see as the real impediments or obstacles preventing a better shipping industry and better access. What would in fact make your industry better? There's been discussion about the port facilities and so on. If you were to imagine the ideal scenario in terms of advancing your industry and by extension the development of the north, how would you describe that?
2 p.m.
Sealift Administrator, Nunavut Sealink & Supply Inc.
I wish I had been working with this company a little bit longer, and then I would be likely to answer your question better. For myself, if we had more... We do have a lot of good equipment on the vessels carrying the cargo. The only thing is the problem of the high tide, like I said before. If we had a better way to unload...
2:05 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Bruce Stanton
The high tide basically prevents... You're not able to keep the schedule you would like, but can you work around it? Does it just mean delays? Can you still get the big ships into port?
I'm sorry if these questions seem simple, but of course we're putting it on the record as well. That helps us.
Even though you're delayed, are you still able to offload what you need to, or are you very restricted in the size of vessels, for example, that can get into port?
2:05 p.m.
Sealift Administrator, Nunavut Sealink & Supply Inc.
Yes, if we really do have a dock up here, there wouldn't be any problem. There are times when bad weather comes, and that slows us down as well.
2:05 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Bruce Stanton
Okay.
Mr. Clements, in regard to the Chidliak development, I think you said that was the closest here. How far along are you at this point? If it comes to fruition, it could be potentially a 10- to 20-year project. I think you described a couple of projects along that scale. Do you have any idea of where that sits? What's the status of that exploration, and what would it take to get you from there to a full-blown project?
2:05 p.m.
President, Peregrine Diamonds Ltd.
First and foremost, it's going to take a couple more years of really detailed exploration. We only made our first discovery a little over one year ago, and we've made dramatic progress in that year. We've identified some significant diamond counts and some kimberlite pipes, but we have a couple more years of advancing our knowledge of the pipes we've discovered that have economic potential and of trying to discover as many more as we can. Then in a couple of years, we would start moving into the economic analysis of the whole project.
I'll give you two well-known examples. At the Ekati mine, they made their first discovery in 1991 and they went into production in 1998. So that was seven years from initial discovery to production, but that was lightning fast. They discovered three or four that were clearly economic right away. Diavik took nine years to go from the first discovery and the mine plan to production.
2:05 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Bruce Stanton
Have you had any experience in the Northwest Territories with taking a project to full production?
2:05 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Bruce Stanton
So far, how would you describe the process in terms of working with the government here and the other regulatory bodies? You've been in the field for a couple of years. How would you describe that process thus far?
2:05 p.m.
President, Peregrine Diamonds Ltd.
So far for us it's gone very well. A few of the people are actually sitting here from the agencies we work with. We have a good relationship. We just try to be very complete in the information we provide, and so far we haven't had any problems.
2:05 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Bruce Stanton
Okay, that's great.
Now we'll go to Mrs. Hughes for another five-minute question. Go ahead, Mrs. Hughes.
2:05 p.m.
NDP
Carol Hughes NDP Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON
I don't know if I have five minutes' worth of questions. I think a lot of the questions I had have been asked.
I think we really need to focus on training, whether that's with transportation or whether it's with mining, although you're not quite ready. It's still a while before you'll see a full-blown mine set up and completely functional.
Maybe I should backtrack. You've said you have about 20 local people employed currently. How many people are you employing in total right now?
2:05 p.m.
President, Peregrine Diamonds Ltd.
This year there was an average of say 40 people on the site at Chidliak here, and I think there were seven people on the site at Nanuq where we employ two local people.
2:05 p.m.
NDP
Carol Hughes NDP Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON
Just in building towards that, although you indicated there should be some dollars invested in education from kindergarten to high school, grade 12, I'm just wondering, because my understanding is there is a lack of skill training courses and education available in the community here. I guess first and foremost that would be important for you, because although the government can focus on ensuring that there is additional funding—and most of the funding for education does come at the provincial level, and as well they filter all of those funding initiatives out—you would actually need people trained in skills prior to these young people moving up into the educational system.
Have you actually had a chance to talk to the Arctic College with respect to your needs for upcoming training that would be available? My understanding is that a lot of the adults who are currently here don't have the educational skills, but they could certainly be encouraged to take the skills training necessary.
I'm just trying to get some sense of that. Mark, I'm not sure if you could talk about that as to what your needs are with regard to staffing and any training these people may need as well. I'm just wondering if maybe that's where the federal government should focus some dollars.
2:10 p.m.
President, Peregrine Diamonds Ltd.
Absolutely, I'll just come in on both of those.
Yes, we have been to the college in Pangnirtung and talked to them there about potential opportunities in mining. We've also been to the high school and talked to the local people. We've done this on a number of other projects. Really, the number one thing we like to tell people when we go to the schools is to do as well as they can—take their schooling as seriously as they can right now—because when the opportunity comes with a mine development or anything else, their getting the right education when they're young will prepare them as much for that future professional opportunity as some government-sponsored training program. The best thing is to encourage the best possible school systems and figure out a way to encourage people to really take their schooling seriously and complete it. That prepares them even better than a training program.
2:10 p.m.
Sealift Administrator, Nunavut Sealink & Supply Inc.
I myself agree with that. Our sealift operations only last about four months a year. Again, we usually have people come by to apply for a job. Ourselves, we look at the high school students. If they drop by at the same time, this would be the learning project for the sealift. It's only four months out of the year. We would love to have more people work with us. I know this would be a place to work, with so many young people and people who don't have jobs that they would love to work with us.
2:10 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Bruce Stanton
That's it, actually. You had the full five minutes in there. Good for you.
Now we'll go to Mr. Dreeshen. I think he's going to split time with Mr. Payne as well.
Go ahead, Mr. Dreeshen, for five minutes.
2:10 p.m.
Conservative
Earl Dreeshen Conservative Red Deer, AB
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, gentlemen, for being here this afternoon.
Many of the things I was going to ask also have been presented. To expand upon some of my colleagues' remarks, one of the things you mentioned in your presentation, Mr. Clements, was responsible mineral exploration and production. That was the main focus, of course, that your company had.
I guess I'd like to start by just asking, what do you see that being? This is a great opportunity for you to tell the committee what you think the mining business should be looking for in the next 10 years, or whatever.
2:10 p.m.
President, Peregrine Diamonds Ltd.
Responsible mineral development is taking into account the environment and all the regulations that exist. It's placing a prime importance on health and safety and the safety of the workers, and it's trying to maximize, to the greatest extent possible, the economic benefits and capacity building that can be given to local communities and local people. That really is responsible mineral development. There can be great benefits that can come. Mining operations are a very rare thing. Remember, there have been four major ones in the history of Nunavut, and just one or two can really change the economic prosperity of an area. So responsible mineral development is taking into account all factors as you're moving towards development.