Natural Resources Committee on June 12th, 2012

[Hughie Graham]

I believe with the completion of an economic development strategy, which the NWT is currently without, we'll have a better ability to be in the same situation the Yukon is in and will be able to look five, 10, or 50 years out to make sure that we have the ability to man projects.

There is also the ability to tap into other areas of Canada. Our diamond mines today see a lot of fly-in, fly-out traffic. People will make their wages here and then fly back to other parts of the country to live their time off from their mine shifts.

[Joe Daniel, Conservative, Don Valley East, ON]

On the training of aboriginals and local indigenous peoples, we often hear a lot about the training provided for what I would term sort of the lower-level jobs, such as driving the big trucks or equipment like that or welding and skills like that. But we don't hear very much about how they are being trained to take on supervisory or managerial roles and leadership roles. Can you comment on any of that?

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

Ms. Babcock, go ahead.

[Sandy Babcock]

I can't really comment specifically on what individual companies are doing, but this does lead back to my earlier comments on the lack of middle management in our business community. That really does speak to what you're saying, in terms of the human resource training, those management-type positions, safety, and those sorts of things. Dialogue is ongoing with Yukon College to look at their offering a lot of these programs to address these needs and gaps.

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

Mr. Graham.

[Hughie Graham]

I had the pleasure of taking part in the Canadian Chamber's skills development round table just earlier this week in Yellowknife. I was happy to note that there are internship programs in the north, as well as a northern leadership development program, which could certainly use more funding to be able to take aboriginal workers to that next step.

[Joe Daniel, Conservative, Don Valley East, ON]

How much time do I have?

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

One minute.

[Joe Daniel, Conservative, Don Valley East, ON]

I'll call it quits there.

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

Okay.

Does anybody want to take Mr. Daniel's remaining minute?

Go ahead, Mr. Anderson.

[David Anderson, Conservative, Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK]

Are we next in the line anyway?

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

You actually are next so we'll tack it onto your time.

[David Anderson, Conservative, Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK]

This is a bit of a follow-up to my earlier questions and those of Mr. Daniel, but what have been your most effective educational training strategies to keep younger folks in school, and your most effective training strategies, more generally? How involved are your member companies in the education system, because I think we've seen from testimony here that we have to start earlier than grade 11 or 12, that we certainly can't wait until students are out of high school before we get involved in encouraging them to continue to participate in the education system.

So what's worked in your areas?

Go ahead, Mr. Graham.

[Hughie Graham]

In the Northwest Territories, because we do have a lot of mining, the Mine Training Society has been beneficial to the north, as have been the apprenticeship programs. I'm not familiar with other apprenticeship programs and funding throughout Canada. I do know that the apprenticeship program does work in the Northwest Territories—often too well, as apprentices are trained and then they leave the north. Could more be done for retention? Absolutely.

But early childhood development does need to be tackled, and you're right that more incentives need to be provided earlier than grades 11 and 12.

[David Anderson, Conservative, Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK]

At what level do your companies get engaged in the system? Do you know that?

[Hughie Graham]

I'm sorry, I don't.

[David Anderson, Conservative, Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK]

Okay.

Ms. Babcock.

[Sandy Babcock]

I agree wholeheartedly that we need to get in before grades 10, 11, and 12. In terms of career counselling, I believe a lot more work could be done in this territory for our young people. I don't think they're fully aware of the opportunities that exist. Perhaps 10 years ago there weren't many opportunities, and this is one area we let lag behind us.

At the Yukon college level, the business participation is very good in terms of their sitting on committees and being involved in the apprenticeship trade program. There is a lot of involvement by our businesses at the college level, but we see less in the public education system. I'm going to make a note of that to make sure that we bring it forward. I actually had that discussion with somebody the other day, that we need to do more in that area, in the skills.

[David Anderson, Conservative, Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK]

Okay.

This is changing the topic a bit, but the issue of foreign environmental groups participating in Canada and trying to change public and economic development in different areas across the country has come up a few times in our hearings. I'm wondering if you have any comment on the appropriateness of that.

The other day, I think one of my colleagues opposite basically saw an equivalence between foreign activists getting involved in environmental battles and foreign investment, and saw foreign investment as pretty much similar to foreign environmental groups trying to stop development. Do you see them as being the same thing? Do you see the benefits of foreign investment that you don't see from these activists engaging in political lobbying?

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

Mr. Graham.

[Hughie Graham]

I don't think I have witnessed that in the Northwest Territories, so I don't know if I'm able to comment on it. On an individual level, I would say that I would be against foreign activists telling Canada how to manage its lands and resources.

[Sandy Babcock]

We've actually seen a lot of that trying to influence public policy in the Yukon Territory, particularly in the area of land-use planning. From the chamber's perspective, we don't feel that their opinions or positions should be treated with the same level of respect as the citizens of Canada who express their views. Often they are based on limited information and knowledge of what they're talking about. They don't really understand the complexity of issues, particularly within the Yukon first nations—that environmental issues are not always simple things to deal with.

We certainly respect the environment that we live in. We feel very privileged to have such a clean environment up here, and I would say the folks...[Technical Difficulty—Editor]...are committed to ensuring that we...[Technical Difficulty—Editor]...but when we let outside international environmental groups influence public opinion....

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

Ms. Babcock, your voice is garbled over our communications system again, so we'll just have to go to Mr. Graham for any final questions.

[David Anderson, Conservative, Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK]

I think Ms. Babcock will make sure that testimony gets transcribed, because what you had to say there was very important, Ms. Babcock.

I'll just change the subject a bit. Perhaps we'll have to stick with Mr. Graham on this.

What are the major projects in the future in your territory? What are the big projects that your members are looking at over the next five to 10 years?

If we have the time and the communication with Ms. Babcock, I'd like to hear from her as well.

[Hughie Graham]

Certainly, again, the NWT being so resource-rich.... With our NWT and mining, we have a gold project called Tyhee, which is just outside Yellowknife. We have Fortune mining's NICO, a gold, copper, cobalt, and bismuth mine. We have Thor Lake, which is rare metals. That's Avalon, just on the north shore of Great Slave Lake. We have Prairie Creek, which is Canadian Zinc's zinc and lead mine. We have Gahcho Kué, which is diamonds, in the same area as the EKATI mine and the De Beers Snap Lake Mine, and then we have Pine Point.

It's interesting to point out that these six potential mines equal the jobs in only one of the diamond mines, which is the BHP EKATI mine. We stand—again, as I said earlier—on a pinnacle. We stand to be pushed back or we stand to be vaulted forward. If we could get regulatory control and timelines established, we could certainly eliminate that boom-bust cycle.