Good morning. Thank you very much, Chair.
Thank you to the Standing Committee on Natural Resources for the invitation to participate. It's a great pleasure to be here this morning to provide you with my words about how Canada could support innovative and sustainable solutions to create economic opportunities for all Canadians in the mining sector.
First, let me recognize that today I'm speaking on the traditional lands of the Algonquin people.
I think we had a great overview by the Honourable Bob Rae, Sheilagh, and Stephen on the legal and public policy side of this discussion currently going on in Canada. I hope to offer a bit more of a pragmatic solution about how we start achieving some of these realities that we want to achieve in Canada.
Let me introduce myself. My name is Sean Willy. I am a vice-president for Des Nedhe Development corporation, an English River First Nation economic development corporation. In my current role I am embedded with our first nation-owned public affairs firm, Creative Fire, which has done substantial work with a few large resource companies—PotashCorp and Cameco, to name a couple.
I am also co-chair of the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business and chair of the highly successful indigenous training partnership program Northern Career Quest in northern Saskatchewan, which has been funded through the skills partnership fund through ESDC. Over the last three years, Northern Career Quest has trained 1,800 people in northern Saskatchewan, with over 1,600 of those finding employment. That's an employment rate of 92%.
I am also on the board of the Aboriginal Human Resource Council. Last but not least, I was part of the creation and the first chair of the aboriginal affairs committee within the Mining Association of Canada.
Of most importance to me, however, is where I come from. I was born and raised in Canada's north. I was born in Inuvik, Northwest Territories. I've lived in Fort McPherson, Northwest Territories; Rankin Inlet, Nunavut; and Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. I am a member of the North Slave Métis Alliance, with strong connections to my Métis and Denesuline ancestry.
I grew up in a family with a Dene mother and a mining executive father, so a lot of the discussions we're having now on duty to consult and free, prior, and informed consent happened at the kitchen table as I grew up.