Thanks, Chair.
I prepared some questions for CMC, but Mr. Adamson has left, so probably I will have to share my time with my colleagues.
My question is for Mr. Batise.
I'm very glad to find out from your presentation that the first nations communities are enjoying a positive impact from the benefit agreement in terms of increased employment, business, education, and infrastructure.
I want to focus my question on education. I know my colleague and other committee members have already asked questions regarding education for indigenous people, but I want to focus my question from a different angle on undergraduate studies and even higher education.
I know the mining industry is a very significant employer for indigenous people. However, as some witnesses have indicated, most of these indigenous workers are hired to do the field work, so we should find a better way to help the indigenous people to gain greater access to more value-added jobs as scientists or engineers or even as professionals to participate in the decision-making process. Education is the key.
One witness from a university that has a mining research program that addresses mining in indigenous areas, and they have large federal funding, stated that fewer than 5% of their students are from the local indigenous communities or even from all indigenous communities. That's not enough.
Some witnesses suggested that we need to improve our early childhood education, which is good, but it takes years or even one or two generations to see the difference, to see the impact. I know there are come colleges that have been created to mostly recruit indigenous students to have education and they provide training programs, but again most of their graduates are technicians or technologists or trained skilled workers.
Can you recommend any policy ideas that the government or the mining sector developers can apply to encourage more talented indigenous people to enrol in post-secondary or even higher education in the areas that are being looked for by the mining industry?