Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  A lot of these workers have had experience before in other mines, but when you get to work for one of the mining companies, you're given labour work wages at the entry level, and you have to start working your way up. Now, if you work at BHP and then you transfer over to Diavik, in most cases you have to start all over again.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I'm not sure about the labour standards, but with each of the mining companies we negotiate impact and benefit agreements in terms of what can happen between the mining companies and ourselves in terms of what cultural leave we can take, when we have to leave, and bereavement of family.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  You heard it right. I was talking about how 85% of the Tlicho graduates are young ladies. The evidence is there when you go to any of our offices.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  The communities here in the Northwest Territories are affected by the whole mining industry, and we will be for the next hundred years. Although we've just been in this program for the past nine years, we still see a lot of work ahead of us. I think we can succeed in getting more people trained and into jobs.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I think it's also showing up in the way that these young ladies are also taking courses in truck driving. The mining companies' big trucks are worth $7 million, and they prefer some of these young women to drive their trucks because they take the extra effort, the extra care, to look after their $7 million baby.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I think that rather than just go out to certain professions, they have to understand that there are certain courses that they have to take to get them there. I think from a business point of view.... I also took management, and I've always said, if you don't know what to take when you go to school, take management, because you can become a manager of anything.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We'll do this in two parts. When BHP first came on the scene and the two-week-in and two-week-out issue was tried, during the very first year of operation eight relationships in our community broke up. That caused problems in the community, because this was something that was not normal.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Okay. There also seems to be a real lack of opportunity in the way that when larger companies come into town, there seems to be conflict with local development, opportunities for local people to really advance. Bigger companies come in as a joint venture, and because we're the local people they use our name to get the contracts.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you very much. It's a great honour to be making a presentation to the committee. I'm on the board of directors with the Mine Training Society, as you indicated, but I also bring experience as vice-chairman of the Aurora College. I'm also on several study groups here.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Right on. In my presentation I'll bring a lot of the experience I have, partly as a negotiator on the Tlicho land claim agreement, so I might bring some self-government elements to it. With regard to taking opportunities and dealing with the barriers to economic development in some of our smaller communities, the northern communities are no different from any other aboriginal community across Canada.