Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I would propose it's likely that the labour force needs far more skills training. Skills training is predominantly the issue. The opportunities are there, but children are not getting out of high school at the pace we'd like to see, and therefore people are not eligible to even g

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I'll go first.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Extend the ASEP program, the aboriginal skills and employment partnership program, for at least another five years in order to take advantage of the current mine projects that are being constructed and just being developed, including Agnico-Eagle and Hope Bay Mining Limited.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I can't speak for Agnico-Eagle, because it's in the Kivalliq region, and I'm in the Kitikmeot region, which is a little bit west of Baker Lake. I've been to Baker Lake recently, and I've been to Baker Lake a number of times over my life, and there has been a sea change. I think i

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  That's exactly correct.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I agree with that. That's true.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you. I agree with what Larry said. I would also add that in the eastern part of the Kitikmeot region—which is, again, the area north of Yellowknife, formerly known as the central Arctic—the Inuit worked in the Polaris mine 20 or 30 years ago. There is some experience there

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Well, right now throughout Nunavut, Inuit own land. That's different from many other jurisdictions in Canada for aboriginal people. Inuit actually own, fee simple, the land, or some of the land. They also own the sub-surface rights, in some cases. In the case of the Agnico-Eagle

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. It's what Dr. Ron Wallace, one of the leads on this project, calls “highfaluting finance”. I think it involves a number of partnerships in order to achieve this equity interest. The other thing we are also trying to achieve is not to use any Inuit money. W

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  IIBAs could be used as a mechanism to achieve an equity interest, but the problem with IIBAs, as I stated earlier, is that you need a project to have an IIBA. By the time you have an IIBA, you have an Agnico-Eagle on your lands, an IIBA that's paying dividends. You have a gold mi

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I can hear you. Thank you, Mr. Chair and members. Good afternoon, and thank you for the opportunity to address the committee. Your work is viewed by KIA, the Kitikmeot Inuit Association, as very important, indeed critical to the development of the north. Before I continue, I