Plan trains Aboriginal workers for mining careers

Page 33

About 40 per cent of the people employed in mining in northern Saskatchewan are Aboriginal, thanks in part to the Multi-Party Training Plan.

The plan began in 1993 as a five-year initiative designed to provide people in Northern Saskatchewan with the skills and training needed to find employment in the mining sector.

When the initial five years of the plan ended in 1998, a second five-year phase was added, which is set to end in June 2003.

The multi-party part of the training plan name comes from the partners involved in implementing the plan. Partners in the second phase include Human Resources Development Canada and Western Economic Diversification representing the federal government; Saskatchewan's Post-Secondary Education and Skills Training, Economic and Cooperative Development, and Northern Affairs departments; mining industry representatives Cameco Corporation, Cogema Resources, Cigar Lake Mining Corporation and Claude Resources; and Northlands College representing post-secondary training institutions.

First Nations partners in the plan include the Prince Albert Grand Council and Meadow Lake Tribal Council, while Metis partners include the Jim Brady Development Corporation, Northcote Metis Development Corporation, Northern Region III Metis, and Methy Pathways.

During the first phase of the plan, $13 million in training and in-kind expenditures were committed by the partners, with 575 training certificates awarded in apprenticeships, technical training, skills training and academic upgrading. In the first two years of phase two, the plan partners have already contributed $8 million in funding, with 241 training certificates awarded. And while the focus of the first phase of the plan was on preparing people in the north with skills and training needed to fill jobs in mining, phase two has an expanded focus, preparing northerners for science careers, promoting science and math studies among northern youth, upgrading training for employees already working in the mining sector, and promoting opportunities for small businesses.

In the first seven years of the plan, 81 per cent of the people enrolled in training have been Aboriginal. According to information provided by Saskatchewan Post-Secondary Education and Skills Training, the plan has helped to double the numbers of northern residents employed in northern mine sites, with Aboriginal people making up almost 40 per cent of mine site employees.

The plan has also had a positive economic impact on the region. Figures from 1999 show that $200 million went into the northern economy through payroll, contracts and purchases, five times the amount coming in before the plan came into being.

According to Terri Franks with Saskatchewan Post-Secondary Skills Training, figures from March show that of the 1,447 people employed at eight mine sites in northern Saskatchewan, 741 or just over 51 per cent are from the north, and 608, or 42 per cent are Aboriginal. Those figures represent the workforces at Cluff Lake, McClean Lake, Key Lake, McArthur River, Rabbit Lake, Cigar Lake, Seabee mine and Konuto Lake.

Julia Ewing is manager of northern affairs for Cameco, one of the industry partners in the Multi-Party Training Plan.

The results of Cameco's involvement in the training plan can be seen from the company's employment statistics. In December 1992, before the training plan was put in place, Northern Aboriginal employees made up 37 per cent of the workforce for Cameco and its contractors. In April 2000, that number had risen to 47 per cent.

Last year, the company contributed more than $1 million in in-kind contributions to the training plan.

As part of its involvement in the training plan, Cameco has offered an on-site apprenticeship program, work placements for students in Northland College's technical programs, and has taken on indentured apprentices in various trades.

The company has also visited schools in northern Saskatchewan, making presentations to studets about career opportunities in mining and the educational requirements required, and has flown northern students in for on-site tours.

Existing employees have also benefited from the training plan, with workplace education offered at two Cameco mine sites, what Ewing describes as an on-site tutor program, with each student developing their own education program geared to what they want to learn.

"We can run some programs, or be involved in some programs, that we wouldn't be able to justify on our own."

She explained that because Cameco and the other industry partners are looking for the same types of training for their potential employees, they can pool their resources, offering a joint training program. While the numbers of employees each company is looking to train and hire at any one time wouldn't make offering such training feasible separately, by training potential employees for all companies together, the number of employees to be trained is high enough to warrant offering of the programs.

"That's the biggest benefit, I would say, is getting the synergic effect," Ewing said.

"And similarly, all those other agencies that are in it with us, like the First Nations tribal councils and the Metis Pathways and federal and provincial governments, they all put funds in it, all the signatories put money into it. So none of us would be able to do this on our own. We just wouldn't have the resources, financial and otherwise."

Having educational institutions as plan partners also benefits employees taking part in the training, Ewing explained.

"Because we've got the educational institutions . . . the students get accreditation and they're recognized programs. The fact that they're through the granting institution other than just ourselves as an employer, it's beneficial for the people involved, too, that they, if they leave our employ, will have something that's recognizable elsewhere."

Don Deranger has been involved in the Multi-Party Training Plan since its iception, having worked to get it in place while he was a provincial employee in 1990. He continued his work with the plan following its launch. Deranger, who works for the Prince Albert Grand Council, is training and employment co-ordinator for the Athabasca region.

When the plan started up in 1993, about 90 people from the Athabasca region were employed in mining. He set a goal of increasing that number to 300 by 1998. In 1998, 315 mining employees came from the region.

In his role, Deranger helps set up training, and helps select candidates for the training programs.

While implementation of the training plan got off to a flying start, the plan has been affected by recent slowdowns in the mining sector, Deranger explained.

"The first five years was very successful. Most of the people that were involved in training were employed. The second phase has seen a turn around in the industry. There has been a lot of layoffs. Right now, we had probably about 300 people employed in the Athabasca region going into the second phase. And today, I think, we're lucky if we've got 150," he said.

With the downturn in the industry, Deranger has begun to focus on the future, hoping things will pick up again within a couple of years.

"We have a lot of people that are qualified, and that want to get back into the mining field. But right now, they're being laid off, so we're just looking at what kind of skills are going to be needed," he said. "Once everybody gets called back, and over and above they still require more people, then we'll look at a training program that will assist them in filling the vacancies."

While the layoffs have meant training through the plan has slowed down, Deranger explained some of the communities affected are working with him to develop training initiatives of their own.

One of those communities is Fond-du-Lac, where Deranger has met with community members to talk about their plans to start up a motor vehicle mechanic course in the community.

"I tod the community that it would be good to not only focus on one mechanical trade for the community, but to look at other trades. So what they're going to do is they're going to have three sections under the program," Deranger said. "It's a basic mechanical course. And they'll have so much time on motor vehicle mechanics, they'll have so much time on industrial mechanics, and they'll have so much time on heavy-duty mechanics. And at the end of the course they'll get a certificate for having the basic knowledge of the mechanical trade."

The mechanical training will not only provide those taking it with an alternative livelihood while the mining industry is in a down turn, but will also give them added skills that are transferable to the mining industry once things pick up again.

As for the long term, Deranger remains optimistic.

"I'd like to get the numbers back up to 300, and once that's achieved, then look and see how much more I can bring the numbers up . . . and based on the Multi-Party Training Plan, we could probably look at an additional 50 to 100 more people from the Athabasca employed by 2005."

Although the Multi-Party Training Plan has been successful in increasing the numbers of northern and Aboriginal people employed in mining, Deranger doesn't think the plan will receive another extension once the second phase ends.

"We've done what we can for the mining industry. They're at 60 per cent northern employment content. And our goal was 50 per cent. So we exceeded it. We exceeded our goal. And now we're basically going from 60 now to 70, trying to make it higher . . . we're trying to do that."