Mining industry serves as model of reconciliation across the nation
Participation of First Nations people at a historic high at all levels of the sector
Aboriginal participation in Saskatchewan’s mining industry reflects a model of reconciliation that serves as an example for the rest of Canada, says the chief executive officer of an indigenous investment company involved in the sector.
“The mining community has been very good at providing opportunities for aboriginal people,” said Geoff Gay, CEO of Athabasca Basin Development. The company was started by and is co-owned by seven aboriginal communities in the Athabasca region.
“From observing elsewhere, the relationships and partnerships that the mines and aboriginal people have in the province are fairly strong in comparison to any other place in the country, and it’s growing,” he said.
“I think our aboriginal leadership is focused on the future, and mining companies are becoming more and more focused on partnerships and engaging with partners,” said Gay.
Athabasca Basin Development was established in 2002 with the goal of maximizing local community participation in the opportunities arising from the mining industry. The seven largely Dene First Nations communities recognized that their territory on the Athabasca Basin sits on the world’s richest high-grade uranium deposits, creating opportunities for prosperity.
Today, the company’s investments have grown to include complete or partial ownership in businesses that provide a wide range of services, such as “skilled workforce supply, construction, electrical, security, drilling, aviation and more,” according to its website.
During its brief history, Athabasca Basin Development has witnessed aboriginal communities and people play an increasing and evolving role in the mining industry.
“We’ve been around for close to 20 years and we definitely see more involvement in the northern uranium mines and increased momentum in the potash mines in southern Saskatchewan,” says Gay.
He notes that aboriginal workers are now getting higher paid positions with more responsibilities.
“There are more aboriginal employees who are taking on management positions, who are starting their own businesses, or who are working with management teams in the service sector of the mines,” he says. “I saw it 10 years ago, but it’s increasing.”
As well, he notes that more local First Nations community development corporations have been formed and are pursuing opportunities in mining.
Aboriginal participation at all levels of the industry is at a historic high, according to the Saskatchewan Mining Association. It estimates that just under half of mine site employees, including contractors, are of aboriginal ancestry. It also calculates that mining employs more aboriginal people than any other sector in the province.
Participation is only likely to increase, with one of Canada’s largest mining companies committed to allocating even more of its local spending on “local aboriginal content.”
Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan has long recognized aboriginal engagement as a key plank in its growth strategy. Along with many other mining companies operating in Saskatchewan, it acknowledges that almost all of the projects on the horizon have a footprint on traditional territory.Effective consultations, engagement and collaboration with regards to the development of these natural resources is crucial, as is the sharing in the prosperity such development brings.
“PotashCorp believes that investing in First Nations and Metis communities leads to their success and our success, indeed the success of this province . ... It is inextricably linked to ensuring we continue to meet our critical role in the world’s growing demand for food,” says the company’s Statement of Commitment to First Nations and Metis people.
The company supports initiatives and events that ensure aboriginal people and communities are aware of all opportunities for them at PotashCorp, both as employees and suppliers. It also is committed to “supporting training and education measures that will position First Nations and Metis people to take advantage of these opportunities now and in the future.”
That commitment has reaped huge rewards, said Leanne Bellegarde, director of diversity and inclusion for PotashCorp.
“In the last five years, 11 per cent of our new hires have been voluntarily self-identified as First Nations and Metis people,” says Bellegarde. “They’re employed in positions all across our job categories.”
“In fact, in the last two years, as a result of a student-focused aboriginal internship program, 25 per cent of those new hires have been young First Nations and Metis people in the categories of engineering, business and IT.”
By 2020, PotashCorp says at least 30 per cent of its local spending will be on “local aboriginal content” — either aboriginal suppliers or nonaboriginal suppliers who hire aboriginal employees or support local aboriginal initiatives in a variety of ways and investments, such as on education or training.
“We are already achieving about 12 per cent of our local spend,” says Bellegarde. “So we are confident that when we factor in all aspects of supplier spend on local aboriginal content, we will meet or exceed our goal of 30 per cent by 2020.”
Finally, more and more First Nations communities are forming partnerships for co-ownership with mining companies.
For instance, Muskowekwan First Nation has formed a partnership with junior mining company Encanto Potash to build a mine on its reserve northeast of Regina. With two new 20-year-agreements to sell potash to India recently announced, the company needs to raise $3 billion to finance the mine. Once built, which is expected to take three years, the mine will create hundreds of jobs and employment opportunities.
An agreement with the provincial and federal governments quickly followed, paving the way for construction. It will be the first project regulated under the First Nations Commercial and Industrial Development Act, which applies existing provincial rules to large-scale projects on First Nations land.
“FNCIDA works by essentially reproducing the provincial rules and regulations that apply to similar large-scale commercial or industrial projects off reserves and applying them to a specific onreserve project,” the company said in a statement issued last month.
“This approach, called incorporation by reference, ensures that both on- and off-reserve projects are subject to similar regulatory regimes, levelling the playing field. It offers protection for Muskowekwan people, lands and environment and increases certainty for investors, developers and the public while minimizing costs.”
The milestone breaks “entirely new ground,” Muskowekwan Chief Reginald Bellerose said in an earlier statement.
The legislation not only ensures Muskowekwan’s role as a “significant resource player in Canada for generations to come, but paves the way for other First Nations to achieve self-source revenues and a self-dictated future full of promise.”
The relationships and partnerships that the mines and aboriginal people have in the province are fairly strong in comparison to any other place in the country, and it’s growing. GEOFF GAY, CEO, Athabasca Basin Development