Harper leaves Nunavut without helping the Kivalliq Mine Training Society

Prime Minister Stephen Harper strikes a maple leaf stamp into a bar of gold at the Meadowbank gold mine near Baker Lake on Aug. 24. (PHOTO BY DEB RANSOM, PMO)

(updated Aug. 29)

Kivalliq Mine Training Society director Kevin Bussey says he’s “extremely disappointed” that Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Aug. 24 visit to Baker Lake did not come with a promise of more money for mine training in the region.

The Rankin Inlet-based training organization has helped train and place 350 Inuit into mine-related jobs since its launch in January, 2010.

But that’s only been possible with the help of $2.5 million from the federal Aboriginal Skills and Employment Program — about a third of the mine society’s budget.

Now, the fate of the Kivalliq Mine Training Society rests on what happens with that federal funding, which is set to expire in 2012, Bussey said.

During the last federal election campaign, Nunavut MP Leona Aglukkaq and Senator Dennis Patterson both said they supported the training society and the renewal of its federal funding.

“Apparently neither of them has been able to convince the Prime Minister to do just that,” Bussey said in an Aug. 25 statement emailed to Nunatsiaq News. “Unfortunately the Prime Minister has missed the point in understanding training in the North.”

Instead, Harper announced Aug. 24 that Ottawa will give $230,000 over three years for an office for the Northwest Territories and Nunavut Chamber of Mines in Iqaluit.

An Aug. 24 press release from Harper’s office said the Chamber of Mines “will work with the government to create effective legislation regarding the mine and exploration industry and community opportunities and benefits of Nunavut’s mining industry to the public and media,” including job promotion and the coordination of the annual Nunavut Mining Symposium.

But Bussey called that support “lip service” to an industry in dire need of training dollars.

“The Chamber announced the opening of its Iqaluit office last April during the Nunavut Mine Symposium,” Bussey said. “The Prime Minister’s announcement today (Aug. 24) is merely a regurgitation of old money.”

Now, Bussey says the mine training society has more than 600 candidates on a waiting list for training, but no training dollars to help them.

“KMTS does not just provide training dollars and send trainees off to some southern training institution,” Bussey said. “When possible we provide training right here in Nunavut. More importantly though we provide “on the ground” one-on-one counselling with our trainees to not only prepare them for employment but also to develop the skills to retain their position.”

“Unfortunately, the Prime Minister does not get it.”

On Aug. 29, Geoffrey Qilak Kusugak, the mine training society’s chairperson put out another statement saying he hoped to meet with both Aglukkaq and Patterson in September to discuss renewed funding.

Kusugak thanked the Prime Minister for “his recognition of the importance of mining to our people, our economy, and our communities.”

And Kusugak called the funding contribution for Nunavut office of the Chamber of Mines “a welcome contribution.”

“Our association with the chamber and its members has been close and constructive, and we look forward to expanded collaboration in the years ahead,” Kusugak said.