Nunavut, mining company, link arms to improve Kivalliq quality of life

Monica Ell-Kanayuk, Nunavut’s minister of economic development and transportation, signs a memorandum of understanding with Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. president, Ammar Al-Joundi, in Iqaluit Sept. 20. The MOU will see the two groups work together on ten priority areas that intend to increase economic opportunity and quality of life for Nunavummiut. (PHOTO BY BETH BROWN)

Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. wants to do more than just dig for gold in Nunavut.

The multinational corporation, which operates mine sites in Nunavut’s Kivalliq region, signed a memorandum of understanding with the Government of Nunavut Sept. 20, pledging to collaborate with the territory on 10 high-profile “priority areas.”

Those areas are: health, education, training, economic development, infrastructure, housing, heritage resources, wildlife, public safety, and climate change.

“None of those are directly mining related,” Agnico Eagle president Ammar Al-Joundi said during a media event at the Nunavut Legislative Assembly in Iqaluit.

But, they are areas that are “absolutely essential” to good mining in the long run, he said, calling the MOU and investment in Nunavummiut all part of the company’s business strategy.

The MOU came with no budget or specific funding source. But a spokesperson for the mining company, Dale Coffin, said later that a working group will be struck to further the memorandum’s goals and that any related costs would be borne by Agnico Eagle or the GN.

Agnico Eagle plans to invest $1.5 billion to renew and increase its mining operations in Nunavut, through development of its Meliadine mine site and Whale Tail gold deposit.

The mining company also owns the Meadowbank gold mine, north of Baker Lake, which has been operating since 2009 and expects to wind down next year, in 2018.

And if Nunavummiut are willing, the company is hoping to develop more sites in the coming years, Al-Joundi said.

“If you really want to be a good miner, you’ve got to be there for a long time. You’ve got to know the communities. You’ve got to know the suppliers. You’ve got to work with the contractors and you’ve got to understand that what really makes successful long term investment is having the community buy in. It has to be to their benefit,” he said.

Monica Ell-Kanayuk, the GN’s minister of economic development and transportation, who signed the MOU with Agnico Eagle, said that benefit will come mostly though training and employment opportunities.

“This company has shown it understands that the territory’s development hinges on good health, its employees and the well-being of their community… They will find that supporting and investing in their Nunavut workforce makes good business sense,” she said in her announcement of the MOU.

When asked if she was satisfied with how Agnico was pursuing Inuit employment targets, Ell-Kanayuk told Nunatsiaq News: “Their goal is a good one, They have said that they have 100 per cent employment of local people in Mexico and Finland, and that is what they are striving towards here in Nunavut, and we believe that.”

Around one-third of Agnico employees in Nunavut are Inuit.

“We are making good progress towards the benchmarks,” Al-Joundi told Nunatsiaq News. That benchmark is 50 per cent Inuit employment.

Al-Joundi said the company has not hired a non-Inuk heavy equipment operator in Nunavut in six years. The next step will be to employ more Inuit at a management level, and as engineers and geologists, he said.

“Our vision is that they are all Nunavummiut. However, that’s going to take some time,” he said.

Al-Joundi said the company is looking forward to hiring graduates from Nunavut Arctic College.

As for the 10 priorities, now that this new relationship is underway, organizers will strike a steering committee to see how those priorities can be put into practice.

Agnico Eagle said efforts to fulfill the MOU will be focused on the Kivalliq region.