Inuu, Inuit angry about fly-in mine workers

SIKU CIRCUMPOLAR NEWS SERVICE

Inuu and Inuit leaders said they may disrupt the start of Inco’s Voisey’s Bay nickel mine because of the mining company’s travel benefits for workers.

The Voisey’s Bay mine in Labrador is expected to produce 50,000 tonnes of nickel a year. That would make it one of the world’s biggest producers of nickel, which is used in stainless steel.

Leaders of the Inuit and Innu recently accused Inco of a breach of trust because it subsidizes travel costs of workers flown into the mine site from other parts of Canada. Previously, workers had to pay most of their own way.

Inco says it needs to attract skilled employees to the site at a time when qualified mining industry staff are difficult to find.

But Labrador community leaders are angry because they say the policy conflicts with the spirit and intent of agreements signed by Inco to employ and train local staff at the project.

“We did not initiate this change, but we will need to review our IBA (impact benefit agreement) to assess the impacts,” said Ben Michel, president of the Innu Nation, in a press statement headlined “Labrador groups considering action to stop operations at Voisey’s Bay mine.”

“We may also seek to have the mine mill project re-reviewed by the environmental assessment agency as it is in fact a different project than what we had agreed to,” the release said.