Kivalliq Inuit strike benefit deal on Meadowbank

Kivalliq Inuit will gain access to at least 60 training positions at the Meadowbank gold mine, under the terms of an Inuit impact and benefits deal worked out recently between Cumberland Resources Ltd. and the Kivalliq Inuit Association.

The two sides will likely sign the agreement in mid-to late March, at a signing ceremony in Baker Lake. Until that happens, they’re calling it an “agreement-in-principle,” but for all intents and purposes, it’s a done deal.

Under the agreement, Cumberland must create at least eight entry-level Inuit trainee jobs, eight Inuit apprenticeship positions in different trades, and within 36 months of the mine’s start-up, at least 44 jobs intended to provide “training and experience” to Inuit.

“That ties quite nicely into the recent announcement by the premier [Paul Okalik] on the trades training centre in Rankin Inlet… So we’re not just talking about possible jobs, we’re saying, ‘here are the apprenticeship positions,’” said Bill Logan, the KIA’s executive director in Rankin Inlet.

And there’s a lot more.

For example, just about everything that Cumberland must do in the hiring and training of Inuit applies also to all companies that get contracts with Cumberland.

“Whether you’re an Inuit firm or a non-Inuit firm, that’s beside the point. Contractors have to come up with Inuit employment plans, they have to come up with all the things that Cumberland is required to do,” Logan said.

Another notable feature is a requirement that Cumberland offer post-employment counselling to laid-off workers after the mine closes down.

And the KIA gets a right of first refusal in the purchase of the mine’s assets after it closes. Those assets include a 70-kilometre all-weather road that the company will build between Baker Lake and the Meadowbank site.

Logan said this provision is intended to prevent what happened in Arctic Bay after the closing of the Nanisivik mine, when residents lost jobs and access to Nanisivik’s valuable infrastructure.

“We don’t want a community left high and dry… We want to ensure that there are appropriate steps taken to minimize the impacts on communities, employees and residents,” Logan said, adding this includes a “post-closure Inuit wellness strategy.”

Inuit Impact and Benefits Agreements, commonly known by the abbreviation “IIBA,” are required by the Nunavut land claims agreement; developers must negotiate IIBAs before they can receive necessary permits and licences.

On March 27, Cumberland will confront another regulatory hurdle: final hearings on the Meadowbank project before the Nunavut Impact Review Board.

If the Meadowbank mine gets a positive recommendation from the review board, Cumberland hopes that all necessary licences and permits, including a water licence from the Nunavut Water Board, will follow quickly.

Under their current schedule they hope to have the $350-million mine operating by 2008, with a minimum mine life of 8.1 years, during which they plan to produce between 330,000 and 450,000 ounces of gold per year.

Here are some of the IIBA’s highlights, taken from the nine-page summary:

* Cumberland must “make all reasonable efforts,” before mine construction starts, to give a catering contract to Sakku Investments Corp., the Inuit birthright firm for the Kivalliq region;
* within five years of the mine’s start-up, Cumberland must make “all reasonable efforts” to reach an Inuit employment target that “reflects the demographics of the work force in Nunavut”;
* once a year, an implementation committee, made up of two KIA reps and two Cumberland reps, will set a “minimum Inuit employment goal” for the Meadowbank mine, and provide annual reports;
* if Cumberland fails to reach its Inuit employment goals for two years in a row, they may be required to give money to the KIA, to pay for Inuit training and employment programs;
* Cumberland will create eight “entry-level” trainee jobs;
* Cumberland will create eight apprenticeship jobs in different trades, subject to the availability of Inuit apprentices;
* within three years of start-up, Cumberland will make at least 44 jobs available to Inuit “to receive training and experience;”
* Cumberland must require that its sub-contractors use training programs for Inuit;
* Cumberland will give the KIA $14,000 a year to create a scholarship fund for Inuit post-secondary students from the Kivalliq;
* Inuit will get preference over all other job applicants and Inuit from Baker Lake will get priority.

Readers looking for a copy of the Meadowbank IIBA, may find a nine-page summary, along with numerous other public documents related to the project, at ftp.nunavut.ca, in the directory reserved for the NIRB.

The actual agreement is deemed “confidential” by both sides, but the nine-page summary is a public document.