Special Initiatives Brian Dav e y Spe cial Initiativ es Advisor Mining R eady Summit This past y ear mark ed the 2nd Annual Mining R eady Summit which was held in Thunder Bay at the V alhalla Inn The Summit alt ernat es betw e en Thunder Bay and Timmins and is funded b y re gistrants and sponsorships The purpose o f the MRS is t o creat e awareness amongst First Nation c ommunities and c ompanies on oppor tunities associat ed with mineral e xploration and mining It also pro vides an oppor tunity f or netw orking with industry leaders and building par tnerships betw e en First Nations and c ompanies The Summit this y ear attract ed 153 pe ople from the Aboriginal c ommunity industry and se v eral servic e relat ed businesses including go v ernment representation The f e edback based on e valuations c ontinues t o be positiv e and c ontains suggestions on ho w t o impro v e The Summit e v ents t o dat e hav e all be en sold out NAN s R e gional Ec onomic Strat e gic Plan The SIA play ed an activ e role in w orking with the Nishnawbe Aski Nation NAN on de v eloping their strat e gic e c onomic plan Se v eral studies w ere under tak en in relation t o various business se ct ors in the NAN t errit ory including asset inv ent ories in some c ommunities The purpose o f these studies is t o suppor t the o v erall de v elopment o f the strat e gic plan NADF will c ontinue t o be an activ e par ticipant in suppor t o f the NAN leadership in c ompleting its plan C apacit y Building A major initiativ e was under tak en with the Ministry o f T raining C olle ges and Univ ersities t o de v elop an agre ement t o fund the creation o f Business Inf ormation Offc ers BIO f or the Ring o f Fire R oF c ommunities The purpose o f the proje ct is t o hire 10 BIOs t o serv e 10 c ommunities that will be impact ed b y the Ring o f Fire mining de v elopments The primary role o f the BIO is t o gather inf ormation on business oppor tunities and t o ensure this inf ormation is readily available t o the c ommunities it serv es and t o facilitat e int eraction betw e en c ompanies or suppliers and c ommunities that wish t o pursue these oppor tunities During this y ear signifcant progress was made on ne gotiating the agre ement with MT CU Although w e are far from fnalizing the agre ement w e e xpe ct a fnal draf t in summer o f 2013 Suppor t t o First Nations in Mineral Exploration Forestry and Energy De v elopment Sinc e the Spe cial Initiativ es Advisor SIA proje ct be gan the SIA is called upon from time t o time b y c ommunities in the NAN re gion either on a one t o one basis or in large group settings t o pro vide advic e on matt ers relat ed t o resourc e and energy de v elopment that aff e ct their c ommunity or c ommunities The number ranged from 40 t o 50 c ommunities not t o mention se v eral nonAboriginal c ompanies and suppliers that approach the SIA f or advic e on similar matt ers In one situation the SIA was ask ed t o lead their c ommunity t eam in the ne gotiations with a mineral e xploration c ompany Af t er se v eral w e eks the t eam suc c essfully ne gotiat ed a draf t agre ement with the e xploration c ompany Independent P o w er Authorities IP A The SIA is responsible f or assisting the 9 c ommunities in the NAN t errit ory that hav e independent po w er generat ors The primary f ocus f or this y ear was t o standardiz e the 14 Nishnawbe Aski Development Fund