16 CIM Magazine V ol 15 No 3 grids which in turn mak e e xplor ation and ec onomic de v elopment easier Mining c ompanies ha v e sust ain ability mandat e s so the y don t w ant t o look at diesel oper at ed mines an ymor e and right no w that s all w e c an off er N okleby e xplained If w e c an w ork on g e t ting our h y dr o e xpansion and ha v ing tr ansmis sion lines up int o our min er al rich ar eas w e ll be able t o off er gr een ener gy sour c es f or mines that c ome in Another g oal of the mandat e is t o pr omot e and impr ov e Indig enous par ticipation in the t errit ory s r esour c e sect or A major c omponent of this is c oncluding tr eaties with Indig enous g o v ernment s in the t errit ory on land r esour c es and self g ov ernment N ot ha ving the set tled land claims in some of our ar eas is r eally hurting in v est or c e rt ainty in the N o rth N o k leby said W e r e r eally c ommit t ed t o g e t ting those land claims sort ed out and f inaliz ed so that w e ha v e some mor e ideas about ho w w e c an mov e f orw ar d t o g ether and ha v e that Indig enous buy in as w ell T his objectiv e seeks t o est ablish Indig enous g o v ernment s and c ommuni ties as partner s in r esour c e de v e lop ment and e xplor ation T her e ar e alr eady a number of Indig enous o wned and oper at ed busines ses that c ompa nies such as Nightha wk Gold hir e and r e ly on f or building their oper ations F u rther de v eloping and set tling tr eaties w ould pr omot e e v en mor e Indig enous in v o lv ement in the sect or T her e s sometimes the per spectiv e that Indig enous g o v ernment s and Indig enous busines ses ar e anti r esour c e de v elopment and I w ould sa y that s not the c ase her e N okleby said I see the Indig enous busines ses as w anting mining the y r e c ogniz e that other industries lik e t ourism which has been t out ed as our r eplac ement indus try is not g oing t o pa y the same that a mine does Companies oper ating in the t errit ory r e c ogniz e that it s str eng th as a mining jurisdiction is a r esult of the g o v ern ment Indig enous c ommunities and industry w orking t o g ether It s lik e e v e ry one s aligned t o w a r ds a c ommon g oal Byr on e xplained T hese thing s r eally positiv ely impact what w e r e doing ob viously While the st art of the y ear sa w cli mat e chang e incr easingly mobilizing people ar ound the c ountry and aff ect ing c ompanies decisions the N o rth w est T errit ories g o v ernment is c onf ident ther e is a w ant f or r esour c e e xtr action in the r egion In de v eloping this mandat e w e w e r e all r eally list ening t o the people of the N o rth w est T errit ories and what the y w ant ed N okleby e xplained W e w ant t o empo w er our selv es and our people w e don t w ant t o be beholden t o the southern c ompanies c oming in and t elling us ho w t o do busines s T he mor e w e c an mov e t o w ar ds self suff iciency I think w ould be bet t er f or the t errit ory So I hope that will c ontinue be y ond 2023 CIM Mine supplier s fac e unc ert ain futur es during C O VID 19 As mining c ompanies c ontinue t o mak e c onting ency plans f or the pos sible out c omes of the C O VID 19 pandemic mine supply c ompanies ar e f inding themselv es with les s ability t o maneu v e r in this time of crisis and lit tle ability t o pr edict the futur e of their busines ses F or Paul Br adet t e e x ecutiv e dir ect or of Mine Connect Ont ario s mining sup ply and servic es as sociation the impact that C O VID 19 has had on the mining supply sect or in the pr ovinc e has been wildly v aried T he diff icult part f or us is w e ha v e r oughly 1 7 0 member s but of all v a rying siz es Br adet t e t old CIM Mag azine F r om blue chip c ompanies t o some oper ations that ha v e t w o or thr ee emplo y ees W e v e seen some of our oper ations g o thr ough a 60 per c ent la y off W e v e seen some that ar e just curr ently w orking on back or der s and ha v e laid nobody off A c c o r ding t o Br adet t e the initiativ es that the Canadian g o v ernment has alr eady put in plac e ha v e been a g ood st art T he f eder al w a g e subsidy pr ogr am which c ould pot entially c o v er up t o 7 5 per c ent of emplo y ees salaries and ac c e s s t o int er estfr ee loans ha v e been priorities f or mine supplier s in the pr ovinc e Some of the member s of Mine Connect ha v e been looking t o w a r d s subsidies f or r esear ch and de v elopment in the e v ent that curr ent or der s dry up A t pr esent it s not a perf ect situa tion though it c e rt ainly c ould be w o r s e Br adet t e said Compar ativ ely supplier s in Ont ario ha v e had it f airly eas y Mines in Quebec f or e xample ha v e been limit ed t o oper at ing with only critic al emplo y ees during the non es sential busines s shut do wn the pr ovinc e in v o k ed on Mar 23 On April 13 however it was announced that mines w ould be allo w ed t o r eopen on April 15 During the same period Ont ario mines ha v e been able t o c o n tinue oper ations albeit at a r educ ed pac e T h at has been es sential in k eeping some of Mine Connect s member s func tioning during the pandemic W e v e been pr et ty f o rtunat e so f ar in Ont ario Br adet t e said I think the Mine supply companies in Northern Ontario are forced to wait and see what the impacts of COVID19 will be Courtesy of McEwen Mining