DEBEERS...........duh
No targets for northern hire, says De Beers
WebPosted Dec 6 2002 08:23 AM MST
YELLOWKNIFE - De Beers Canada says it is not prepared to set targets for hiring northern and aboriginal workers at its Snap Lake diamond mine. First nations, aboriginal groups and government pressed the company for a commitment at a technical session looking into the diamond mine project in on Thursday.
'We don't want to enter into specific targets for employment.'– John McConnell
De Beers Canada unveiled a glossy 76–page pamphlet at the hearing called "Developing Human Resources for the Snap Lake Project".
It talks about how the company is going to attract, hire, keep and promote northern workers, in a market already drained by the BHP Billiton and Diavik mines.
Instead of setting specific targets, De Beers says its goal is to hire as many northerners and aboriginal people as it can, and to buy north where possible.
The lawyer for the Yellowknives Dene wanted to know how the company would keep that promise, in the absence of specific numbers.
So did Roy Ellis, representing the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board.
"What really I'm concerned with is what hasn't been said, and that's that there hasn't been a specific commitment to an employment target or a business purchase target for the north," he told the company.
Ellis says those numbers are important for determining what Snap Lake will do for the northern economy.
'Goals' rather than targets
The targets for the other two diamond mines in the north are spelled out publicly: BHP Billiton has committed to hire 62 per cent northerners and aboriginals, while Diavik has set its target at two-thirds.
But John McConnell of De Beers says it has "goals" rather than targets. He says the company wants to hire as many northerners and aboriginals as it can, and to buy north where possible.
"We don't want to enter into specific targets for employment but they are being discussed in socio–economic agreements with the GNWT," he says.
De Beers says specific number may be negotiated in impact benefit agreements with first nations, and with the territorial government. It's not know when, or even if, those numbers would be made public.
The technical sessions into De Beers' plans for the Snap Lake mine wind up in Yellowknife on Friday.
The company hopes to begin operating the Snap Lake diamond mine, located 220 kilometers north of Yellowknife in 2006.
Related Links
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Web Site: Snap Lake Environmental Assessment Documents
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