Saskatoon Star Phoenix ---Saskatoon’s Shore Gold Inc. is expecting a labour crunch at its Star diamond project in the Fort a la Corne forest, east of Prince Albert.
With that on the horizon, the company has joined the provincial government, Muskoday First Nation, Metis Nation Eastern Region 2, Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies and Cumberland College to develop employees now.
These groups — along with Shore Gold suppliers Whitford Construction Ltd. of Shipman, Saskatoon-based Kimberlite Catering Partnership and Nuna Drilling FALC Ltd. from Edmonton — inked an Aboriginal Employment Development (AED) partnership Friday in Melfort. Through AED, partners work to remove barriers preventing First Nations and Metis people from achieving representation of jobs in proportion to their population numbers. Provincial education and training institutions can then offer programs to give people the skills they need.
Shore Gold officials have indicated construction of the diamond mine could begin in 2011 and up to 1,000 positions would need to be filled in various labour and trade openings. Once operating, the mine could require between 400 and 500 employees on an ongoing basis, said a release from the Ministry of First Nations and Metis Relations.
“We at Shore want to do our part in ensuring that all people have an opportunity to participate in the growing opportunities in Saskatchewan,” Eric Cline, vice-president of corporate affairs for Shore Gold, said in a release. “By signing this partnership agreement, Shore Gold operations will be part of the solution to help all Saskatchewan residents prosper.”
“The opportunity for our First Nations to partner with business through this agreement has us hopeful that we can develop more and better employment opportunities for our members,” added Eldon Crain, Muskoday First Nation education and labour force development portfolio councillor.
“By directing training at jobs that we know will be in need of employees, our young people will have new and better career options to pursue.”
According to the ministry, there are 88 AED partnership agreements in place. Agreements have been signed with public- and private-sector employers, organized labour, government ministries, First Nations and Metis organizations, post-secondary