We are committed to ensuring that Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are the primary beneficiaries of the Voisey’s Bay project. Our efforts to maximize opportunities for residents of the province have been an integral part of the way we have been managing our activities since the earliest stages of the project’s development. The various agreements that VBNC has with Labrador Inuit Association (LIA), Innu Nation and the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador outline our employment commitments. To help make those commitments a reality, we are proactive in maximizing employment opportunities.

During 2004, our Innu and Inuit Employment Coordinators continued to travel to communities in Labrador to raise awareness of employment opportunities at Voisey’s Bay. “Through the year, we made regular visits to all of the communities on the North Coast,” says Tom Paddon, Manager of Aboriginal Affairs and Labrador Human Resources at VBNC. “As well as telling people about what jobs were available, we counseled individuals about how to write a resumé and how to apply for a job. We also visited a number of schools to encourage young people to stay in school.”

The collective agreement between VBNC and the Resource Development Council on construction activities at the mine and concentrator site in Labrador demonstrates the scope of our commitments to Innu Nation and LIA and to other Newfoundland and Labrador residents and ensures that these commitments are met. This collective agreement is producing good results for Aboriginal peoples, and for the residents of Labrador and Newfoundland.

The agreement allows for a set of hiring guidelines developed with the support of the Resource Development Council (RDC) and its member unions. The hiring guidelines are very straightforward. When a contractor is hiring personnel at the mine and concentrator site they will hire in the following order:

• First preference to qualified members of LIA and Innu Nation who are members of a union;
• Second preference to qualified members of LIA and Innu Nation who are not members of a union;
• Third preference to qualified residents of Labrador who are union members;
• Fourth preference to qualified residents of Labrador who are not members of a union; and
• Fifth preference to qualified union members from the Island part of the province.

We are also committed to hiring as many aboriginal people and residents of Newfoundland and Labrador as possible as we move from the construction to operations phase of the project. With this goal in mind, the operations team for VBNC’s mine and concentrator visited a number of communities in Labrador, including Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Labrador City, Sheshatshui, North West River, Nain and Wabush in 2004. Says Bob Cooper, General Manager of the Mine and Concentrator, “As well as familiarizing the operations team with the area, the purpose of the trip was to outline employment and business opportunities to interested community members.”

At Argentia, VBNC started negotiations with the Resource Development Council (RDC) in March 2004 to determine whether a collective agreement could be negotiated with the Building Trades Council to provide skilled trades to construct the demonstration plant at Argentia. These negotiations were successfully concluded in May 2004 and a collective agreement was signed which allowed construction at the demonstration plant site to begin early in May. The agreement covering construction activity in Argentia, much like the agreement developed for our construction program in Labrador, gives priority for employment at the construction site to residents of the local area who are either members of a Building Trades union or who have the qualifications necessary to join a union.

Contractors have sole discretion to determine the qualifications of personnel they need to meet their contractual obligations. However, when a contractor accepts a construction contract to work at Voisey’s Bay or the hydromet demonstration plant site, they have agreed to follow the hiring guidelines.

As part of our commitment to transparency, we submit monthly and quarterly reports to the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador on employment generated by all aspects of the project to help facilitate the communication of information to community stakeholders. We also provide the provincial government with information on expenditures and procurement awards. As part of our agreement with LIA and Innu Nation, we provide information similar in nature to that provided to the province on a regular basis.

We established an Aboriginal Affairs and Labrador Human Resources Office in Goose Bay, Labrador, with a staff of six people including an Innu employment coordinator and an Inuit employment coordinator. These individuals facilitate hiring of Aboriginal peoples and provide access to information about the project to local residents. In Placentia, we opened an information office to keep local residents up to date on what is happening with the hydromet demonstration plant and provide a venue for local residents to ask questions about employment and procurement opportunities available. Both offices allow us to be proactive in our effort to maximize employment opportunities for local residents and ensure that the lines of communication between VBNC and local residents are always open.