Quote:
Originally Posted by vid
Many of those projects will fly non-aboriginal employees from the south, often saying they're "better skilled". Why not train the people who live near the mine to work in it?
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From my experience in Northern Manitoba, the reality is that it can be really difficult to hire and use local labour for construction related activities.
In remote communities that are fly-in or winter road accessible only, from what I have seen there isn't any choice BUT to fly in workers from the south. The local labour force is limited, and they tend to arrive late or not at all, and disappear for weeks on end after receiving a paycheck. There is always an effort to hire and train local labour for any job that happens up north. A lot of the time, there is simply no one willing to be trained.
Road accessible reserves tend to be a different story. They usually have their own crews to build, electricians, plumbers etc.
Quite honestly, I think that a number of the remote fly-in only reserves in Northern Manitoba need to be abandoned entirely. There is zero economic activities (except Band related, airports, grocery stores, etc.) and substance abuse is chronic. I really can't see how some of these communities will ever improve.