On the financial benefits — what’s the ball-park on the profit share?
Under the current proposed agreement, HVC will give LNIB a certain profit share plus additional yearly payments of no matter how little or how much the mine makes. The exact amounts are still being negotiated and will be shared with the community in the near future.
We do all your logging up there and we have a crew that’s doing all your slashing — it seems like our work is being substantially cut back, my crew doesn’t feel welcome up there now.
HVC typically only cuts timber when expanding the mine. Currently there is no mine expansion or other projects that would require logging other than exploration.
Someone like my nephew with little experience — how does someone like him get started working at somewhere like HVC?
To become an employee, you need your Grade 12 and a drivers licence. Then you need to take a reading and writing (employment aptitude) test. If you pass that, you go straight to interview. Where HVC determines if they think you can do the job, and be successful at it. Previous experience is not required for Nlaka’pamux candidates.
There are band members who will never be able to get their grade 12, they’re hardworking, intelligent, skilled — what kind of training opportunities will there be for them? Why is grade 12 a prerequisite?
The grade requirement is because of the agreement with the Union. The Union wants the mine site to have minimum qualification so that once someone is hired they can do any job on the mine site. Workers can move between jobs for variety and for broader skill development.
Although it seems unlikely that Grade 12 would enable a person to be successful at Labouring or driving a truck, once a person is hired their seniority allows them to move into more advanced hourly jobs at the mine.
Projects
Are there currently any plans to increase opportunities for LNIB women at the HVC mine or related to the mining activities - either in terms of opportunities or the support of training and education?
HVC is trying to improve workplace diversity across the organization. One initiative they have is to increase First Nations employment through new recruitment strategies, training, support, and increasing First Nation employee retention.
Women are also underrepresented at HVC as well making up only around 9%. HVC is just starting a 2-year campaign right now to increase those numbers of women working at the mine.
Is there any kind of benefit/compensation to the band for past abuses and past utilization of our resources that we’ve never gotten anything for? Does this agreement stop us from pushing for retroactive compensation?
This agreement is meant to benefit our community moving forward into the future, and does not compensate for any past damages. It does not stop us from pushing for compensation for the fact that the mine has been operating without consent in our territory for decades, and we may pursue retroactive agreement at any time.
Is it safe to assume that there will be no biosolids dumped by HVC?
HVC is generates a small but still significant amount of money by depositing biosolids on their site, and is unlikely to concede to not bringing biosolids up to the mine. We can try putting this into the agreement and using it as leverage, for example, if they are not willing to make biosolids concessions, then we can force their hand to make concessions elsewhere.
On the financial benefits — what’s the ball-park on the profit share?
Under the current proposed agreement, HVC will give LNIB a certain profit share plus additional yearly payments of no matter how little or how much the mine makes. The exact amounts are still being negotiated and will be shared with the community in the near future.
