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Raglan audit identifies concerns with Inuit training at mine

SMRQ nears Inuit hiring target, but the most successful training programs were for janitors and dishwashers

JANE GEORGE

A lot of money spent, with not much to show for it — that’s the picture that emerges from a recent audit of training programs for Inuit at the Raglan nickel mine.

In 1998, a three-way deal between the Société minière de Raglan du Québec, Emploi-Québec and the Kativik Regional Government, gave the SMRQ $4 million over five years to train Inuit to work at the company’s nickel mine located between Salluit and Kangiqsujuaq.

The mine started to produce ore three years ago.

The Inuit training deal was supposed to increase the percentage of Inuit employees at the mine to 20 per cent and put an end to the SMRQ’s complaints that Inuit trained off-site generally needed retraining before they could work at the mine.

Three years into the deal, the KRG asked for an audit of the training programs. Members of the executive council wanted to know how the money had been used. They also wanted to learn whether criticisms from Inuit about the training methods and their poor employment prospects at the mine were justified.

Last January, auditors from the accounting firm Pratte-Bélanger and program officers from the KRG arrived at the SMRQ mine’s site at Kattiniq for spot checks. The accountants looked at the financial aspects of a few training programs while the program officers examined training methods.

"We didn’t tell them which projects we would be looking at," said Robert Langlois, program director with the KRG’s Employment and Training Department. "They had no way to prepare themselves."

The five projects selected for inspection involved 57 participants, trained for 14 different jobs ranging from mill workers and dishwashers to employment and training officers. The total cost to the KRG for these projects was $1.2 million.

When auditors looked at the finances, they found some accounting practices that needed to be tightened up. For example, the amount charged to the project weren’t always the same as the actual costs incurred. In fact, travel expenses were calculated on an out-of date Air Inuit fare schedule.

There were still more discrepancies in the money paid to consultants and trainers and in administration charges. However, Langlois said the review showed consultants and trainers had produced what they were contracted to do.

"At least for these five projects, we were satisfied," Langlois said.

Program officers looked at curriculum design, hiring results, whether the training was appropriate and how it was delivered. They also interviewed about half the participants.

They learned only one out of seven participants had completed the Concentrator Operator program, which had cost almost $350,000 to administer.

One trainee who completed training as a surface labourer was hired, but the other graduate had to go back and work as a dishwasher because there was no job available for him.

Only half of the original group of 31 heavy equipment trainees remained in December 2001.

No one completed training for an employment and training officer position.

The training programs that had the most success were for the lower-end positions, such as kitchen helpers, janitors or janitor apprentices.

Most participants said their training courses had been delivered as planned, but many still weren’t satisfied with how things had gone. One complained the training plan was followed in part, but that after a short period of time he was demoted to a lower-level job and then laid off for six weeks.

The majority of participants were satisfied with their relationship with the trainer, but many said the performance of trainers was under-par. Some said the trainers seemed to be holding back information, perhaps so they wouldn’t lose their jobs to Inuit.

Most participants found the training was relevant to the job, but some felt more printed material — both in English and Inuttitut — would have been helpful. Those who arrived with high school vocational diplomas were annoyed their diplomas weren’t recognized by the SMRQ.

Participants were split on the state of relations between Inuit and the mainly Québécois, French-speaking workers on site, with one-third saying they’d experienced discrimination and prejudice first-hand or had seen it.

"It’s a concern," Langlois said.

In their report, the program officers recommend establishing an ombudsman position to resolve conflicts among trainees "especially conflicts on intercultural matters." Their report also says there should be intercultural courses for all southern employees, as well as basic Inuttitut and French courses.

Not all of the original training money has been spent yet, and more training money is expected.

This money will help pay for a new training project for underground mining workers, called the "Stope School Project." Under this plan, Inuit trainees would be given their own underground section to mine. They would learn underground mining techniques and be allowed to produce ore at a lower rate. If this project goes ahead, it’s intended to provide a "sound and stress-free environment" to train Inuit.

Langlois noted Raglan’s underground operations have traditionally attracted the greatest number of Inuit workers.

In April 2002, of the mine’s 462 employees, 89 or about 19 per cent were Inuit. This number included 22 Inuit who were on training programs.

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