Aboriginal Partnerships

Manitoba Operations

First Nations peoples make up a significant component of the overall population of Thompson, Manitoba as well as the surrounding region. Inco has sponsored a number of programs to assist aboriginal education and has participated in other community initiatives that address the needs of aboriginal people, positively impacting their lives in the community.

  2004 PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS

• Committed $80,000 (Cdn. $100,000) to the University of Manitoba's Engineering Access Program to provide access and support to aboriginal students wishing to pursue a career in engineering.
• Participated in a Work Education program operated by Frontier School Division, enabling First Nations students to gain valuable work experience.

HIRING LOCALLY

As part of our Northern Hiring Policy, our Manitoba Operations have long followed a practice of hiring locally. Where possible, we participate in local trade shows and visit schools with large aboriginal populations. The purpose is to inform young people about job opportunities at our company and deliver the message that, at Inco, we welcome diversity and are open to everyone achieving success.

We also encourage aboriginal young people to take advantage of ongoing apprenticeship programs offered in partnership with Keewatin Community College in The Pas, Manitoba, and Southern Alberta Institute of Technology in Calgary, Alberta. At any given time, there can be approximately 12 Inco-sponsored apprentices learning skilled trades to become industrial mechanics, industrial electricians and instrumentation mechanics.

ENCOURAGING EDUCATION

The Work Education Program, which is operated by Frontier School Division and made possible by participating companies like Inco, gives aboriginal youth the opportunity to learn about a variety of trades. Participant Eddie Brightnose (right) spent time with a number of Inco employees, including machinist Steve Schardt (left).

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In order to encourage area young people - especially aboriginal youth - to stay in school, we participate in a Work Education program operated by Frontier School Division. As part of that program, high school students from the region spend one or two weeks at our site gaining hands-on work experience.

Last spring, Eddie Brightnose, a grade 10 student at Oscar Blackburn School in South Indian Lake, part of Nelson House First Nation, was one of three students who spent two weeks at our Manitoba Operations learning about trades ranging from rigging to carpentry. According to Graham Wood, Vice-Principal at Oscar Blackburn School, such experience can prove invaluable. "We have a very high unemployment rate in our community," explains Wood. "As a result, holding a job is a concept that many of our students are actually unfamiliar with. When our kids get the chance to actually experience work - to see what opportunities are out there and the kind of education and training needed - it opens their eyes. It encourages them to stay in school. I wish every one of our students could participate in such a program."

ENSURING ACCESS

In 2004, Inco committed $80,000 (Cdn. $100,000) over two years to the Engineering Access Program (ENGAP) at the University of Manitoba. Developed 20 years ago, ENGAP is designed to provide access and support to aboriginal students wishing to pursue a career in engineering. "In order to successfully complete post-secondary education, aboriginal students often need additional support both academically and emotionally," says Randy Hermann, ENGAP Director. "That's exactly what this program helps to provide." Indeed, ENGAP has produced 50 of the approximately 150 professional engineers in Canada who are of aboriginal heritage.

Inco's bequest will provide much-needed financial assistance in the form of scholarships and bursaries. It will also be used to upgrade ENGAP's computer lab and, as critically, students' technical skills. "Some of the aboriginal students who enter our program have little if any computer skills," says Hermann. "Inco's gift, which will enable us to develop a basic computer training course for new students and hire an instructor and tutors, is enabling us to address some of our most pressing needs."

SUPPORTING ABORIGINAL COMMUNITIES

Inco continues to support numerous organizations that directly benefit local indigenous people. We contribute, for instance, to programs at the Ma-Mow-We-Tak Friendship Centre, which assists aboriginal people making the transition from life on the reserve to urban life in Thompson. Once again, last year, the Friendship Centre hosted Aboriginal Awareness Days, a week of activities that provide an opportunity for people in the community to participate and learn about aboriginal culture.

Helping Families in Distress

For over 20 years, the Thompson Crisis Centre (TCC) has been providing support to women and children who are victims of family violence. The vast majority - 90 per cent - of the individuals who make use of the 30-bed facility are aboriginal. "We are the only shelter serving northern Manitoba," explains Wendy McTavish, TCC's Executive Director. "Many of our clients, some of whom come from communities as far away as Churchill and Nunavut, arrive at our door with their children and the clothes on their back."

To help address this plight, Inco regularly makes a cash donation to TCC during the holiday season. "We use the money primarily to help the children," says McTavish. "We buy every child in the shelter a gift and use remaining funds to purchase boots and outerwear for those kids who are without. It makes a real difference at a time that is traditionally very hard for families in distress."