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At a reception in Toronto, Ontario in support of Building Hope, Innu Nation President Peter Penashue remarked, “Inco has consistently demonstrated understanding and support for our people's quest for a brighter future, our determination to effect various healing strategies and our resolve to rebuild a Nation of proud, independent and self-reliant people.”
In 2002 and 2003, VBNC continued to support aboriginal communities through sponsorship and donations to local organizations. Most significantly, the company contributed $850,000 (Cdn. $1.2 million) to the Innu Healing Foundation's Building Hope Campaign to help build, equip and endow two community recreational facilities in the northern Labrador communities of Sheshatshiu and Natuashish. The centres will be vital community gathering places, providing recreational and other programs for Labrador Innu children and adults and creating a catalyst for inter-community activity.
Such words only strengthen our resolve to build upon the strong ties we have established with aboriginal peoples living in communities near our operations in Labrador.
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A Home of Their Own
Sybella Daniels has a dream. “I want to buy a house in Happy Valley-Goose Bay,” she says. “A brand new house with three bedrooms – the perfect size for my husband and me and our two children.” Up until recently, it was a desire that Daniels, a member of Labrador Inuit Association, had little hope of realizing. Although her husband, a tugboat operator in Nain, was working steadily, Daniels, in spite of participating in numerous skills upgrading programs, had been unable to secure regular employment and the second paycheque that would enable her and her family to move out of a relative’s house and into a home of their own.
Change came last spring when the 38-year-old, who had previously trained as a heavy-equipment operator in the Canadian Armed Forces, earned her heavy-equipment operator certificate. As part of that training, she participated in a two-week, heavy-equipment simulator course offered by the College of the North Atlantic in Happy Valley-Goose Bay.
As part of its larger commitment to provide training and employment opportunities to local aboriginal people, VBNC provided the equipment for the program. “Recognizing that our contractors have a need for heavy-equipment operators, we arranged to transport the simulator from the Northwest Territories to Labrador,” says Tom Paddon, Manager of Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs at VBNC. “Over 110 people completed the course. Some went on to obtain employment with our contractors and are now working on site.”
Among them is Daniels, who operates CAT excavators and trucks for IKC/Borealis, a joint venture civil construction company that began developing the preliminary infrastructure to support Inco’s operations at Voisey’s Bay in 2002. With her economic future brighter than it has ever been, Daniels has big plans for this year’s winter break with her family. “We are all looking forward to spending time together,” she says. “And going house hunting. Life is good.”
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