I wanted a career not a job" : First Nations and Metis employment in the construction of the Lower Mattagami River project

Our research sought to document the strategies used by the MCFN and OPG to maximize the employment and better understand the experiences of First Nations and Métis workers, particularly the Nations included in the original Environmental Assessment (EA) hereafter termed EA First Nations: MCFN, MoCreebec, Taykwa Tagamou Nation (TTN) and the Métis Nation of Ontario. [...] The worker sample over represents First Nations and Métis (59% of the sample but only 13.5% of total population), women (15.4% of the sample and 8.6% of the total population) and workers living in local communities and in Northeastern Ontario (84% of the sample and 40.2% of the total population). [...] Interviews with organizational representatives included employees of the Moose Cree First Nation, OPG, and Kiewit- Alarie a partnership (KAP) involved with employment at the LMRP, business managers and agents from the Building and Construction Trades Unions (BCTUs) involved with the project, and managers and superintendents of some subcontractors. [...] One of the first steps was to create an organization (Sibi Employment and Training) that served as the main hub for recruitment and training, maintaining a database of available workers and skills and organizing training and placement opportunities. [...] Amisk-oo-skow Agreement - Workers’ knowledge about the basis of the agreement, the role of MCFN on the project and what the agreement meant for employment was highly uneven and greatest among First Nations respondents.