The issue of migrant workers has been a troublesome one for our government for some time. First of all, we have to recognize that we live in a democracy, so people are free to move and live wherever they want, as provided for under the Constitution of Canada.
We have been attempting to address the issues through the negotiation of socio-economic agreements with the mining industry companies, specifically diamond mines, through the negotiation of a socio-economic agreement with the Mackenzie Valley pipeline proponents.
Now, it’s more difficult in the oil and gas sector, because that’s a responsibility of the federal government. The federal government, through the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, provides for benefit agreements with the oil and gas companies.
The way we looked at it, the best way to keep migrant workers living in the North is to make the Northwest Territories an attractive place for them to live. The best way to do that is to provide and make sure there is affordable housing and a lot of the benefits that we enjoy by living here. But the reality is it’s becoming harder to attract skilled workers. There’s a lot of competition for these workers, and the mining companies are finding that they have to offer these additional benefits.
Our plan is to go on the record and continue to express our concern about these activities to the mining companies. We hope to set up a process with the mining companies to work together to come up with solutions to this problem. We will certainly be communicating our concern to the federal government so they can take further action with regard to the workers involved in the oil and gas industry.