Incorporating activities of the Joint Implementation Committee (JIC), the Joint Implementation Engagement Subcommittee (JIES) and the Pinehouse Trust.

Pinehouse CA REPORT 2015

www.pinehouselake.ca

Progress under our CA Building up our trades

Business Development

$8,2M

Workforce Development

new hires from Pinehouse

$8,4M

$589K

$3,6M

$8,2M

$8,4M

PBN Business Development & Labour Services Support

$3,6M

Apprenticeship wage support

Key Lake staff person (all of 2015) to PBN Waste Services project

Management support

PBN revenue doubles in 2015

Bridge Loan from Cameco for 6 pieces of heavy equipment - $1.99M

Graduates people from Pinehouse heavy equipment operator course (Cameco hires 4)

Pinehouse residents employed at Cameco

Building a community-owned company with the capacity to take on diverse construction projects is not something that can happen overnight.

That has been the story for Pinehouse Business North (PBN) which is still in the early stages of developing its workforce and building up a diverse equipment fleet to allow it to bid on more jobs.

PBN did have some heavy equipment as a result of a past partnership, says Mike Natomagan, mayor of Pinehouse and chair of the PBN board. In 2015, through the business development side of the Collaboration Agreement with Cameco, a bridge loan of nearly $2 million was provided to PBN to buy heavy equipment including a loader, compactor, excavator and an additional rock haul truck.

These additions to the PBN fleet have allowed the company to get specific work at Cameco sites and gain experience in earth-moving and site preparation.

Besides work at the mines, Mike points out that there are also communities through the north that will need infrastructure upgrades including roads, water and sewer.

“PBN needs to have the workforce and the equipment to compete for that type work when it becomes available.”

HEAVY EQUIPMENT PURCHASED WITH CA MONEY

Pinehouse Elder’s Complex capital contribution

$10,5K MWS High School Post-Secondary Visits

Magloire Teen Infant Centre Educational Equipment

Pinehouse Industrial Mechanic Pre-Employment Training

Digital Club

Cultural Teachings

Driver’s License Training

$10K

$21K

$15K

$8,75K

$11,84K

Educational Disbursement

The ongoing training in Pinehouse supported by the community’s Collaboration Agreement (CA) with the uranium industry is having positive effects, says Walter Smith, community development officer for Pinehouse Business North (PBN).

Ongoing apprenticeship development, safety certifications and a course for heavy equipment operators in 2015 are all changing the way Pinehouse adults think about their futures, says Walter.

“It’s definitely opened up some eyes. More people are engaging in Pinehouse,” he says. “It’s making their resumes better align with industry needs, such as filling in their resume with safety tickets.

They can use PBN training as a stepping stone to go further into PBN, go into industry or go outside the community for further training.”

Walter says that training wouldn’t happen without money allocated from the Collaboration Agreement.

“We take that training money and expand it to 3 to 1.”

Walter says continued advancement of the carpentry apprenticeship

program is a leading highlight in 2015. Although the number of apprentices has not increased, seven people attained Level 2 status and two went on to Level 3 in their path to journeyman status.

PBN also has seven people in its construction craft labourer program which Walter says is recognized as an interprovincial Red Seal trade. He says construction craft labourers have the equivalency of level one carpenters. They can build forms for concrete pouring, assemble scaffolding and operate skid loaders, scissor lifts and boom lifts.

“It’s important to PBN to have a workforce that is not exclusive to the mining industry,” Walter says. “The safety tickets we offer are fully recognized.”

The heavy equipment operator program which graduated 11 people in 2015 was for people who already had some experience in operating specific pieces of equipment.

“It was to certify the existing work force to meet the safety standards for industry.”

Other success stories include a driver training course that graduated several Class 1A drivers. Walter says having a professional driver’s designation can allow community members to work at the mines or apply at companies such as Northern Resource Trucking.

“It’s all about building capacity so community members can knock on other doors.”

PBN TRAINING OPENING EYES

WALTER SMITH, PBN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT OFFICER

FULL-TIME SECONDMENT

Putting out a fi shingnet on the ice isone way childrenat MinahikWaskahigan Schoollearn traditional ways.

right

Children join elders at a craft table each June at the annual Pinehouse Eldersconference, but the school works year round to connect young people to the traditional skills of elders.

top

Artist’s conception of the Pinehouse Elders Complex which will have 12 living units and a common space where generations can mix.

left

Including our elders; Enriching our youth

Work is expected to be well underway this summer on the Pinehouse Elders Complex designed to relieve some of the overcrowding now seen in some households in Pinehouse.

Project leader Greg Ross says the fact that there will also be two-bedroom units in the complex means elders who are also caregivers to a grandchild will be able to keep that live-in connection.

“We’re not building a seniors complex for the sake of exclusion,” Greg explains.

The plans for the complex feature six one-bedroom units and six two-bedroom units in an interior horseshoe shape surrounding the common areas, including kitchen, dining area and laundry with two sets of washer/dryers. In total, the interior space for the Elders complex will be just over 12,000 square feet.

Greg says the complex is being built central to the community near churches, the store and school.

“Family is the community so we’re building this where the spirit of community is,” Greg says. “It will allow our elders to be as

self-suffi cient as possible and retain some active lifestyle.”

In his role as a site superintendent for Pinehouse Business North (PBN), Greg says the construction phase will help propel the PBN workforce forward in their trades as construction labourers and carpenters. Local apprentices are also expected to be working for the plumbing and electrical sub-trades at the site.

The Pinehouse Community Trust established by the Collaboration Agreement approved $309,000 in 2015 to support the elders complex and a further $77,000 for 2016. This money helped pay for detailed construction drawings and enabled the community to leverage from SaskHousing a $2.2 million forgivable loan for low-income seniors housing.

As is the case in many of Canada’s northern communities, Ross points out there is a generation of Pinehouse people who did not have much paid employment in their lives which means they have no regular income like a

monthly Canada Pension Plan cheque.

As a result, the low-cost housing model means that the amount of money each elder will pay is not a market rent, but will pay for utilities and maintenance.

“If we are going to take them away from their existing households, we want to make sure they can aff ord to be here,” Greg says.

In Pinehouse, every eff ort is made to connect elders in the community with students who learn traditional activities such as fi shing, trapping, bannock making and traditional arts and crafts.A grant from the Pinehouse Community CA trust has helped bring elders and students together. This includes being out on the lake ice in winter. The school also partners with the annual Pinehouse Elders Gathering in June where there are booths where students learn how to make baskets and other traditional arts and crafts.

“Elders come in and work with our students and they have set nets with our students and helped our students prepare fi sh,” says Rosalena Smith, Principal of Minahik Waskahigan School. “Ladies have done beadwork with our grade 9 students.”

“We also had an elder in for one full week. He taught the students jigging and square dancing,” she says “We are opening every single door we possibly can to integrate aboriginal culture of Pinehouse right within our school.“

ELDERS COMPLEX BEING BUILT WITH INCLUSION IN MIND

“Family is the community so where we’re building this is where the spiritof community is”

Community photos courtesy of Yvonne Maurice.

GREGG ROSS, SUPERINTENDENT,PBN COMMUNITY PROJECTS

Our youth meets world

In 2015, there was a total of $10,500 allocated from the Pinehouse Community Trust fund to support learning trips for high school students at Minahik Waskahigan School. The money was used to travel south to see what a number of diff erent post-secondary campuses have to off er.

This is the second year for the program which pays the cost of travel and overnight stays in La Ronge, Prince Albert, Saskatoon and Regina for the students and their guidance counsellor. Students begin in Grade 10 by looking at the opportunities at Northlands College or the Nortep/Norpac teacher and arts degree programs in La Ronge plus SUNTEP and SIIT programming in Prince Albert. One student even checked out the SaskPolytechnic campus in Moose Jaw.

“We make sure they don’t miss any opportunities,” explained Rosalena Smith, Principal of Minahik Waskahigan School. “One of our students got accepted into University of Alberta in engineering”

Grade 11 trips are expanded to include the University of Saskatchewan and University of Regina. In Grade 12, students learn about how to apply for scholarships, how to arrange for housing and how to use public transit in the southern communities where they plan to attend.

Principal Smith says the school has also made eff orts to connect Pinehouse high school students with adults in those southern communities who work in professions not currently represented in Pinehouse including accountants, lawyers and doctors. She sees the post-secondary learning trips as important and beginning to have an impact.

“We’re just opening all avenues that we can possibly fi nd,” said Principal Smith. “We are starting to see more and more students getting out there and trying to get into university. It has made some impact.”

ROSALENASMITHPRINCIPAL OF MINAHIKWASKAHIGAN SCHOOL.

SUPPORTING POST-SECONDARY INSTITUTE VISITS BY PINEHOUSE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

Money from the Pinehouse Community Trust set up under the CA helped the Magloire Teen Infant Centre in 2015 purchase furniture that helps staff and young moms care for their babies in a more comfortable and functional setting. One of the items purchased was a four-seater stroller that allows staff to take four infants out at a time for fresh air.“We also had a gazebo built outside,” says day care director Sharon McCallum.The teen moms who attend school at the adjacent high school also have new comfortable chairs and tables for them to spend individual time with their babies.“They can come feed their babies and join their babies at lunch time plus on breaks,” the director said. “It also helps with our breakfast program.”

One of the furnishings purchased are two specialized cribs that are evacuation kits in the event of fi re.“We can put all of the kids in one crib and roll them out to safety,” Sharon explains.

MAGLOIRE TEEN INFANT CENTREUSES $10,000 TRUST GRANT TO BUY EQUIPMENT, FURNISHINGS

Two-way dialogue on the environment

“As an aboriginal community, we have always thought that any industry that operates within our area should be mindful of the front end production, but also the back end work including decommissioning and reclamation.”

Vince points out it is part of the mandate of the joint implementation engagement subcommittee (JIES) to discuss environmental topics such as waste management and reclamation, but now Pinehouse is now doing some of this work through PBN, a community-owned business.

“It’s a win-win for everybody in society. I am very confi dent when I say this relationship between Cameco and Pinehouse should be looked at as exemplary. Other jurisdictions should be learning from this relationship.”

VINCE NATOMAGANCHIEF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR KINEEPIKMETIS LOCAL INC (#9)

Cameco, through the JIES subcommittee, held a special community meeting in early 2015 about the future of the Fox Lake road which was originally built to serve exploration work between Key Lake and McArthur River. In keeping with the original approval for McArthur River, the province asked Cameco to remove temporary bridges and stream crossings because the road was no longer required.

In the end, the province agreed that the fi rst stream crossing over Davies Creek could be rebuilt and retained to allow some access into the Cree Lake area for traditional activities.

Elder Emile Natomagan participated in the meeting about the future of the Fox Lake road. Emile understands the province wanted the road decommissioned in keeping with the original plan, but still wonders if more access could have been kept. “I have been to Fox Lake area and I would like to see it kept open.” Nevertheless, Emile is glad people had their say and traditional users were heard.

ENGAGING ON THE FOX LAKE ROAD DECOMMISSIONING

Students Kaylee Boyd and Margaret Maurice of Pinehouse School learn how reshaping a landscape can affect water fl ow at Cameco’s virtual sandbox

An idea that began at meetings of Pinehouse’s Joint Implementation Engagement Committee came to pass in October of 2015 when Cameco presented a science fair at the Pinehouse Village Hall where students engaged with interactive displays that helped explain aspects of the uranium fuel cycle at Cameco’s operations in northern Saskatchewan.

At the McArthur River booth, Cameco’s virtual sandbox was a big hit. Students could change the landscape by shaping sand to see how this aff ects surface water fl owing through the environment.

Cameco senior engagement specialist Kristin Cuddington says the science fair was a fun way for Cameco staff to bring mining concepts to young people in Pinehouse which is a focus of the JIES subcommittee.

CAMECO’S FUEL CYCLE SCIENCE FAIR ENGAGES STUDENTS AT PINEHOUSE

“I have been to Fox Lake area and I would like tosee it kept open.”ELDER EMILE NATOMGAN

“We want to ensure our students are verywell-equipped and prepared to begin the transition to post-secondary. I am from Pinehouse. This was the kind of trip that has made a difference for me in my life. I want to make sure that students coming through the school having the same opportunities I have had.”

PBN gains experience in waste management

“I love the work we’ve been doing in recycling,” he says. Melvin is proud of how the laydown areas were cleaned up. Melvin sees the progress PBN is making. “We’re doing very well in waste management.”

MELVIN “BACON”NATOMAGANPBN FOREMANAT MCARTHUR RIVER.

The three-person crew he directs is becoming skilled in safe procedures, including wearing a disposable suit and a full breathing apparatus when cutting up contaminated steel. “They are adapting to the work well.” George’s crew has also done some work in tree planting and collecting pine cones that are sent off to tree nurseries. “It’s interesting: they told us 97% of the pine cones we collected were good.”

GEORGEDUROCHERPBN FOREMANAT KEY LAKE.

As a commercial fi shermen based in Pinehouse, Garry used to be skeptical about the eff ects of mining on the environment. He no longer has such worries: “It’s environmentally friendly and it’s protecting the lakes.” Garry observes that Cameco’s confi dence is growing in PBN. “It’s a learning thing and once they see we can work and perform, they will hire useven more.”

GARRYSMITHPBN FOREMANAT MCARTHUR RIVER.

Parts of former laydown areas can be revegetated by PBN tree planters.

PBN workers now skilled at cutting upcontaminated steel while Inside a protective suit.

Pinehouse Business North (PBN) is making its mark at Cameco operations through work helping Cameco minimize the amount of solid waste stored at its northern operations.

“We are pleased that Cameco has taken on the initiative of progressive reclamation,” says Pinehouse chief engagement offi cer Vince Natomagan. “On top of that, it’s a good news story when the community is an active participant in progressive reclamation.”

Some solid waste generated at uranium mines and mills is similar to what you would fi nd at any industrial facility that handles chemicals. What makes uranium operations unique is that some solid waste has been exposed to radionuclides underground or in the mill.

Key Lake’s Camille Pouteaux spent more than a year working within PBN to help company management

become better prepared for all aspects of waste management at uranium mines. For example, PBN employees have been trained to scan material to determine whether it can be approved for off site shipment to a recycler or, if too contaminated with radionuclides, prepare the material to be buried at approved facilities such as Key Lake’s above-ground tailings site.

To make the best use of landfi ll space, PBN employees have learned how to cut up steel pipes and tanks while wearing full body suits and powered air purifying respirators (PAPR) that keep them safe from radioactive dust.

PBN crews have made progress in helping Cameco clean up laydown areas. This means land which was recently strewn with scrap metal can be revegetated with PBN crews also having done both tree planting and hydro-seeding in these reclaimed areas.

PBN HELPING CAMECO SORT AND TIDY WASTE STREAM