Minister questions comments from Opposition Leader

Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs Minister Ernie McLean is expressing concerns today over comments made by Opposition Leader Danny Williams regarding the Voisey�s Bay development.

On Wednesday, July 3, 2002, Mr. Williams attacked the recent contracts awarded to Innu and Inuit partnered companies when he said: "The government of Newfoundland and Labrador has a right to protect all the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, and it had concerned me that there was not going to be, there was not some negotiations involved, you know, in these agreements with the Innu and Inuit Nation (sic) to sort of safeguard the interest of all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians."

"It is time for Mr. Williams to stop hiding behind his worn-out phrases that he opposes the entire Voisey�s Bay project because he is so concerned about the entire province. He should state exactly what he believes about the role Aboriginal peoples are playing in this development," said Minister McLean.

"It is also time for Mr. Williams to state his exact position on the abilities and rights of the Innu Nation and the Labrador Inuit Association to forge joint ventures and partnerships," added the minister. "He should stop mixing words and nationalist phrases to mask a paternalistic attitude towards the Aboriginal people and their right to create strategic alliances."

Impacts and Benefits Agreements (IBAs), which are common practice in development projects in the North, were recommended for the Innu Nation and the Labrador Inuit Association by the Voisey's Bay Mine/Mill Environmental Assessment Panel. The province agreed that the IBAs should be negotiated between the Aboriginal groups and Inco on the basis that the employment, training and contracting preferences they contain are reasonable. In other words, the IBAs cannot prevent non-Aboriginal persons from having opportunities to participate in training, employment and contracting opportunities related to the Voisey�s Bay Project. Minister McLean noted that there will be benefits from the Voisey's Bay Project for Aboriginal people, other Labradorians and other residents of the province.

"The Voisey's Bay mine/mill is on land claimed by the Innu and the Inuit as their own," Minister McLean noted. "It is entirely appropriate that the Aboriginal people of the north coast of Labrador, who live closest to the resource, and have endured economic and social hardships over the years, should benefit first and foremost from the mine/mill development. We have arrangements in place that will allow that to happen, while also ensuring other residents of Labrador and the province benefit from the project."

In the Voisey's Bay Statement of Principles, Inco agreed that it "will conclude an Industrial and Employment Benefits Agreement with the Government for the employment of members of the provincial labour force and for providing manufacturers, consultants, contractors and service companies in the province with a full and fair opportunity to compete for the supply of goods and services for the project". Inco also agreed that it "will encourage the formation of joint ventures or other forms of cooperative business arrangements between Aboriginal people or firms and other businesses in the province."

The minister reminds Mr. Williams that Voisey�s Bay development contracts have been recently awarded to: Torngait Services Inc., a majority Inuit-owned Labrador based company, which has subcontracted CHC Helicopters Corporation, an international company headquartered in St. John�s, and Universal Helicopters, a company based in Newfoundland and Labrador with corporate headquarters in Happy Valley-Goose Bay; East Coast Catering, a company based in St John�s; Atlantic Offshore Medical Services, a company based in St. John�s; Atlantic Safety Centre, a company based in St. John�s; Innu Mikun Airlines, a company based in Happy Valley-Goose Bay; and Provincial Airlines, a St. John�s based company.

Media contact: Bert Pomeroy, Communications, (709) 896-8668.

The following are recent comments by the Leader of the Opposition:

July 3, 2002

� The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador has a right to protect all the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, and it had concerned me that there was not going to be, there was not some negotiations involved, you know, in these agreements with the Innu and Inuit Nation (sic) to sort of safeguard the interest of all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

June 20, 2002

� This is not only about Aboriginal rights.

June 19, 2002

� This is not about Voisey�s Bay. This is about all the bays in this province.

� All the members of this Opposition are very clearly on the record that we support the Voisey�s Bay Project. We support a Voisey�s Bay deal. We are in favour of job creation in this province. We are in favor of capital coming into this province.

� The people need to understand that if you live adjacent to Voisey�s Bay, if you live in Labrador, the Aboriginal peoples are going to have a good chance of getting a job, and of course the Labradorians are going to have a good chance of getting a job. With the 200 jobs that are going to be in Placentia for the demo plant, the people in Argentia and Placentia are going to have a chance of getting a job, but it is a limited number of jobs.

June 18, 2002

� This is why, you know, when we talk about the people in Argentia and Placentia and how happy and the euphoria down there I completely understand it, and the same with the people in Labrador. But, really, our responsibility is to look out for all the people in the province and that is what we are doing.

June 13, 2002

� Full marks to the people of Argentia, Placentia and Long Harbour, and the people in the area. I mean, there are some people in Conception Bay who may get jobs in this, and the people in Labrador, but what does it mean for someone from my district in Corner Brook? ... Well, you know, we have to look at that and say what is the benefit going to be for Corner Brook? What is it going to be for someone in La Scie?

� My bigger concern, of course, as well, is for the rest of the people in the Province, the people in St. Anthony, the people in Black Duck Cove, the people in Corner Brook, the people in Marystown. What are they going to get out of the deal?

� But it's all the people around the province, like I said somebody in La Scie, or somebody in Burin, or Humber West, what are they going to get out of this?

2002 07 05                               10:00 a.m.