Saskatchewan's aboriginal people and their participation in the northern mining industry : a case study

The presence of aboriginal people in Saskatchewan has led to several government and private sector initiatives aimed at facilitating the participation of aboriginal people in modern industrial society. A case study was performed on Cameco Corporation, the largest mining company in Northern Saskatchewan, to find out if and how government and private sector initiatives to increase the participation of aboriginal people in the northern mining industry are working. Emphasis was put on defining the status of aboriginal employees within Cameco's mining workforce with respect to job training, promotion, job position, wage rate, and job satisfaction. A simple quantitative evaluation of survey responses was used to establish the position of Cameco's aboriginal/northern employees among their non-aboriginal co-workers and among the typical population residing in the northern part of the province.In 1994, 42.3% of Cameco's employees at the mine sites were of aboriginal ancestry. Based on Cameco's 1994 employee survey, it was found that relative to the typical person residing in the North, Cameco northern/aboriginal employees had a higher level of schooling, more full time work activity, and a higher employment income. Relative to their colleagues, aboriginal Cameco workers were younger, less educated, fewer years employed and more representative in low skill level/low paying jobs. Aboriginal people were provided with more job training, received more promotions, and had a slightly lower overall job satisfaction.Based on these findings, OLS and Logit multiple regression analyses were performed to identify how much of the difference between aboriginal and non-aboriginal Cameco workers, regarding employment related issues, could actually be explained by aboriginal ethnicity. Results showed that, when compared to their colleagues, aboriginal people were more likely to be promoted and to receive job training. However, aboriginal people were less likely to be employed in high level job positions and to earn a high wage rate. Many results are positive indicators of successful government and private sector initiatives to improve aboriginal peoples' employability by extensive human resource development programs in accordance with recent Surface Lease Agreements. Nevertheless, as shown by this example from the mining industry, the achievement of equal opportunities and of a fully equalized job distribution between aboriginal and non-aboriginal employees will be a long-term process