Oshki holds graduation at Musselwhite

Cat Lake’s Kyra Wesley plans to attend Confederation College’s Environmental Technician program after graduating from Oshki-Pimache-O-Win’s Aboriginal Mining and Skilled Trades Entry Program (AMSTEP).

“My favourite subject (in high school) was science,” Wesley says. “I wanted to pick between chemistry and the environment, and I thought there was enough chemists in the world, so I (chose to) go for something in the environment.”
Kingfisher Lake’s Kevin Winter enjoyed the Pre-Trades portion of the program.

“We built the sleds,” says Winter, who delivered a graduate address along with Cat Lake’s Peter Oombash during the graduation ceremony. “We welded steel together, did some carpentry, we did some computer work and some manual paper work.”

Wesley, Winter and eight other AMSTEP students from Cat Lake and Kingfisher Lake graduated on March 10 at the Goldcorp Musselwhite Mine, after completing the five-month, 800-hour skills training and work experience program.

“It was good — at first I didn’t like it,” says Ty Oombash, who graduated along with his brother Peter. “Quite frankly, I only signed up for the money, but as time went by … I just stopped caring about the money. I just liked the experience, the skills I was learning.”

Ty says it took time to get used to getting up in the middle of the night for the early morning shift.

“It was a bit of a routine to get into,” Ty says. “Waking up at 3:00 in the morning is hard, and working for 12 hours is even harder.”

Ty plans to work on completing his education, including Mill Common Core training.

“I’ll probably give it a shot with the millwrights,” Ty says.

Ty’s mother Delia Oombash was proud of her sons’ accomplishments.

“It was a very proud moment,” Delia says. “I know it has been hard for them for the last couple of months. I’m very proud of them.”

Ray Augustine, Delia’s partner, was also proud of Ty and Peter’s accomplishments.

“I hope they can follow their dreams and accomplish what they set out in their life,” Augustine says. “I wish them both the best.”

The graduates were the second group to graduate from AMSTEP, which is a partnership between Oshki and Goldcorp. The program was created to bring Mining Essentials and skills training to Aboriginal youth in the First Nations signatory communities under the Musselwhite Agreement.

“This is an innovative program for expanding opportunities for Aboriginal youth and creating local workforces that meet industry workforce needs,” says Rosie Mosquito, Oshki’s executive director.

Bill Gascon, mine general manager at the Musselwhite Mine, says the program has been life changing for many of the graduates.

“Having the students share their skills and their training alongside our own employees at Goldcorp is very valuable,” Gascon says. “I look forward to hopefully seeing some of you in our workforce in the near future. Or if you’ve decided to take on post-secondary education, all the best to you in your future endeavours.”

Kingfisher Lake Chief James Mamakwa congratulated Oshki and Goldcorp for providing the program to the graduates.

“We all need employment,” Mamakwa says, noting there are “virtually no employment” opportunities in his community. “Hopefully these young grads will find employment in the community or elsewhere.”

Cat Lake Chief Russell Wesley says the program provides youth with transferrable skills that they can use anywhere.

“That is what we have always strived for,” Wesley says. “I am glad to see the youth happy and I wish them well.”

The graduates received certificates from Oshki, and industry-recognized Mining Essentials certificates jointly issued by Oshki and the Mining Industry Human Resources Council. The graduates also received training certificates from Cambrian College, Windigo Catering and YES Employment Services.