Aboriginal Relations
Canadian Council For Aboriginal Business
Syncrude is a Seven Generations Patron of the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business. In this role, we have committed to advancing the interests of Aboriginal employees, suppliers, and partners.
One indication of our success toward that goal is Syncrude's status as a Gold Level participant in the Council's Progressive Aboriginal Relations Program. It verifies Syncrude's efforts and outcomes to increase Aboriginal employment, assist Aboriginal business, build individual capacity and enhance relationships with the community.
The Council is one of the country's leading advocates for Aboriginal business and economic development. It works with corporations across the nation to enhance the participation of Aboriginal people in the Canadian economy.
The Aboriginal Workforce
Of our total workforce of around 4,700 people, 415 or 8.5 percent are of self-declared Aboriginal descent. This is near the all-time high of 418 Aboriginal employees recorded in 2006. During 2007, Syncrude hired 35 Aboriginal people. Aboriginal employees comprise six percent of our leaders; 5.3 percent of administrative, professional and technical workers; and 11.4 percent of employees working in trades and operators roles.
Our long-term goal is to accurately reflect the proportion of Aboriginal people in the Wood Buffalo population, between 12 and 13 percent, in our own workforce.
We acknowledge that Aboriginal recruitment during the past year did not meet our expectations or those of the stakeholders who rated Aboriginal employment as a priority in an Aboriginal survey we conducted in 2005. However, we are confident that new recruitment initiatives-such as our expanded southern rotational program and a renewed focus on Aboriginal hiring-will assist us in attracting more skilled Aboriginal candidates in the future.
Expansion Of The Rotational Employment Program
Syncrude's rotational employment program in Fort Chipewyan has met with such great success that it has now been expanded to the southern communities of Janvier and Conklin.
The program offers career opportunities to people living in remote communities despite their distance from the Syncrude operation. Participants are provided either air or ground transportation to and from our site as well as accommodation for the duration of their shift cycle. The intent is to expand opportunities for people to work at Syncrude while understanding their interest in maintaining a physical link to their communities, family, and heritage.
Fourteen residents of Fort Chipewyan participate in the program, and in 2007 the program was officially launched in Janvier and Conklin. Four people have thus far been hired from these communities.
Investing in the Community
Syncrude invested more than $1.2 million in Aboriginal community projects and initiatives in 2007. These include:
- The Janvier Elders Home Support Program. Syncrude contributed $45,000 to a home care program that helps Elders in Janvier stay in their community and pass along their knowledge and traditions to the next generation.
- Anzac Aboriginal Dance & Culture Group. The group engages youth through traditional teachings in powwow and Métis dancing, including a 2007 trip for five young people to the Gathering of Nations Powwow in Albuquerque, New Mexico - one of the largest powwows in the world. Support from Syncrude has helped the group promote traditional Aboriginal values such as spiritual awareness, family, and community.
- United Nations Youth Assembly. In August, Syncrude supported a youth delegation from the Athabasca Tribal Council to speak at a United Nations Conference in Edmonton. The delegation's presentation focused on youth leadership and empowerment and addressed how traditional First Nations' teachings related to peace and solidarity.
Mara Nokohoo (standing) is the
Aboriginal Liaison Worker at Good Shepherd
School in Fort McMurray. She oversees
the reading on the Medicine Wheel Program,
supported in part by Syncrude.
Investing in Education
Syncrude provides support for a variety of measures designed to help Aboriginal people succeed with their educational aspirations. These include:
- The Helping Hands Early Intervention Program. In 2007, Syncrude renewed its support for this program, which fosters childhood literacy in Fort McMurray schools, with a total investment of $210,000 over three years. Supplementary programming is offered at two schools with high Aboriginal populations. The ultimate aim of Helping Hands and similar programs is to increase the number of Aboriginal high school graduates.
- The Syncrude Support Services Fund. A $100,000 donation over four years to Norquest College in Edmonton is helping the College provide free tutoring and counselling to its students, 20 percent of who are Aboriginal. the fund also provides scholarships and emergency financial aid for students.
- Support to Fort Mckay School. Syncrude renewed its sponsorship of the University of Alberta's Regional Placement Program, which provides teaching placements for students at the Fort McKay School. Funding from Syncrude covers the cost of placement, travel to Fort McMurray and Fort McKay, and accommodation. Since the program started in 2005, five student teachers have been placed at the school and one accepted a full-time position there after graduation.
Traditional Bison Harvest
Syncrude once again assisted the Fort McKay First Nation in arranging a traditional bison harvest. Twelve animals were donated to the community from the Beaver Creek Wood Bison Ranch, which is co-managed by Syncrude and the Fort McKay First Nation. The meat was distributed to Aboriginal residents across the Wood Buffalo region. The ranch, now in its 14th year of operation, is located on about 700 hectares of land reclaimed from Syncrude's mining operation.
