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Jonathon Naylor Editor Education in Flin Flon took a giant leap forward last week with the official launch of two modern University College of the North institutes. More than 80 dignitaries gathered last Friday, Sept. 28 to open the Northern Manitoba Mining Academy and adjacent UCN Regional Centre. 'While we are here to celebrate the fact that we're opening two new buildings, I think it's more than just buildings,' UCN President Konrad Jonasson told the guests from a podium. 'It's opportunities for our students, it's choices, it's the chance to access education closer to home.' Situated on Hart Avenue near the Hudbay Main Gate, the Mining Academy promises to turn Flin Flon into a national hub of learning for students entering the mineral sector. See 'Oppor...' on Pg. 3 Continued from Pg. 1 The Regional Centre, meanwhile, will offer a range of new and ongoing programs in areas such as business, health care, maintenance and trades. Premier Greg Selinger, who helped cut the ribbon to open the facilities, was particularly enthusiastic about the Mining Academy. 'A shortage of skilled, trained people for the mining sector is one of the single biggest challenges (the industry faces),' he said. '(There are) opportunities to train people in the North to do well-paying, high quality jobs for a whole career, so this Mining Academy will accommodate that. It will allow people to come here from all across the country.' The Mining Academy includes a sophisticated geological laboratory, classroom space and, for students eyeing a career below the earth's surface, a high-tech electronic simulator that mimics underground equipment. Among the courses beginning this fall is a first-year geology course in partnership with the University of Manitoba. Students who complete this course can then go to the U of M _ or other universities _ to complete their degrees. Premier Selinger said Flin Flon conveniently provides different geological formations for students to study. 'Flin Flon is the right place to do this. It just offers all that learning potential to people in a very accessible way,' said the premier, dressed in a light grey suit. Lynn Yelich, federal Minister of State for Western Economic Diversification, called mining 'one of the country's major economic drivers.' 'The Government of Canada is proud to have supported the Academy, which will play a key role in increasing mining productivity,' she said in a statement read in her absence, as she was unable to attend the opening ceremony. 'By providing opportunities for mining research and skills development, this investment will continue to strengthen the local mining industry and ensure Canada's competitiveness now and into the future.' The Mining Academy will be flexible in terms of instruction, with courses to be developed in response to ongoing industry needs. If Hudbay or another northern mining company plans a new underground mine, for instance, relevant training would likely be offered. Tom Goodman, a board member with Hudbay, spoke on the historical significance of the property on which the new learning institute sits. 'Having this site for the new Mining Academy is quite noteworthy in that...if you stood on this ground 85 years ago, or 90 years ago, you would have been in the centre of something pretty exciting,' he said. 'This is where heavy industrial mining really came to the province of Manitoba.' While Goodman looked to the past, Mayor George Fontaine looked ahead as he welcomed the Mining Academy to his community. 'It offers (great potential) for our community for both the future employment, for training for all of our youth,' he said, 'and, you know, all the educators in the local area will know how hard it is to access further education and when it's placed right at our doorstep, that's an extremely, extremely beneficial thing.' 'Share that' Added Mayor Fontaine: 'I hope that we can share that with our surrounding neighbours, all the communities around, and have a little more of a mixing pot in our workforce as well.' The Mining Academy may be physically grounded in Flin Flon, but its reach will be much broader. The idea has always been to make the institute a hub with spokes radiating out of it. In this vein, some of the programming will be run in other locations, while some will entail people from other locations coming in for certain components. Though the Mining Academy captured much of the attention among the dignitaries, the new Regional Centre promises to open just as many doors for students. With a computer lab and videoconferencing room, among other amenities, the Regional Centre has been in use since last January. 'It's 250 per cent better,' said Cindy Best, centre coordinator, comparing the new building to the previous locations of UCN and its predecessor, Keewatin Community College. UCN and KCC have bounced around a number of buildings in Flin Flon, including the armoury, the upper level of the post office and a portable classroom beside Many Faces Education Centre. Thanks to their proximity and common goals, the Regional Centre and the Mining Academy _ each 3,500 sq. ft. _ will work closely together. Together the buildings represent an investment of about $4.3 million through a partnership that includes the federal, provincial and municipal governments. Hudbay and UCN are also partners, as is the Northern Manitoba Sector Council, a not-for-profit corporation representing the region's major employers. Don Nisbet, chair of both the Mining Academy and the Regional Centre, said the facilities will serve as a resource for the region and far beyond. 'The Mining Academy, situated in Flin Flon, is strategically located within the most prolific greenstone mining belt in the world,' he said, 'and will, as it already does, attract explorationists, academics and researchers from around the country and well beyond.' During the opening ceremony, Goodman presented a $200,000 cheque to the Mining Academy on behalf of Hudbay.
