While Miners in the North are on Strike at the Ekati Diamond Mine, Craig Kielburger of Free the Children puts Northern Development under the gaze of development elsewhere in the Diamond Fields of the World.
Fresh off the plane, I stood in a region engulfed by housing development and communities flush with new-found wealth. I wasn't in Sierra Leone or South Africa, where diamond mines have given rise to phrases such as "blood diamonds" and have caused massive social upheaval. On a work-related visit, I was in Canada's portal to the vast and serene north and, with my untrained eye, all seemed normal. We've all fallen prey to the marketing coup of the last century by believing that "a diamond is forever." But the communities that mine these diamonds are not.Since the discovery of Canadian diamonds in 1991, the Ekati and Diavik diamond mines have begun production in the Northwest Territories. The Snap Lake plant is gearing up for production next year and, as of this year, the Jericho project in Nunavut will also be in production. But according to Statistics Canada, these mines will be operational for only the next eight to 20 years.Once these mines shut down, miners can rarely transfer their skills beyond the industry. Diamonds are forever; prosperity isn't
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Northern-Deveolpment, Yukon, NWT, Whitehorse, Yellowknife, Diamonds, , Kielburger, Ekati, Diavik, , Nunavut, strike, miners, PSAC
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