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Mining Education and Innovation

Who will pay the bills for the education dream? – by Don Drummond and Daniel R. Woolf (Toronto Star-April 1, 2011)

The Toronto Star, which is the largest circulation newspaper in the country, has an enormous impact on Canada’s federal and provincial politics as well as shaping public opinion.

Don Drummond is Matthews Fellow in global public policy at Queen’s University. Daniel R. Woolf is principal and vice-chancellor of Queen’s University.

We have reached the point in the post-secondary education system where significant
new thinking is required to reconcile a higher participation rate with the reality of finite
government resources. This will require willingness to rethink a system that cannot be
sustained. (Don Drummond and Daniel R. Woolf – April 1, 2011)

In this knowledge-based era, the economic spoils are increasingly going to those with higher education. In recognition, Canadian governments are setting ambitious targets for post-secondary education. Commitments to higher education are a part of every federal party’s campaign platform and this week’s Ontario budget includes funding for more than 60,000 new post-secondary education spaces over the next five years.

But owing to governments’ fiscal woes, students and their families will continue to bear a rising portion of the total costs of a quality post-secondary education. For many, this will remain manageable and the return will be a lifetime of higher earnings and increased quality of life. But without dramatic reforms to Canada’s financial supports for students, more and more will find the path to higher education blocked by financial obstacles. The damage will carry across generations because a key determinant of pursuing higher education is parents’ level of education.

About 70 per cent of the jobs of the future are projected to require some form of higher education.

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Facing record debt, Ontario appoints Drummond to revamp public services – by Rob Ferguson (Toronto Star-March 29, 2011)

The Toronto Star, which is the largest circulation newspaper in the country, has an enormous impact on Canada’s federal and provincial politics as well as shaping public opinion.

Queen’s Park Bureau

Faced with $10.3 billion in annual interest payments on its record debt, Ontario is scrambling to revamp its public services by appointing respected economist Don Drummond to lead the effort.

And the government is looking at an expanded privatization of its ServiceOntario operations, which now provide documents like birth and marriage certificates, to see if more private-sector innovation could lead to improvements.

Finance Minister Dwight Duncan tasked Drummond — formerly the chief economist of TD Bank and once a senior finance official with the federal government — to advise on ways to speed the paydown of next year’s $16.3 billion deficit, which will boost Ontario’s net debt to $241.4 billion.

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To fix Ontario’s finances, Drummond ‘absolutely’ has to consider health care, education – by Richard Blackwell (Globe and Mail-March 29, 2011)

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous impact and influence on Canada’s political and business elite as well as the rest of the country’s print, radio and television media. 

The economist in charge of figuring out how to wrestle Ontario’s budget deficit to the ground says he will look at every aspect of the province’s spending, including the key sectors of health care and education.

Don Drummond, a former Toronto-Dominion Bank chief economist who has advised federal and provincial governments many times in the past, has been appointed chairman of a commission with a mandate to figure out how to rejig the province’s public service so it is more efficient.

The province, in its budget tabled on Tuesday, said the Commission on the Reform of Ontario’s Public Services “will not make recommendations that would increase taxes or lead to the privatization of health care or education.” And Finance Minister Dwight Duncan said Mr. Drummond has “rejected the slash and burn approach.”

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U of T’s forestry school faces the axe – by James Bradshaw (Globe and Mail-April 2, 2011)

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous impact and influence on Canada’s political and business elite as well as the rest of the country’s print, radio and television media. 

After 104 years of seeing the forest for the trees, dwindling enrolment has left the future of the faculty of forestry at the University of Toronto in doubt.

It was Canada’s first forestry faculty, and North America’s second, but is now also one of the smallest, with a dozen faculty teaching fewer than 80 graduate students. For that reason, the administration has deemed it “not financially viable,” said dean Sandy Smith.

Canada has 10 per cent of the world’s remaining forest cover, and a quarter of its undisturbed frontier forest, but enrolment in forestry programs has dropped across the country, as well as outside it. In a 2009 survey of 65,000 graduating high school students, just six chose forestry as their preferred discipline.

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OMA member profile: CAMIRO – research for mining’s future

This article was provided by the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), an organization that was established in 1920 to represent the mining industry of the province.
 

Ontario Mining Association member the Canadian Mining Industry Research Organization (CAMIRO) has been leading a scientific approach to improving sector workplaces for decades.  Sudbury-based CAMIRO, which officially started in 1996, has actually been operating since 1975 under various banners as an industry collaborative research broker. 

The industry-based, not-for-profit organization with a membership of mining companies and those with an interest in the mining sector has three divisions – exploration, mining and metallurgical processing.  CAMIRO strives to have multiple members sponsor specific research initiatives with the results broadly shared.  Many OMA members are involved in CAMIRO.  The collaborative nature of how CAMIRO operates facilitates government funding assistance without appearing to favour any specific company.

“We reach into the industry’s needs and figure out what we should be working on to benefit everyone,” said Charles Graham, Managing Director of CAMIRO’s Mining Division.  “CAMIRO carries out the administrative functions of research – we act as brokers to get funding before we spend it on research projects and we farm out specific aspects of the project to the most likely to succeed whether universities, independent researchers, mining companies or government.”

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A call to all Canadian Mining Associations – by Russell Noble

Russell Noble is the editor for the Canadian Mining Journal, Canada’s first mining publication. This column is from the February/March 2011 issue. rnoble@canadianminingjournal.com

Most industry associations aren’t worth a damn and that unfortunately holds true for many of those involved with mining here in Canada. They’re good at collecting dues and putting on Annual Meetings for their fraternity but aside from those events, little is done throughout the year for the good of their members at large and, more importantly, the industry they serve and represent.

To support my opinion, when was the last time you heard of any association affiliated with mining make headlines beyond their own Newsletter telling about all the good they are doing on behalf of the mining industry as a whole?

Sure we hear about meetings with various government officials or other regional dignitaries where “position papers” are given on the price of electricity or the importance of water, air and the rest of the environment, but what about concerns on a broader, national scale involving mining people and the growing scarcity of them?

What are the “mining associations” doing to address this problem?

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Sudbury Calls the Shots, Says [Vale’s] John Pollesel – by Carol Mulligan

Carol Mulligan is a reporter for the Sudbury Star, the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper. cmulligan@thesudburystar.com

“As a matter of fact, in the North Atlantic, we are the centre of excellence for
underground mining globally for Vale. Vale’s operations are mostly open pit,
big iron ore mines. However, if we’re to develop a deposit in Africa … they will
come to us for mining expertise.” (Vale’s John Pollesel January 20, 2011)

The head of Vale’s North Atlantic operations isn’t putting much stock in rumours that Roger Agnelli could be on his way out as chief executive of Vale’s parent company in Brazil.
John Pollesel, chief operating officer for Vale in Canada and the UK , said a report that a majority shareholder in Vale is trying to replace Agnelli is unfounded.

When asked if things might change in Sudbury if Agnelli were replaced, Pollesel said: “Sudbury directly may not feel the effects of something like that, but that’s just a rumour. There’s no, in speaking to (Vale CEO) Tito (Martins) earlier this week, he explained to us that … that’s just a rumour.”

Another frequent comment that is untrue is that Vale operations in Canada are being run out of Brazil, Pollesel told The Sudbury Star in an editorial board meeting this week.

“We hear often, and I get a little frustrated when I hear this, that things are being run out of Brazil. Well, no, that’s not the case,” said Pollesel.

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Rio Tinto Invests $10 Million in Sudbury’s Centre of Excellence in Mining Innovation – Mark Henderson

Mark Henderson is editor of Research Money.

“We are attempting to establish a centre of excellence that can compete in the R&D space and collaborate with centres in Brazil and Chile … Our mandate is to establish R&D and innovation excellence in Ontario and Canada by bringing industry money together with people doing research and who can commercialize the work.” – CEMI President and CEO Dr. Peter Kaiser

Boost to growing mining cluster
 
Sudbury’s quest to become a major centre of mining R&D received a significant boost with a decision by Rio Tinto to invest $10 million in a Centre for Underground Mine Construction (CUMC), the fifth and final centre in its global research network. The centre is part of Rio Tinto’s Mine of the Future program as the British-Australian mining giant banks on innovation to transition from open pit to underground mining by developing deeper underground mines to meet soaring demand for minerals.

To be based at the Centre of Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI), located at Sudbury’s Laurentian Univ, the Rio Tinto centre marks the first time a foreign-based multinational has committed to funding mining R&D through CEMI.

The decision may signal a reversal in Canada’s flagging reputation as an innovative mining nation — a status that has been threatened by a rash of foreign takeovers of some of Canada’s biggest mining enterprises. For instance, the former Falconbridge was acquired by Xstrata based in Zug Switzerland, while Inco was absorbed by Vale Ltd, based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Rio Tinto’s CUMC will be set up as a division of CEMI with a steering committee to direct R&D initiatives.

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Sudbury’s Mining Reseach Hub Gets $10-Million Rio Tinto Investment – by Nick Stewart

Established in 1980, Northern Ontario Business  provides Canadians and international investors with relevant, current and insightful editorial content and business news information about Ontario’s vibrant and resource-rich North. This article was posted on the newspaper website on January 11, 2011.

“While this is a real game-changing technology that’s developing, we still need to
do drill and blast conventional advances, and that has to happen at a higher
speed too.” (Dr. Peter Kaiser, CEMI President and CEO)

Sudbury, Canada turning into Silicon Valley of hardrock mining reseach

A $10-million research effort funded by Rio Tinto and coordinated through the Sudbury-based Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation will first be tested at the mining giant’s Northparkes Mine in New South Wales, Australia.

A $10-million investment in one of Sudbury’s major mining research nodes by Rio Tinto in December may well benefit other mining operations in Sudbury and around the North, according to project leaders.

The U.K.-based company’s partnership with the Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI) will target the high-speed construction and development of underground mines and the development of ground support systems.

As the company seeks to rapidly move away from open pits to these new underground environments, Rio Tinto will focus on its own mechanized tunnelling and shaft sinking systems, whose issues are common across many Sudbury-area projects, said CEMI president and CEO Peter Kaiser.

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OMA Contributes to Skills Canada Ontario Career Blog

This article was provided by the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), an organization that was established in 1920 to represent the mining industry of the province.
 

The Ontario Mining Association is participating in Skills Canada Ontario’s blog www.skillswork.blogspot.com/ to promote awareness in skilled trades and technology career paths in the mineral industry.  The OMA is contributing to this communications forum to help students better understand the employment prospects offered by the mining industry.

“The OMA has been an active partner with Skills Canada Ontario for more than five years.  In 2010, the OMA celebrated its 90th anniversary and it is one of the longest serving trade organizations in the country,” said the OMA.  “We represent companies engaged in responsible exploration, extraction and processing of Ontario’s mineral resources.”

“Like other sectors, mining foresees a future demand for technologically smart and skilled people.  The flip side of this need for industry is boundless opportunity for young people embarking on training for future employment.  In some ways being a partner with an educational organization like Skills Canada Ontario is like being a member of a health club – the more you use it, the more you get out of it.” 

Sudbury Mining Research Centre CEMI Recruits Star Candidate – by Norm Tollinsky

This article was originally published in the December, 2010 issue of Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal.

The Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI) is a world-class mining research and innovation centre located in the hardrock mining heartland of Sudbury, Ontario.

The new deputy director of the Sudbury-based Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI) sees an urgent need to “broaden the base of the intellectual capacity that’s applied to mining issues.”

Doug Morrison, formerly global mining sector leader with Golder Associates, says in light of the lack of highly skilled personnel entering the mining industry, more effort has to be made to enlist researchers in other related disciplines to focus on mining issues.

“I don’t think there’s a long lineup of people waiting to join the mining industry these days, so what we need to do is create as much of a critical mass as we can by being much more collaborative.

“Every university has research being done. The vast majority of these researchers have no idea of the challenges that the mining industry faces, but many of them are working on issues that could be of value to the mining industry,” he said. As examples, Morrison cites researchers focused on environmental sciences, chemistry, physics and biology.

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Why Sudbury is An Unlikely Magnet for Global Education – by Globe and Mail Columnist Adam Radwanski (Originally Published August 21, 2010)

Adam Radwanski is the Queen’s Park columnist for the Globe and Mail, Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous impact and influence on Canada’s political and business elite as well as the rest of the country’s print, radio and television media. This article was orginally published August 21, 2010.

International students are increasingly attracted to the Big Nickel to study, but the real problem is getting them to stay after graduation

Peter Luk admits it’s not an easy sell.

Twice a year, the dean of Laurentian University’s management program travels to China in an attempt to persuade students and their families that Sudbury is the place for them. For most, Canada ranks below several other countries as their choice of where to study abroad. A small northern Ontario city known for nickel mining isn’t even on the radar.

And yet, with students drawn by everything from smaller class sizes to the prospect of a more “Canadian” experience than they’d get in a multicultural metropolis such as Toronto, Mr. Luk is finding takers. In 2008, his first year at Laurentian after nearly three decades at Toronto’s Ryerson University, he recruited four Chinese students. The next year, it was eight. This year, it was 25.

The trend is reflected across campus. With an aggressive recruitment strategy driven by an ambitious new administration, Laurentian reports that it received 952 international applications in 2010, more than double the total from three years earlier.

All this should warm the heart of Dalton McGuinty, who has said he wants to increase international enrolment at the province’s universities by 50 per cent. But it will also test just what the Ontario Premier’s push for foreign students really means, and what its legacy will be.

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On The Brink – How the Recession of 2009 Will Affect [Canadian] Post-Secondary Education – Executive Summary (February/2009 Policy Paper)

The Educational Policy Institute is an international, non-profit think tank dedicated to the study of educational opportunity. It is based in Virginia Beach, Virginia, with offices in Winnipeg, Canada, and Melbourne, Australia. The mission of the Educational Policy Institute is to “expand educational opportunity for low-income and other historically-underrepresented students through high-level research and analysis.”

The Report is available here: On the Brink: How the Recession of 2009 Will Affect Post-Secondary Education

The institutions that will prosper will be ones that can fundamentally
restructure their costs and develop major new revenue streams, such as overseas
education (that is, not just bringing students to Canada, but the much tougher job of
bringing Canadian education abroad). The challenges of such an environment are great,
and institutions need to consider their responses to it as soon as possible.

Executive Summary

With the global recession in full effect, post‐secondary education in Canada is about to face some very significant challenges. The purpose of this report is to outline the likely main effects of this global recession on the Canadian post‐secondary education (PSE) sector, as well as suggest a series of measures that governments can take to help institutions survive the worst of the crisis.

The most immediate challenges facing the system over the coming years include:

• Decreasing Institutional Revenues – In the short‐term, with global markets in decline, university endowments will produce lower levels of revenues in the foreseeable future. The lack of endowment revenue will impact discretionary income at institutions and force institutions to allocate resources more strategically. In the medium‐term, as governments inevitably try to bring their budgets back into balance, PSE institutions will be hard‐pressed to maintain their current funding levels to post‐secondary institutions. Cuts – possibly quite significant ones – are highly likely starting in 2011.

• Increasing Institutional Costs – Institutional defined‐benefit pension plans have also been greatly affected by the financial crisis; PSE institutions will have to spend more to cover their deficits. Faculty and staff who have seen significant losses in their RRSPs will also be less likely to retire; this means that institutions will have to pay more for older, more expensive staff instead of replacing them (as they do on a regular cycle) with younger, less expensive labour.

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News Release: Educational Policy Institute Releases Report on the Recession’s Impact on [Canadian] Post-Secondary Education (February 25, 2009)

The Educational Policy Institute is an international, non-profit think tank dedicated to the study of educational opportunity. It is based in Virginia Beach, Virginia, with offices in Winnipeg, Canada, and Melbourne, Australia. The mission of the Educational Policy Institute is to “expand educational opportunity for low-income and other historically-underrepresented students through high-level research and analysis.”

The Report is available here: On the Brink: How the Recession of 2009 Will Affect Post-Secondary Education

TORONTO, ON, February 25, 2009 — Warning that post-secondary education (PSE) in Canada is about to head back towards conditions last seen in the mid-1990s, the newest publication from the Educational Policy Institute (EPI), On the Brink: How the Recession of 2009 Will Affect Post-Secondary Education, takes an in-depth look at the profound affects the recession will have on both revenues and expenditures in the PSE sector. The report’s authors suggest how governments and institutions might respond in order to not only survive this crisis, but perhaps even be in a position to thrive once the recovery arrives.

“It is clear that post-secondary education is facing difficult times as a result of this recession,” said report co-author and EPI Vice-President Alex Usher. “There is, however, still time to save the system from decline if university and college presidents and premiers react quickly and make wise choices on policy and budgeting.”

The report briefly outlines the key effects of the recession on Canada’s system of post-secondary education:

-The collapse in equities affects institutions’ endowments and pension liabilities thus reducing income and increasing expenditure in the short-term;

-The real-economy recession will create new patterns of post-secondary attendance (rising college and graduate school enrolment; falling apprenticeship registrations) which will both raise institutional costs;

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