Hon. Dennis Glen Patterson: Thank you, Your Honour. Sean Boyd, the Executive Chair of the Board, is also here today from Agnico.

Honourable senators, I’ve always believed that mining is the key to generating the wealth and own-source revenues that Inuit and Nunavut as a whole need to thrive. So it’s my honour today to rise in recognition of the contributions that Agnico Eagle Mines has made to Nunavut.

Over the past 15 years, this great Canadian company has invested over $9 billion in the territory and is a major contributor to socio-economic development. Inuit organizations receive millions through negotiated Inuit Impact and Benefit Agreements, or IIBAs. Mining companies also pay millions in employment, contracting and additional initiatives or project‑based support. For instance, in 2022, Agnico Eagle paid $62 million in property taxes, royalties and IIBA commitments to the Government of Nunavut, Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated and Kivalliq Inuit Association. To date, these payments amount to $245 million. Also in 2022, the company paid their 372 Inuit employees $33.6 million and spent $821 million on contracts with Inuit businesses.

Agnico is a model corporate citizen that goes above and beyond to give back to Nunavummiut, whether it’s offering $5 million toward the university, supporting literacy and mental wellness initiatives, paying its Inuit employees 75% of their base salary to stay home and safe during the COVID pandemic, sponsoring a new arena in Rankin Inlet or exploring ways to support housing. Agnico Eagle has always been a generous contributor to the communities impacted by their operations and to the territory as a whole.

When I was first appointed to this chamber in 2009, I went to the opening of Agnico’s Meadowbank mine, their first mining operation in Nunavut. I heard Jose Kusugak, the beloved late president of Nunavut Tunngavik, thanking the company for helping them break the cycle of poverty that the nearby community of Baker Lake was trapped in at the time. While visiting Baker Lake in 2018, I heard from a community member how steady employment and wealth generation for residents helped shift the focus from simply surviving to actually living. This, she said, was the reason Baker Lake has seen a revitalization of their local arts scene.

Therefore, it is my absolute pleasure to stand here today in my last year in the Senate to recognize the contributions of this great Canadian company in my territory over the past 15 years. Here is to many more years of Agnico Eagle operating in and continuing to benefit Nunavut.

Qujannamiik. Matna. Koana. Taima.