| The Physical Environment No relocation or construction of a completely new community on this scale, or under these conditions, has apparently occurred before in Canada. The project is ambitious and the scale of obstacles daunting. The short construction season in northern Labrador, an unavoidable consequence of the harsh environment, poses substantial problems. Crews typically open camp in May or early June, and have to close down in November. Temperatures of -30 degrees and heavy snowfalls that make keeping the roads clear almost a full-time job have combined to hamper productive construction. Equipment and material have to be brought in by barge, and there have been difficulties finding barges to bring the construction material onto the site during the short summer period when water transport is possible. A delay of two months can mean a whole construction season is lost. In these circumstances, there seems to be a general consensus that those working on site have achieved much in the face of the conditions that confront them. In order to try to complete the project in 2002, work was scheduled to start in March of this year. Sufficient material was brought in during the summer of 2001 to allow work to be commenced, although construction had never begun so early and it was not clear how feasible such an early start would be. Back to top The Financing of the Project The financing of the project was criticized by the Auditor General in 2000.37 The Government chose to authorize financing only to a maximum of $82 million although it was aware, even in 1996, that relocation costs might reach $110 million. In fact, the Government had to move from its original commitment of $82 million to $113 million by 1999, and to $150 million by 2001. DIAND has attributed the overruns to a series of items. These include an increase of 33% in the number of houses to be built, changes in technical standards for sewage lagoons and energy needs, increased costs of telecommunication services, and changes in standards and needs for various municipal and other buildings. There are other factors. The Government apparently budgeted only $50,000 per housing unit in the original plan. Federal officials advised the Mushuau Band Council that costs above $50,000 per house would have to be covered by the Innu. As it turned out, $50,000 was sufficient to finance the construction only of housing shells, not the construction of the interiors. The full cost of each home would turn out to be approximately $150,000. Clearly the Mushuau Band Council did not have the funds to cover this and the shortfall became the subject of ongoing negotiations between the Innu and the Government until eventually the Government came up with an arrangement to cover the shortfall. Delays caused by the lack of funds also became a factor contributing to the escalation of costs. Having to negotiate for money all the way through "complicated and delayed the project." The time required to obtain approval for the additional allocations from DIAND, and then from Treasury Board, often worked to the detriment of the whole project. As one Innu noted, "The cycle in Ottawa doesn’t work with the seasonal cycle here [in northern Labrador]." The Auditor General’s study acknowledged that it was not unusual for initial cost estimates to be revised but criticized the Government for not having anticipated such items more fully. In the Auditor General’s view, the approach taken by the Government in respect of the relocation project was "not consistent with sound project management." Others have argued that the piecemeal approach to funding was the only way the project could have been accepted by the Government. They claim that a relocation project costing over $82 million would not have been politically feasible in 1996. The cost of relocation has taken the Innu from being a group neglected by the Government to a group receiving, it is said, more money per capita than is spent on any other reserve in Canada. The Innu suspect that such political factors have intruded on the relocation project. In general, it appears that from the outset the Government was not willing to face the financial reality of the commitment it had made to relocation. Earlier acceptance of this reality might well have expedited the project. Continuing negotiations over the cost of relocation have at times become intertwined with other negotiations over registration, land claims and self-government. The Innu claim that they have been told that the cost of relocation is a barrier to their being able to get funding on other issues. Relocation was the "bait" used to hook them on other issues. It is a fear of the Innu that once relocation has occurred, the Government will start cutting back on funding because of the amount already spent on relocation. Federal officials, while recognizing the reality of the substantial cost of relocation, deny that there is any intention to make the Innu pay in the future for relocation or that there is a direct connection so that "a dollar spent there will mean a dollar not spent here." At the present time, it appears that sufficient funding has been approved and is in place to complete the project. However, delays beyond 2002 could, according to some estimates, cost another $5–10 million beyond the amounts currently budgeted. Back to top The Management of the Project MIRA specified that a "team of Mushuau Innu and non-Mushuau Innu managers, designers and employees" was to be assembled "to deliver the project within a specified budget and time frame and to standards and design criteria agreed to by Canada and Mushuau Innu." DIAND was designated the project leader for the relocation, with authority for all decisions pertaining to Canada’s interest in all matters relating to the planning, design and construction of the project. For their part, the Mushuau Innu were required to select a Project Manager in consultation with DIAND. The powers and duties of the Project Manager were to be determined jointly by the Mushuau Innu and DIAND, and were to include implementing the project; reviewing and updating cost estimates; monitoring project cost, quality and progress; and, where appropriate, recommending corrective action to the Mushuau Innu and DIAND. Although at many levels the relationship of the Innu and the Government over the relocation project has worked effectively, it has not been without difficulties. Initially the Innu felt that although DIAND had been given a central role in the implementation of the relocation, it did not designate sufficient staff to work on the project on the ground. Only three employees from the regional office in Amherst, Nova Scotia, were given responsibility for the day-to-day work. The scope of the work became overwhelming. The Innu expressed surprise that although "this is one of the biggest projects ever in Indian Affairs...they only have three people working on it." Additional difficulties beset the project almost from the outset. The requirement that the new community be built in accordance with government regulatory specifications sometimes clashed with Innu perspectives regarding traditional cultural and community needs. Redesign was required for some of the facilities, such as the school and the nursing station, when it was determined that they needed to be larger than originally anticipated. There were problems selecting the Project Manager. The original plans had failed to factor in the cost of building an access road and a camp to house the construction crew during the building phase. There was disagreement over tendering practices for construction. There were unanticipated geographic and geological problems. Ultimately these issues were worked out and there seem to be few problems today surrounding the management of the project. Back to top Innu Involvement in the Project MIRA contemplated the active involvement of the Mushuau Innu in the planning, design and construction of the new community. This included maximizing "training, employment and contracting opportunities for [the] Mushuau Innu."38 Efforts to ensure that the Mushuau Innu are involved in the planning and activities of the relocation have, not surprisingly, rendered the project substantially more complicated. The objective of ensuring that the Innu were employed as fully as possible in the actual work of constructing the houses and other facilities was an important and critical component. At the outset, certain preferences were given to the Innu. The contracts for the construction of houses were initially let to Innu contractors and the agreement provided that non-Innu contractors employ one Innu for every three other workers. Even if the Innu were not previously trained, the goal was to have them work alongside the trained workers, so that they could learn how to install electricity and plumbing, to construct and repair houses, and to run the water filtration plant, the sewage system, the wharf and the airstrip. According to those working on the site, some of the Innu training was extremely successful, with certain individuals becoming very efficient heavy equipment operators and carpenters. However, not all of the optimistic objectives were realized. Although 30 houses were initially constructed by Innu contractors, only the shells were completed and the houses were not finished inside. The problem partly related to lack of funding, but it was also due to an inability on the part of the Innu contractors to complete the work on a timely basis. This led to subsequent housing being contracted out to non-Innu contractors. Language difficulties also created substantial barriers, as there were no words in Innu-aimun (the Innu language) for the equipment being used in the project. The time it took to train the Innu caused additional delay in construction, another factor that had not been fully taken into account in the planning. Contractors saw their profits eroding as a consequence of the additional time required to do proper training. As the time crunch came to the forefront, the employment of Innu trainees was sacrificed. The Innu tended to get left out and in the view of some Innu, the construction of the new community failed to "provide the benefits for the Innu that we had hoped." Although we received several different reports as to the number of Innu working on the site, it is clear that the total fell short of the goal to maximize Innu opportunities.39 Many of the Innu employees on the construction site chose to live in tents with their families short distances away from the site, rather than to take up residence in the camp. The Auditor General’s study criticized DIAND for its failure to evaluate "the capacity of the Innu to manage such a large and complex project," and recommended that DIAND become "more actively involved with the project to help ensure success, while supporting the role of the Innu." In response, the Government indicated that since 1999, it had "insisted on increased accountability by Innu leadership for funds provided for construction, healing and social projects." It also advised that it would be creating a new directorate within DIAND’s Atlantic Region to manage all the Newfoundland and Labrador files, including the Davis Inlet relocation project. A DIAND office has been opened in Goose Bay to provide more efficient service, and the number of people working directly on the Innu files was expanded. In order to facilitate the coordination of the different government departments involved in the project, a steering committee was set up, composed of representatives from each federal department and the Province. Back to top | 
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