Mr. Speaker, I am in receipt of Return to Written Question 26-17(4) asked by Mr. Yakeleya on May 29, 2013, regarding the Sahtu regional training requirements.
Copy of Sahtu Regional Training Partnership five-year plan and milestones accomplished to date.
The Sahtu Regional Training Partnership Committee developed the five-year training plan for the Sahtu region in 2009-10, as a guiding document. The training plan is reviewed by the committee every six to 12 months to ensure that previously identified needs are being prioritized and adjustments made, as necessary. Later today, at the appropriate time, I will table the five-year training plan for the Sahtu region.
Statistics from the regional Sahtu ECE Service Centre show that through training delivery partnerships, approximately 456 people have been trained between 2009 and 2012 in a variety of courses and programs that include class 7 driver training, environmental monitoring, accounting software, and hospitality. There are also 18 registered apprentices in the region in carpentry, electrical and other trades. Training offered has addressed the employment needs of both industry and secondary industry. To the committee, every individual trained represents a milestone.
The committee will focus its efforts going forward on the identification, preparation and coordination of training geared toward the oil and gas industry, the trades, tourism and the health sector.
Details on how senior officials from the departments of Industry, Tourism and Investment (ITI), Environment and Natural Resources (ENR), Transportation, and Education, Culture and Employment (ECE) plan to work together to meet the people’s training needs in the Sahtu region.
The Sahtu Regional Training Partnership Committee is made up of senior officials and their representatives from Imperial Oil Resources, Husky Energy, ConocoPhillips, HRN Contracting (Hodgsons, Red Dog and Nuna Logistics), North Ridge Contracting, the Sahtu Business Development Centre, the K’asho Got’ine Charter Community Council, Tulita Land Corporation, Tulita Dene Band, Deline Land Corporation, Deline First Nation, the Charter Community of Deline, the Sahtu Dene Council, Behdzi Ahda First Nation, the Norman Wells Land Corporation, the Sahtu Divisional Education Council, Aurora College, ITI, ENR, ECE and Transportation. The committee aims to identify the training needs of the people in the Sahtu region and coordinate the courses and programs required to meet those training needs.
Two new term positions have been added in the Sahtu region for fiscal year 2013-14 to assist with the additional workload resulting from the oil and gas activity. One position, a Sahtu oil and gas training coordinator, is at Aurora College; the other is an additional career development officer at the regional Sahtu ECE Service Centre.
Final copy of the skilled workforce needs assessment in the Sahtu region.
The Sahtu Oil and Gas Needs Assessment is being conducted in two phases. The industry needs assessment that focuses on industry’s employment and training needs was completed in January 2013.
The second phase will build on the first and focus on the employment and training needs of businesses, agencies, organizations and all levels of governments.
The second phase is underway and will include an on-line survey and in-person interviews, all scheduled for completion in late 2013.
Once completed and approved, the Sahtu Oil and Gas Needs Assessment phases one and two will be posted on the ECE website in early 2014.
Plan to show how the departments of ECE and ITI are working together to effectively meet the training needs of Sahtu residents and industry.
The work of the regional training partnership committee is the foundation for planning in the region. ECE and ITI, along with other committee members, work together to identify the training needs of the people in the Sahtu region and to coordinate the courses and programs required to meet those training needs. This is achieved by communicating with representatives from the oil and gas industry, the communities in the Sahtu and the secondary industry and businesses who identify their labour force needs and expectations to the committee. Committee members work together to prepare and organize the training programs.
Planning is key to furthering the professional development of Sahtu residents. ECE, ITI and other GNWT departments have participated in the following meetings:
On September 25 to 26, 2012, ECE, ITI, and other departments and stakeholders participated in a larger planning session, the Sahtu Explorations Readiness Session “Getting Ready for a Productive, Healthy and Prosperous Work Season”. Attendees included representatives from nine companies in the oil and gas industry, as well as officials from local, Aboriginal and territorial governments.
On April 9 and 10, 2013, representatives from the GNWT, including ITI and ECE, met in Norman Wells to discuss the recent winter season, the coordination of information sharing, and joint planning to respond to training and related activities resulting from the increased oil and gas activity in the region.
On June 4 and 5, 2013, the Sahtu Regional Training Partnership Committee met to review its five-year training program and to identify local and regional training needs going forward.
As a part of the second Sahtu Readiness Session, a series of activities are taking place across the Sahtu. These activities, which are being coordinated by several GNWT departments including ECE, ITI and ENR, began in September 2013 and will last several months.
The number and types of training needs identified are currently estimates, pending completion of the Sahtu Oil and Gas Needs Assessment in early 2014.
ECE and ITI are committed to working together with other stakeholders to meet the training needs in the Sahtu. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you. Item 11, replies to opening address. Item 12, petitions. Item 13, reports of committees on the review of bills. Mr. Moses.
