Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have some questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment on a different topic this time around.
A year ago this House recognized that the Aboriginal Skills and Employment Partnerships Program was going to expire, and it is set to expire on March 31st of this particular year. We had a motion in the House. I know a number of Members, including myself, wrote to the federal Minister, requesting that the program be redefined and re-implemented. I believe the Minister followed up with the federal Minister of the day. I’d like to know whether or not he has received any information from the federal Minister on whether or not this program is going to be continued under another name. Can he advise the House where things are at in regard to this issue? Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. This particular area has been successful in the Northwest Territories. The former ASEP has been producing a world-class, skilled workforce in the Northwest Territories and transferrable skills onto other provincial jurisdictions as well. We want to continue with the process, as well, since it’s been very successful.
I did meet with my federal counterpart in Ottawa when I was there in December, and we talked about this specific topic, the Mine Training Society, where it’s going and that March 31st is the deadline, sunsetting. Leona Aglukkaq, at that time, spoke about a pan-territorial initiative: Nunavut, the Yukon and the Northwest Territories combined. Those are the types of discussions that we are having. It’s looking very positive, as we move forward, that this particular piece of work will continue, and we will continue to push from our end, as the GNWT, goals and objectives with the federal government.
Thanks to the Minister for that update. I’m a little concerned in that what he’s saying is not quite the concrete support from the federal government that I was hoping for. I know I received a letter back from the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada which indicated to me that the government would continue to support skills development through what she says is a new skills and partnership fund. I wonder if the Minister could comment on that fund. Does he have any details on that new program and is it, in fact, a definite program that’s going ahead?
There is a program in place with the federal government and it’s to replace ASEP. Now the acronym is ASET. It’s a program that individual Aboriginal organizations can access funding for, for training. It’s a bit different from what the Mine Training Society has done for a number of years. We’ve argued that with the federal Minister Diane Finley, but they’ve already had their mind set on this ASET program. We’ll continue to discuss our initiative pan-territorially. It’s been very successful, Mr. Speaker. The Mine Training Society has been leading the way through industries when it comes to producing a talented, skilled workforce. We’ll continue to push that with the federal government
Again, it looks very positive. I’m currently working with my colleague, ITI, on this particular initiative. Our Premier has been voicing the same issue with federal counterparts and the Prime Minister as well. It’s on the radar with the feds.
I am really pleased to hear that our government, the Minister and other Ministers, are pushing this particular initiative. I agree with the Minister; it has been an extremely successful program.
I am a little bit concerned, though, if the federal government is putting a program in place that’s a little bit different. I know that the Mine Training Society is one group that has used a great deal of this funding for very successful results. There are several other organizations as well. So my concern and my question to the Minister is whether or not there is going to be any impact at the end of March as we cross over from one program to the next. Is it going to have an impact on the Mine Training Society and other organizations using ASEP funding? Thank you.
For the interim, the three mining industries have agreed to contribute to the Mine Training Society. There’s a feasibility study that’s on the way. We, as Education, Culture and Employment, have always supported it and we will continue to support the transition period. We want to see no or a minimal impact on the Mine Training Society as we move beyond March 31, 2012. That is our goal. We will push that, again, with the federal government. With the three mining companies on board, they are adamant that we need to keep pushing for the skilled workforce that they’ll need for upcoming employment opportunities. So we will continue to work with those industries. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Minister. I appreciate the work the Minister is doing. He recognizes the importance, as do Members, of the ASEP program. So, will the Minister continue to fight, basically, for what we need for our Mine Training Society here in the NWT? Will he continue to do that with the federal Minister? Thank you.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Most definitely. That is our goal and objective. We want this Mine Training Society to survive the March 31st deadline. It’s going to happen. We have industries lined up already. We have the federal government that is agreeing to initiatives and we need to continue with this ship that we built. We need to continue to advocate with the federal government. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
