Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Furthermore to my Member’s statement and preparing for decentralization, but also preparing for some of the work that’s going on in the Northwest Territories, today I’m going to ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment what we have planned and in store in terms of increasing our labour workforce. He did make a statement in the House the other day that there’s a labour market symposium going on right now, and I want to see what work this government is doing to prepare and increase labour skilled workforce to meet the needs of our regions that are flourishing right now: the Sahtu, Yellowknife with the diamond industry, in the future the Inuvik-Tuk highway, the fibre optic link. What is he doing right now to increase and develop our numbers in the skilled labour workforce?
Thank you, Mr. Moses. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the Member for asking that question. I had an opportunity this morning to speak to that labour force symposium that’s happening over the next two days. We have over 80 delegates. What we talked about at that level was partnership across the Northwest Territories, across the national stage. That’s what it comes down to with five regional training committees that have been established in partnership with ECE, ITI, and also Aboriginal organizations, industry, the Mine Training Society and also the college.
They work on a regular basis to address regional labour market needs. These committees also collaborate with all the partners in the region to address training requirements and provide opportunities in the region, including safety courses, mine training programs, ready to work programs, upgrading the current workforce skills such as the financial literacy programming provided in the South Slave region. Those are just some of the examples that we currently deliver in the region. There is also a Labour Market Agreement and a Labour Market Development Agreement from the federal government that we work with.
I was very happy to hear the Minister make reference to working in partnership with ITI. We must not also forget that we need partnerships with Human Resources, the Department of Health and Social Services, ENR and with some of the energy initiatives that we move forward with.
Can the Minister outline any incentive programs that his department is currently putting through to encourage our young Aboriginal men and women, our young indigenous Northerners the opportunity to take some of these labour jobs in terms of getting ready and prepared for all of the development that’s happening in the Sahtu, all the future development that’s going to happen in our region, and also continue to meet the standards that we set out in our socio-economic agreements with the diamond mines? Are there any incentive programs that are going to increase our workforce?
Again, creating partnerships in the regions in the Northwest Territories does have advantages and benefits. When it comes to providing incentives at the regional workforce development, we deal with the Mine Training Society, which deals with industries as well. We have industry representatives on there, ITI, ECE, and other Aboriginal organizations on the specific committee that delivers training in the regions. Not only that, there is also funding available through Aboriginal leadership, such as asset funding through the federal Minister. There is also, again, as highlighted earlier, labour market agreements that are for those individuals who would like to get training on the job who do not quality for EI subsidy. Also Labour Market Agreement. Labour Market Development Agreement is another program through the feds that is going through our ECE department to the communities. We’ll continue to push that into the communities because we know some of the communities, some of the regions are very active in oil and gas, other sectors, industries, activities. We’ll continue to develop those relationships in the communities.
In terms of devolution and decentralization I really strongly believe that the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment holds a very important role on how this government moves forward in years to come in terms of education and training and getting our people ready to take on these jobs so that we can develop economic prosperity. I’d like to ask the Minister, what’s the status on the Apprenticeship Program for our northern workforce and also our trades program. What’s the status of our Apprenticeship Program throughout the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I do not have the specific detailed information I can provide to Members, but if I recall, there’s well over 400 registered apprentices in the Northwest Territories, and journeymen ticket holders as well. But I can provide the detailed information with accurate documentation.
With the devolution and decentralization into the regions, that’s a discussion we’ve been having, even since visiting Ottawa for NWT Days, having those positions transferred into the regions and into the communities. I believe that that’s the wish of this government, so we’ll continue to strive towards that.
With the decentralization, there will definitely be training. That’s where we come in as Education, Culture and Employment to deliver community-based training at that level. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just wanted to say that I look forward to getting information on this labour market symposium and some of the outcomes that came from that.
I’d just like to specifically ask the Minister, has he been coordinating and working with the leaders in my region and my communities in planning for some of the big projects that we’ve got on the timeline here, the Inuvik-Tuk highway, fibre optic link. Is he having those conversations with our leaders so that we can start the training sooner than later, so that when these jobs open up, our local people have jobs ready and are trained to take those jobs on. Is he having those discussions? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The quickest answer would be yes, we are, as my department, along with other departments, even with the Premier. It has been addressed with the Gwich’in, the IRC, the Beaufort-Delta leadership. We’ve met with them. We’ve addressed their concerns, their issues, their ideas. They are preparing for the exploration activity that will be happening in their region. We are continuing to work with them. We want to be prepared to deliver those highly skilled individuals at the community level with the kind of training programs that are required.
I must say and commend the Inuvik area and the Beaufort-Delta. Trades on Wheels was a good asset benefitting the communities. That’s one of the economic arms that we’ve initiated through partnerships, and we may be looking at a similar type of model as we move forward. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
