Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I have spoken many times about the lack of jobs in the communities in my region and the lack of opportunities for our young people to make a good living. It is true that there are a lot of mining jobs in our territory. In a few communities people have had some success getting those jobs, but it is not easy in communities that are a little further away from the mines. In my region very few people are working at the mines.
Unemployment is highest in our small communities. You would think that we would focus our training for jobs in the mining sector, but that is not the case. Mine training is not delivered in most of our small communities and it should be. Progress towards production has been made at the Prairie Creek Mine. Canadian Zinc is expecting a drop of its Type A water licence in the next few weeks. When the mine finally opens, there will be more than 200 new jobs available.
Canadian Zinc signed a socio-economic agreement with this government back in August 2011. The company committed to hiring 60 percent of its workforce in the North. At that time the Minister of Education noted that this is an excellent opportunity for Northerners to benefit from meaningful jobs and training, particularly in the Deh Cho. Unfortunately, that does not seem to include the communities in my Deh Cho riding.
To my knowledge, the only training that has taken place has been in Fort Simpson, Fort Liard, Nahanni Butte and at the mine itself. Aurora College was one of the main partners in delivering this training which was spearheaded by the Mine Training Society. The federal government also contributed $200,000 through CanNor.
Opportunities in mining and other development must extend to the communities in my riding and that means getting some training done very soon. I am also concerned that Canadian Zinc may not meet its target for northern hires as training is only offered in a couple of communities. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
