Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I talked about the Sahtu being at a critical point in training its workforce. I want to ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment about the opportunity to get a Sahtu training centre in our region, due to the increase of oil and gas exploration. Last year there were 150 workers that were hired outside of our communities to come in and do work there, and also there are more and more people now taking advantage of these training opportunities.
Can we have something like a larger centre like Smith, Yellowknife and Inuvik, where now we can have a training centre in our region?
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The Sahtu region training centre has been a topic of discussion for a few meetings we have been to. We have regional training representatives, as well, to identify the training needs of the Sahtu region. We also have the college involved in the process of our discussion. Just recently I also delivered the interesting, high-profile Sahtu when it comes to training, how the college can get involved so it can be a training centre for the Sahtu region. Those are the discussions we are currently having, and I will inform the Member as we move forward on a progression plan. Mahsi.
Husky is building an all-weather road for $30 million/$45 million. The application for Conoco through the hydraulic fracking is going for a review, and if that application is approved, certainly you’re going to see an increase in employment activities in the Sahtu.
If that continues with the potential of billions of barrels of oil that needs to be extracted from the Sahtu lands, in light of this, can the Minister give me a commitment to say that yes, we will start working on a capital plan infrastructure so at the end of this Assembly we should be looking at the training needs assessment, the requirements, the program, and we can start putting something together that would say we can have a Sahtu trade centre in the year 2018 or ‘19, something like that? Can the Minister provide me with that type of commitment?
This is the very reason why we need to reach out to the community representatives, so they can provide us feedback on what is required at the regional level. Part of the discussion involved the local leadership as well. The chiefs made remarks on Trades on Wheels, mobile trades training similar to Beaufort-Delta. How can we integrate that into our discussion for the Sahtu region? So we are talking about partnerships. That’s what it comes down to.
There have been various partnerships driven by the community of Inuvik and also surrounding communities in the Beaufort-Delta. So we’re going to be having similar discussions with the Sahtu region and other regions, as well, about the high-profile training demands that will be happening.
The Sahtu has been committed to spend over $635 million, close to $700 million. This year there’s more lands coming up, and we decided on September 17th there will possibly be more money spent in there. So this is telling us that this government needs to look at a trades centre. We need to get these learning centres into more than upgrading. We have to have cooking, welding, carpentry.
Can the Minister give a commitment to say we are in competition with maybe the Yellowknife Campus here for schooling? We have to look outside the box. I want to ask the Minister, can he provide an overview as to what it will take to get this into the capital planning process for a Sahtu trades centre. Thank you.
I would see this as an opportunity as opposed to a competition with the college. The college is on board and they want to do as much as they can, even beyond what they currently deliver at the college campuses, whether it be Inuvik, Yellowknife or Fort Smith and now the Sahtu region. At the same time, I would encourage the Member to voice, as well, with the industry.
We understand that there is upwards of $700 million going into the region and how industries can take part in that, whether it is the centre or training programming. It will be based on industry standards as well. They have done that with the diamond industry. It’s been very successful. If we can get them on board, I would encourage the Member and we will do the same with our department as political leaders around the table, to push that forward with the leaders and also the industry leaders as well. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Last supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. How is his department working with the oil companies to identify and meet the training needs for local workers? I have been voicing with the oil companies. Unfortunately, I am not in the position to make that kind of final decision to say yes, we will commit. The Minister can do that. He’s in that position. So I want to ask the Minister for his direction and leadership. How can you tell me you’re working with the oil companies and they can commit to a Sahtu needs training centre?
Mahsi. That’s the very thing we’re doing right now with the committee representatives. I do believe there are industry representatives. I can double-check on that. Those are discussions we are currently having with the leadership in the Sahtu region. I’ll provide the Member with the latest update on our discussions and we’ll continue to drive that with industry because they need to be on board. The whole economic boom that is happening, they need to be part of that as we are. So we’ll continue to push that forward. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
