Debates of October 21, 2004 (day 25)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, the Honourable Charles Dent. As I indicated in my Member’s statement regarding the $15 million available under the ASEP Program, there are two facilities that can be used in Tuktoyaktuk as a satellite Aurora College training. Mr. Speaker, I did have a chance to speak with the campus director in Inuvik earlier this month and she did show a lot of interest with regard to a satellite office in Tuk. My question to the Minister is will the Minister explore whether these funds may be allocated to training people in local communities in the Beaufort-Delta region in preparation for pipeline development? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Pokiak. The Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, the Honourable Charles Dent.

Return To Question 274-15(3): Use Of Satellite Office Training Facilities

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I know I’ve talked to the college too about the facilities in Tuk and told them about the Member’s interest in seeing those facilities used for training purposes. So I am sure the college is taking a look at whether or not that provides an opportunity. The funding that is part of the Aboriginal Skills Employment Partnership Program will be administered by the committee that has been set up to oversee that sort of funding, but I will make sure that the Education, Culture and Employment representative on the committee keeps the opportunities in mind for regional training that could be offered. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Mr. Pokiak.

Supplementary To Question 274-15(3): Use Of Satellite Office Training Facilities

Thank you very much. It’s good to see that he will go ahead and follow along with your education individual there. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister guarantee for sure that Tuk has been utilized as…(inaudible)…years ago? An example is Dome Petroleum’s base. They had what they called Tuk Tech and they operated out of the two camps during the Dome days, which worked out very well. So will the Minister again guarantee that he will be able to work hard with his department to have some satellite training outside of Inuvik? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Pokiak. Mr. Dent.

Further Return To Question 274-15(3): Use Of Satellite Office Training Facilities

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Education, Culture and Employment invests about $1.1 million on its own annually to train people in regional settings to assist them to find jobs in the oil and gas field. That will continue and that does take place throughout the region, including communities like Tuk. The ASEP funding is intended to serve all of the regions in which oil and gas is found and in which people may find employment. So there is certainly an intention to make sure training takes place on a regional basis. I can assure the Member that there will be regional training offered both by the Government of the Northwest Territories through ECE programs and through the money that is available through the federal government and partners and ECE, that being through ASEP. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.