Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are to the Minister of Transportation with respect to the summer hire of students.
I want to ask the Minister, to date, how many students have been hired in the communities, the regions or headquarters that he could provide to the House today.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister responsible for Transportation, Mr. Michael McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We place great emphasis on hiring students. We think it’s an important part of our practice to have students involved in our projects and in our departments. With the departments that I represent, both Public Works and Services and Transportation, so far we’ve hired 34 students. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, last year the Department of Transportation hired 31 students. Certainly, then, we want to see that number matched or even to increase. I want to ask for clarification, because the Minister is also responsible for DPW. When he said 34, was that the combination of both departments? I just want to ask about the Transportation numbers. Can the Minister clarify those numbers for me?
With the departments I represent, our goal is to hire 48 students, and we’re just about there. We’re short roughly a dozen students. The reason for that is we have a number of students who have identified that they want to work with us but they still haven’t, in some cases, finalized their registration with HR or are requiring certain documentation. We fully expect to reach our goal of 48 for both departments. Thank you.
What a Minister, Mr. Speaker. I want to ask the Minister are there other employment opportunities for the students such as specializing in the areas such as engineering and bridge construction, any of the summer students that are working in that area that the Minister has opportunities for these summer students to work.
There are opportunities in all our projects that we undertake to deliver, including with the contractors. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Your final, short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister inform the House how many of these summer students have come on board with the Department of Transportation or PWS such as engineering or bridge construction or any other fields that the department is working in?
I’d need clarity to that question on whether he’s referring to this year or since the start of this government, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
