Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I bear questions today for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. It gets back to my Member’s statement where I was talking about a young apprentice doing his electrical apprenticeship. He is currently at NAIT wrapping up a second year studies there at NAIT. There is a seat that is opened right now that he could go into to begin his third year. He has enough hours. I find it completely and utterly unbelievable that the government would tell this young man to pack his things, come back to Yellowknife, earn less money and then go to Fort Smith in April. That is the best that we can offer this young man. I find that is completely ridiculous, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister how it is that this could come to pass that this young man would not be allowed to pursue his studies at NAIT, given the fact that he has a seat there and could start immediately. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. We are sponsoring Mr. Ramsay’s constituent he is referring to on a second year level training. We are talking about the third year that that particular program is also offered at the college campus in Fort Smith. Exact same programming compared to NAIT’s program. We have to keep in mind, Mr. Speaker, we have to support our own campuses as well here in the Northwest Territories. If we send any individuals out, we pay approximately $5,800 to NAIT for one student. We pay $650 to send them to Fort Smith. That is a substantial savings. That money should be going to our campuses throughout the Northwest Territories, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, the fact of the matter is that the young man is already in Edmonton. He is set up there. He has accommodations. He has transportation. He is comfortable in his surroundings there, which would be conducive to him succeeding at school and getting back here. If he has to come back here, he is going to be here for a few months earning second-year wage, not third-year wage and then he would have to go to Fort Smith. Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the Minister if it is okay to do this to young apprentices or if people getting their apprenticeship to force them to go to Fort Smith. How come we don’t force college students where we have programming in the Northwest Territories to stay in the Northwest Territories? Why do we allow anybody else to be free to go to whichever college they choose, Mr. Speaker? Why are apprentices any different? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, again, we do provide these apprenticeship programs in the campuses that we have here in the Northwest Territories. We do support them 100 percent as much as we can. This particular student has a great opportunity to take the program in April. The Member is referring to March. There is one in April that is close to home, close to the family that can certainly take on the opportunity. Those students are taking on other courses. There are other courses down south as well that they can take on, but the fee structure is different in the Apprenticeship Program that we have in place. Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, again, I think we should be encouraging people to attend our post-secondary institutes here in the Northwest Territories. However, we should not be forcing people to attend post-secondary studies or apprenticeship programs here in the Northwest Territories. The program the Minister talks of in Fort Smith starts on April 7th. As I mentioned in my Member’s statement, this young man would already be concluded his third year studies at NAIT, back here working in Yellowknife as a third-year apprentice earning more money. Mr. Speaker, I think the Minister should at least take a look at this situation and I am not sure where the flexibility might be, but somebody should do something about this. This should not be allowed to happen, Mr. Speaker. Somebody should intervene on this young man’s behalf. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, We can’t say that we force students to attend the campuses in the Northwest Territories. We like for them to attend. They have opportunity to go to NAIT, SAIT, elsewhere, but they have to cover their own costs as well. We provide savings to these individuals coming to the Northwest Territories. We have to take that into effect when we spend over millions on updating or upgrading our equipment that produces these talented individuals in the Northwest Territories and are working for us in the Northwest Territories. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The argument the Minister is using doesn’t hold any water when it’s not fairly applied across the board to all people seeking post-secondary studies and going through apprenticeship programs. People should be treated the same. According to the Minister, they are not being treated the same. We have investments at Aurora College here in Yellowknife. We have investments at the college campus in Inuvik. We have investments here in Yellowknife. Again, why pick on apprentices? Why isn’t everybody treated the same, Mr. Speaker? Again, I want to ask the Minister, will he take a look at this young man’s situation so that he can complete his third year and get back to the workforce here in Yellowknife as soon as he can, to start earning a third-year wage and not wait around two months until the program opens up in Fort Smith? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, we are not picking on this individual, the student we are talking about here. We are talking about the program that is being offered here in the Northwest Territories in April, three weeks after the one that is starting up in NAIT. That will cost us over $4,000, Mr. Speaker. That $4,000 can go into our campuses here in the Northwest Territories as opposed to going south. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
