Thank you Mr. Chairman. I will report on the Department of Education, Culture and Employment.
The Department of Education, Culture and Employment proposed a number of initiatives in its Business Plan. Based on the information provided during the mid-year report, the department is moving forward on these projects consistent with the directions approved by the Standing Committee.
The Committee was disappointed that the early intervention initiative is slightly behind schedule. One of the best ways to relieve the stresses on our social programs is through prevention and early intervention. Early intervention is productive, not just for the children and families involved, but also for the network of people who deal with children with difficulties, such as teachers, nurses, and court workers. Members encourage the department to continue with the planning phase and get early intervention programs up and running in our communities.
The issue of an NWT job strategy was raised with the Minister. He suggested the Labour Force Plan could be considered a summary of the various job strategies that the government is involved with. If this is the case, and there is a job strategy within the department, Members would like to see this pulled together in a way that people can see it. They want to know if the Minister is just referring to training and pre-employment, or a true job strategy, which would address affirmative action among other things.
Members had a particular interest in the mining training project. The government is working with Aurora College to establish programs to train northerners for jobs in the mining industry.
There was also a job shadow program over the summer which trained twenty-two students. The committee will be monitoring this initiative in the hopes that it will provide northerners with the skills to participate in mining development.
While the Committee was pleased to see the initiatives in the mining areas, Members were concerned with what seems to be a piecemeal approach to date. As the Minister indicated, their is significant opportunity for employment within the mining sector, not just in the future, but now. Currently, there are 150 vacancies in mining operations every year. The longer we wait for the government to develop training programs, the more jobs are lost. There are many people in our communities who could take some of these 150 jobs a year, if they had the training.
As part of the work through Aurora College, the committee suggests the department consider establishing a mining institute, which could train northerners for the opportunities already here, and those yet to come.
My colleague, Mr. Miltenberger, will now continue our report.