Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like start with what has become a tradition, sending greetings back to my wife and children.
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Mr. Speaker, we have heard a lot of the concerns that our employees face. Mr. Speaker, a concern that has been raised to me has been in the area of support on the job. We all know that to receive a job with this government for example as a mechanic or an electrician, you need to have the qualifications. You go through your apprenticeship program, receive the necessary training and you are ticketed. Once you have that, you are able to work and receive jobs anywhere in the country and in the Northwest Territories. Mr. Speaker, the concern comes from once you are employed and have a ticket in your specific trade, there is no further need, or it seems that there is no further need to move forward and continue with training even though technology changes within those trades.
Mr. Speaker, my past is in the trades as a mechanic. Things changed on a yearly basis between different manufactures of vehicles and so forth, and I had to learn a lot of it on my own, buying my own special tools that were required. It is not cheap and it is not effective or efficient to have to do these things hands-on without knowing a little bit of information about what is put before you. It seems, Mr. Speaker, that we continue to do this and when it comes to a job that needs specific types of training in any area, then we go out and hire from the south, contract people to come up and do the work for the GNWT in whatever department that is needed. We need to refocus and change the way we approach these things. We have talked about effective and efficient government, well, this is a way we can make use of our own employees by providing the necessary training or upkeep in their trade to keep them on top of the trade that they may do the work on behalf of the government and we would not have to go back and hire south for contractors that have the specific training that is required to repair equipment. An example is airports or anything like that, Mr. Speaker. I would urge this government to refocus and re-look at its initiatives. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
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