Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to make a couple comments in this area. The first is one I have raised many times to the Minister. It is an issue that affects all areas of the Northwest Territories, especially more so now than ever before because we are starting to see a lot of resource development and activity.
The issue of training has come up many times and I have great concern with this issue, especially in the area of oil and gas training. I had the opportunity to talk to the Minister many times. I realize there are some huge obstacles to overcome. However, I am not totally satisfied that we are taking a comprehensive approach with oil and gas training. There is very little money for oil and gas training. I think there is only $600,000 for the whole of the Northwest Territories.
I know from the lists in my communities, especially in Fort Providence, they are growing. The lists of people wanting to take the training are getting longer and longer and we are not seeing any solutions. In fact, some of the training that took place this year was too late to take advantage of the winter exploration in the oil and gas.
I would like to know if the Minister is looking at putting in some type of structured process that we can look at and present to our communities. Right now, when we have our constituency meetings or when we talk to our constituents, we really cannot present them with any document that addresses how we are going to deal with oil and gas training.
I know the Department of Education, Culture and Employment has put together a booklet or a document that outlines all of the different jobs in the field of oil and gas, but that does not do us any good because we need a process that will spell out how we can go from A to B.
If you ask any region or any community that is being affected by oil and gas right now, they are going to tell you we do not have enough training programs out there. We in fact have no training programs developed here by our own colleges. That is really unfair to our communities. It is resulting in a lot of people having to be flown in from outside of the North.
I do not accept the argument that we cannot put together a long-term plan to deal with oil and gas training because right now, we do not have any money. We have seen it done in every other department.
A good example is the Highway Strategy. When that was developed, when the consultation process took place in the communities, there was no money. When it was tabled in this House, there was no money to complete that plan. Yet in the last while, we are fully aware that we are going to be doing a good portion of that strategy.
I think that is the same thing that has to be done with oil and gas training but I do not see it happening. Can the Minister explain what his plans are for oil and gas training across the North?