I’m looking to this department under the leadership of the Minister to provide some direction and directive to the Sahtu educational board, the Aurora College people and the Sahtu training committee to come together with a strategy. The goodness of this government here has agreed to put a new wellness centre and a long-term care facility. That’s a $41 million infrastructure that’s going into the Sahtu. I certainly appreciate it and the people in the Sahtu appreciate it. This year alone, the oil companies have already spent about $100 million or more for the oil exploration, and it’s looking like they may continue on into production or into development of these oilfields.
The Sahtu needs to operate from a directive from the Minister to bring us together in the region to talk about, and discuss, and plan, and start implementing the various types of training programs in our region for these types of large infrastructure
opportunities that are coming into our region. I think we need to now put our feet on the ground and move towards that direction, and I’m hoping that the Minister would give some strong signal, through a directive or through a plan, that would give our people in the Sahtu the green light to say, come back next year and let’s see what we have. I know we’re doing some of that small work but everybody’s sort of at different places. Communication is not quite there yet. I’ve been asking for things to help us get ready for the training. If you have oil and gas, they’re going to want certified workers and unions if they’re going to hire them in any type of direction to build a pipeline or to build a production plant.
We’re looking at things like that, even road construction. The companies want them to be certified. Even the oil companies when they’re having workers now coming up from the Sahtu, even those for short period of a winter season, they’re also very happy to see if the workers can go elsewhere to continue their work on the rigs as rig employees. That’s what I’m looking for, if something like that could be in a plan that Mr. Minister has with the Minister of ITI at an exploration readiness session. We need a career readiness session.
I have with me a list of the 2012 high school grads. There were 26 last year in the Sahtu and seven post-secondary grads. In total there were 33 grads. I even have each of the grads here and what they’re doing. Some are in auto mechanics, some in recreation, some in the early childhood. One is with Esso, mine training here in Yellowknife. One’s in Aurora College in Fort Smith in the Trades Access Program. We have that information. They’re ready to go. A lot of them want to work in the Sahtu and train in the Sahtu. They have families in the Sahtu. That’s what I’m asking, is that you can have this type of list and to say, yes, we have people who are ready to go but we just don’t have the ability to bring them into the Sahtu to have them training at the communities.
That’s what I’m asking the Minister. Can the Minister comment on if this is something that he can do as the Minister within the two years that we have in this Assembly here? Thank you.