Mr. Chair, we’re not talking to each other in the Sahtu region. The Minister has indicated that there is strong regional training, but we are still working in isolation. That’s why I’m asking for this.

I’ve gone back into the Sahtu. We are taking Aurora College programs, but the entry level is nothing, otherwise these students would have gone to Aurora College. There are a lot of students in Fort Smith. There are students here in business management and other programs in Yellowknife. Some of them may have gone to Inuvik. We need to bump up our level of training in the Sahtu. We are still upgrading, WHMIS training, safety training. People want more.

Again, I’m asking the Minister to look at a Sahtu career strategy session where we all get together and say this is our strategy, this is what we want to do.

Oil companies aren’t moving. They’re spending close to $50 million on the road just outside of Norman Wells, halfway between Norman Wells and Tulita. They’re building a 500-foot airstrip out there. They’re going to put camps up there, 275-man camps there. We need certified cooks. We need camp attendants. We need a lot of things. This is what I’m advocating for, that we need tradespeople in the Sahtu.

We have a $41 million facility going into Norman Wells, hoping that, all things are going well, construction will start this summer. We need to have people who could take these jobs in that new wellness centre and long-term care facility. I’m asking the Minister to put in some concentrated effort. I would like to see that sometime this fall. This is our plan for the Sahtu. Table it here in the House. This is what we agreed to. All the communities say yes, 16 partners. That is what we are willing to do. Have a Sahtu trade centre. Start

working on that process here, and a directive by this Minister, too, Aurora College, Education boards or to the staff in the Sahtu to pull together the information.

We are going to graduate students again this spring. That’s another issue, but we need to have some incentive to say yes, when I finished Grade 12, I could go into a Sahtu trade centre or to school in the Sahtu to begin one of these lifelong career skills training learning. That’s what I’m looking for, even a pamphlet to see if you want to be a personal care worker this is what’s required. Start preparing them.

I look forward to working with the Minister on that and see, within the life of this government, what we can do. In two years can we measure ourselves and say, this is where we want to be.

Devolution is coming to the Northwest Territories. What positions or what opportunities do we have with devolution in the Sahtu? We need to tell our kids that we’re going to have these positions with devolution. What do they have to look for? That is the kind of thinking I’m going with. So I need some solid, concrete assurance that, yes, we are going to get ready for development in the Sahtu. Thank you, Mr. Chair.