Trades training gets a boost

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A two-year initiative launched by the Construction Sector Council (CSC) and the Aboriginal Human Resource Development Council of Canada (AHRDCC) will provide job opportunities in the ironworker trade for Aboriginal youth across Canada.

Robert Blakely, CSC co-chair and director of Canadian affairs for the building and construction trades department of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), said the Ironworker Aboriginal Career Awareness Project is really needed because most skilled trades are filled by the post-Second World War generation who will soon retire.

"They have the ability now to transfer their knowledge from one generation of workers to another, so we are looking at a way to try to get people into the trades," he said.

Blakely added there is another reason that he believes in the project, which will be tested in British Columbia first. Most resource-based jobs outside of major cities are on Aboriginal people's land or right next to it, but Aboriginal people are not yet getting a good share of the jobs.

"So we are sort of thinking ... if we can get them into the trades, they will be here for the construction of an oil sands plant or a resort and stay and do the maintenance and the upgrades of the buildings afterwards. I believe that this is a really good thing for us and hopefully a good thing for them," he said.

Blakely said he hopes Aboriginal youth will take advantage of the project because the incentives are good money, a decent pension and job training.

He said if it works in British Columbia, "then we can build a transferable program and stretch it across the country, whether it is a pulp mill in Dryden or in other parts," he said.

Roy Mussell, director of the AHRDCC and manager of the Sto:lo Nation Human Resources Development Council in British Columbia, is ecstatic about the announcement.

"I believe that the demonstration of this opportunity will show through this project, and with the commitment by the construction industry, Aboriginal youth will be recognized as a viable part of the labour force, so I'm hopeful that this project becomes very fruitful," he said.

Mussell said his organization provides services to 40 First Nations. Part of their initiative in Chilliwack is to focus on youth as the future of their communities.

"This project will be an effort to focus on their needs. Our goal here in the Aboriginal community is to support a greater introduction of apprenticeship in the trades-in this case, ironworkers. We are keen in this part of British Columbia in engaging the youth in the education system, as in offering them a lot of information on a number of career choices and maybe at this time a greater emphasis on the trades, as in apprenticeship. The more we can do for them now, the better it will be for us in the long term," he said.

"We really want people to have their Grade 12; most of the trades now require that you do. At one time people thought ... give us the slow and the stupid so that we can make tradespeople out of them. Well, the truth is working in trades is pretty complicated. You need math and you need good communication skills and you need some science courses. So we are hoping that people can begin training with Grade 12. If they do not have their Grade 12, then we will find a way for them to upgrade."

George Gritziotis, CSC executive director in Ottawa, said the program is significant because it will train workers before the 2010 Olympics begin. "It is an opportune moment for us to launch the project in B.C. and get some good things happening.

"We are still discussing where or how this program is going to be set up. What we are going to do is work with the local industry in B.C. to come up with some ideas, and with local Aboriginal leaders to come up with a plan of action," he said.

The project announced Dec. 16 requires three to six months' planning before it gets underway. "We knw that this is going to be successful because we have a lot of key people that truly believe in this initiative, so we are going to make it work," said Gritziotis.