New partnership aims to increase opportunities for youth

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The Saskatoon Tribal Council has entered into an agreement with the Saskatoon Public School Division and the provincial government to work together to encourage Aboriginal youth to finish high school, and to pursue post-secondary educations.

The agreement, signed on Feb. 20, will also see the three partners working together to increase the number of Aboriginal employees within the school division.

The agreement is part of the Aboriginal Employment Development Program (AEDP) and is designed to increase Aboriginal participation in the province's workforce.

"Our goal is to achieve a workforce that is representative of the people of our province," said Aboriginal Affairs Minister Maynard Sonntag. "Partnerships such as this are an important step toward the full and equal participation of Aboriginal people in our province-socially and economically."

"The partnerships the Saskatoon Tribal Council has been forming are an integral piece of our vision to work with the non-Aboriginal community. We see this partnership as another step toward an inclusive working relationship with the Saskatoon Public School Division," said Saskatoon Tribal Council Chief Glenn Johnstone.

"We are entering into this agreement to build stronger relationships with the Saskatoon Tribal Council and the Aboriginal community to ensure that our workforce is representative of our community," said Dan Danielson, chair of the school division, which represents 44 elementary schools and eight high schools. The school division is the first K-12 system to join the AEDP program.