The provincial government is investing more than $700,000 in two new programs aimed at helping Aboriginal workers access jobs generated by LNG development.
Minister of jobs Shirley Bond noted that Aboriginal youth are BC’s fastest growing demographic, and will be needed to counteract the growing number of people leaving the workforce.
“We have more older people leaving the workforce than younger people entering it. So we’ve reached a sort of tipping point in BC where we have to make sure British Columbians are able and trained to work.”
$387,000 will go towards the North Central LNG Strategies Program to help 112 members of the Lheidli T’enneh First Nation and Mcleod Lake Indian Band improve their skills.
An 11-month-long, workforce-development part of the program will provide support services like employment counselling and work placements for up to 100 First Nations members.
An occupational certification component will train 12 participants for careers in environmental monitoring and offer health and safety certifications which are pre-requisites for many different jobs.
The other program, Skills Connect: Training for First Nations Workforce Development Practitioners, will take 15 Aboriginal instructors and workforce development from the region to develop coaching and mentoring skills.
Bond says the timing is right on the announcement, as people under the age of 25 now make up roughly half of BC’s First Nation population.
Combine this with the fact that up to a million jobs could be available to 2024, according to Bond.
Beyond this, Mcleod Lake Indian Band Chief Derek Orr says having Aboriginals involved in industry promotes a strong partnership and respect for the land, and pointed to the Thompson Creek Mine as a prime example.
“One of the benefits of that construction project is that we had two of our members who were environmental technicians involved right from the get-go. We placed our people in there to make sure the environmental side of things is taken care off.”
Wes Chingee, and environmental technician himself, addressed a crowd backing the programs, with Orr and others praising Chingee’s success.
‘I enjoy being outdoors, and I want to protect the land like previous generations protected it for me.”
“Skills training is one of the keys to prosperity as the LNG industry grows in B.C. These community-driven programs will provide First Nations people with transferable skills and greater access to good jobs and an improved quality of life,” says MLA Mike Morris.
The North Central LNG Strategies Program and Skills Connect: Training for First Nations Workforce Development Practitioners will be delivered by the Prince George Nechako Aboriginal Employment and Training Association, and start this fall.
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