Jane Groenewegen

Thank you. I was hoping the Minister was going to tell us that he was going to increase the funding for private sector employers to hire apprentices or that the government departments were going to make a whole lot more positions available for apprentices within their department, but that’s not what I heard. I can only hope.

Can the Minister please explain or please tell us if there is going to be any emphasis on increasing and encouraging apprenticeship training in the Northwest Territories and if there will be any emphasis on attracting women to apprenticeship positions? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s my pleasure today to recognize my husband, Rick Groenewegen, in the visitors gallery. I just want to beg your indulgence for one moment and say that Rick is a really lucky guy.

---Laughter

He lives in Hay River. He has a great MLA, Mr. Bouchard. He has been married to me for almost 38 years, a mere two life sentences with good behaviour, and on Monday he will be 60 years old and just two weeks ago someone asked me if he was my son. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. I have several other Members here for general comments. Prior to that, I will use the prerogative of the Chair to recognize Marc Miltenberger, a constituent of Hay River South, in the gallery today and, of course, the brother of our Finance Minister. Welcome, Marc.

---Applause

Next for general comments I have Mr. Bouchard.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Further general comments to the committee report? Mr. Bromley.

Thank you. We will take a brief break and come back with that matter. Thank you.

---SHORT RECESS

I call Committee of the Whole to order. We have one item before us today. What is the wish of the committee? Ms. Bisaro.

Yes, it would be interesting to actually get a statistic on how many apprenticeship positions in the Northwest Territories are currently filled by women.

With the high rate of unemployment in small communities, what is the Minister’s department doing to ensure that there are students from these places that get a real footing in the skilled, high-demand trades? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In follow-up to my Member’s statement today, my questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. I was pleased to hear the Minister’s statement this week saying that his department is going to meet the training needs for high demand trades in the Northwest Territories.

I’d like to ask the Minister today if he could provide some concrete examples of how the department is going to do this. For example, are government departments of the GNWT that require tradespersons going to increase the number of positions so that they can serve apprentices there? I’d...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This week is Skilled Trade and Technology Week in the Northwest Territories. It’s an opportunity to raise awareness about skilled trades and high-tech careers. In fact, this year marks the 50th anniversary of apprenticeship training and certification in the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, in the coming years the entire country will face a shortage of skilled workers. We’re witnessing a major transition to the so-called knowledge economy that relies on a well-trained and highly educated workforce to deliver value-added services.

Here in the Northwest Territories, new...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A few of us today are going to be talking about energy, and I would like to add my voice to that from the angle that I’ve been contemplating.

With Halloween just having passed last Friday, I’m going to talk about ghost busters. Everybody knows about those little lights that are all over in your house. They call them phantom or ghost consumers of power.

What I would like to do is challenge people to go into their homes and look around their kitchen and the night table beside their bed and look at how many cell phone chargers they’ve left plugged in when they’re not...