Derek Neary
Northern News Services

NNSL (Feb 05/99) - This is Apprenticeship Week and a couple of Fort Simpson apprentice electricians have earned top marks in their respective trades at the end of their first-year theory exams.

Troy Bradbury, a linesman electrician with the Power Corporation, and Enbridge electrician David Mason were to be honoured for their achievement Thursday at a reception through the Department of Education, Culture and Employment.

Mason, who does construction and installation as well as trouble-shooting and maintenance, said he was surprised to learn that he had academically edged out his colleagues attending school at Aurora College in Fort Smith.

"There are a couple of real smart cookies," he said. "I thought they were going to get the award."

For Mason, who is in a four-year apprenticible trade, becoming an electrician has been his lifelong ambition.

"I've always been curious about how to wire things up and make them work," he said. "It's always something new, especially in the trouble-shooting field. It's always an adventure and a challenge."

He has been working with journeyman electrician Peter Erasmus over the past 12 months at Enbridge. Ken Jacobson acts as his supervisor. "They both know these stations and this job very well, so they've been a lot of help," he said of his co-workers.

Bradbury, who attended school at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, is actually a fourth-year electrician but only in his first year as a linesman electrician. He now spends his time setting up poles, doing trouble-shooting on the power lines and travelling. Since the Power Corp. also covers Wrigley, Fort Liard, Jean Marie River and Nahanni Butte, Bradbury spends a lot of time outside Fort Simpson.

He had worked for the Power Corp. for three years in the 1980s, but there wasn't any training offered at that time, so he moved on to other things.

"I liked the trade and then this apprenticeship thing came along and I applied for it," he said, adding that he works alongside journeyman Wayne LeBlanc. "It's a pretty good job. It's very diverse. Some days it can be kind of boring but other days it's pretty hectic, like at three in the morning and the power goes out. But we're always improving the power lines, trying to make them more efficient."

Charles Jacobson, manager of the career centre in Fort Simpson, said Bradbury and Mason's accomplishments are an indication of hard work and effort.

"It's good to see the Deh Cho is getting a couple of award winners," he said.