Paul Bickford
Northern News Services

Hay River (Oct 07/02) - The second of three forums on the crisis facing apprenticeship in the NWT was held last week in Hay River.

The Oct. 2 gathering brought together about 70 employers, tradepersons, apprentices, government officials and educators from Fort Smith to Fort Simpson.

The participants discussed ideas on dealing with the critical shortage of apprentices and tradespeople, explained Bryan Johnson, the manager of apprenticeship, trade and occupational certification with the territorial government.

One suggestion was to promote the trades in schools, Johnson noted. "We've heard that before, but it's critical now."

Another theme was to promote apprenticeship to employers, both large and small, he added.

"We all have to work together to get people into the trades," Johnson said. "That's the bottom line."

Aurora College president Maurice Evans warns that many tradepersons are approaching retirement age and there are not enough young people learning the trades to replace them.

Nor will there be enough tradespersons to fill the opportunities in diamond mining and oil and gas development in the North, he said. "We've got a huge gap looming."