Inuvik (Mar 08/04) - The Gwich'in Tribal council, the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, the Sahtu Dene Council and the Deh Cho First Nation want to make the most out of a recent government initiative.

So the four groups have partnered up on an employment program they hope to see funding for this spring.

In October, NWT MP Ethel Blondin-Andrew announced that Human Resources Development Canada will spend $85 million over the next five years on the Aboriginal Skills and Employment Partnership program.

The program aims to develop training-to-retention plans for aboriginal workers across Canada.

The four aboriginal groups are developing a program to enhance the employment of aboriginal people in the oil and gas industry, said Mary Ann Ross, Gwich'in Tribal Council (GTC) vice-president.

The four groups are also partnered with the GNWT and companies like Imperial Oil Resources Ventures Ltd.,Conoco Phillips, Shell Canada Ltd. and the Aboriginal Pipeline Group to address the needs of those industries.

The project will cost an estimated $13.3 million, will finance 1,403 training positions and result in 505 jobs.

The four groups intend to build training capacity within their own regions and to contract the various training programs to established Northern institutions such as Aurora College.

Some programs will also be offered in southern institutions, said Ross.

The proposal is good news for the Deh Cho, said Keyna Norwegian, chair of the Deh Cho Pipeline Working Group.

"We of the Deh Cho realize we are far behind the GTC, the IRC and the Sahtu," said Norwegian

"We only have (oil and gas) activities in Fort Liard. The rest (of the Deh Cho) has no experience working with drilling rigs."

Norwegian is pleased with the partnership and believes it is the best way to maximize the benefits for her region.

"We were going to do it on our own, but we recognized working alone would be more difficult," said Norwegian.

The next step is to form an unincorporated society to manage and direct the funds for all four groups.

A proposal was submitted to Joseph Volpe, Minister of Human Resources and Skill Development, late last month. Ross hopes the first year's allocation of money will be received by April 1.