Fort Good Hope (Jan 10/05) - Tammy Proctor, 24, can't say enough about the pipeline construction training she received in Alberta recently.

"If it ever happens again, I'd recommend it to anyone," said the Fort Good Hope woman.

Fort Good Hope's Tammy Proctor, 24, has worked as a secretary for the past six years, but said she is ready for a change once the pipeline gets rolling. - John Curran/NNSL photo

The program is part of a joint-venture between the Yamoga Land and Financial Corporation and the High Level, Alberta-based EOS Pipeline & Facilities.

After eight days in the classroom and five days in the field building and removing a 300-metre pipeline, graduates leave the session with several certifications needed to work on the pipeline on either side of the 60th parallel.

"I got my H2S Alive, WHMIS, Quad Safety, Chainsaw Safety and Transportation of Dangerous Goods," she said. "In pipeline work, a lot of the emphasis is on safety and now I'm all ticketed up."

Yamoga inked the deal because it doesn't want to see Fort Good Hope's young people left behind when the $7 billion petroleum mega-project begins.

"It's very important for us to get jobs on the pipeline," said Isidore Manuel, program co-ordinator with Yamoga. "Too many of our youth do not have good jobs."

Even though she's been a secretary for the past six years, Proctor said she's planning her future. The mother of seven-year-old Darcy Dean knows the oil and gas industry means she can earn a much better living than she does sitting behind a desk.

"Up here you could get anywhere from $24 to $30 an hour," she said.

It isn't just personal gain motivating her career change, however. She said she's got her community in mind as well.

"Businesses always bring people up from the south to work and when they leave, they take the money with them," she said. "I want us to be able to keep as much of the money as we can here in Fort Good Hope once the pipeline starts."

She's anxious to put her new training to work and said when the time comes, she hopes to be running a backhoe or a boom truck.

"I've always been a hands-on person and I want to try something other than working inside all day," she said.

Similar training initiatives are also underway in Tulita, Deline and several Deh Cho communities.