Dane Gibson
Northern News Services

NNSL (Apr 28/99) - It was a chance for NWT's youth to gather, swap stories with professional mentors, and square off against each other.

The first NWT Canada Skills competition was held in Yellowknife, Friday. More than 60 apprentices -- 50 from Yellowknife and 10 from Nunavut and the NWT -- competed in the event that featured 14 trade and technology skill areas.

"Our main focus is to show students and young people that these are viable career options," NWT Skills Canada executive director, Heather Hay, said.

"Northern businesses are hiring from other parts of Canada because they can't find employees with the skills they need in the territories. The skills that these competitors have are the skills of the future."

Areas of expertise at the competition include trades such as carpentry, cooking, Internet cybercast and photography. Work stations were set up in the Yellowknife Community Arena where competitors set to work on their prospective tasks. "We've got judges from industry and the corporate side of life here acting as mentors and working with the students who are going on to the national competition in Montreal," Hay said.

St. Patrick and Sir John Franklin high schools supplied many of the competitors. All are looking ahead to the 1999 National Skills Canada competition in Montreal, Nov. 11-14.

Internet cybercasters, Kirk Johnson and Brent Leier, both Sir John Franklin students, design Web pages competitively.

"A Web page is an information page that can be instantly broadcast around the world," Johnson said.

Both students learned the programming necessary to create Web pages from scratch.

"Anybody can make a basic Web page with a store- bought program, but if you learn the coding, you can control what you want," Leier said.

"You can do some things that the programs can't. In a skills competition, the creativity and attention to detail is what sets you apart from other competitors."

Rae Braden is a student of the Women In Technology program at Sir John Franklin. She enrolled in the class to build her carpentry ability. Now, she may find herself in Montreal competing against others from across Canada.

"I see the course and the competition as a good opportunity to learn new skills," Braden said.

"Right now, I'm building my skills. My plan for the future is to build my own dream home."

Skills Canada manager of development and marketing, Curt Hammond, came from Kitchener, Ont., for the competition. He said there are 20 regional skills contests held throughout Canada.

"There are literally hundreds of various jobs represented in the trades and technology fields," Hammond said.

"Any of the skills these youth have can be turned into their own business. Certainly, the competitors here recognize those opportunities."