Paula White
Northern News Services

INUVIK (July 09/99) - There aren't all that many courses one can take nowadays where a job is guaranteed at the end.

But the truck driving course offered at Aurora College in Inuvik last month is one of them.

"We're trying to respond directly to the needs of the communities," said Shauna MacKay, director of continuing education at the college. "The training that's happening in this area is really exciting. We can see a lot of potential."

This is the first time the course has been offered in Inuvik. It was taught by a highly-qualified Rick Clarke, who has been involved in the trucking business one way or another for the last 25 years. Clarke, who currently lives in Norman Wells, said the college offered it because there is currently a shortage of qualified truckers in the Northwest Territories. Part of the reason for the shortage, Clarke explained, is the increased truck traffic due to the Ikhil gas project and road construction.

The two-week course gives the students the basics that they need to be able to drive a truck -- a class 1 licence with an air brake endorsement. The first week concentrates on classroom theory while the second deals with practical experience. Clarke said students then have the option of taking an additional three-week course which gives them practical training, such as loading trucks.

"That three weeks makes a vast difference in your hireability," he said. "It's a good trade...a highly- employable skill."

Clarke taught two courses in Inuvik over four weeks, with 12 students registered in each course. The majority of the students were from Inuvik, but there were some from Tuktoyaktuk, Fort McPherson, Tsiigehtchic and Aklavik as well. Clarke said most of the students completed the course, the last one wrapping up the week of June 14.

"It (went) really well," Clarke commented. "We've had phenomenal results...The people we're getting up here, they've got good practical skills...they're really geared up for it."

MacKay said Aurora College has been trying to offer more courses like the truck driving one -- where students can train for a period of time and leave with a job.

Having the course in Inuvik proved to be a bonus for the town as well as the students who enroled. MacKay said during the four weeks, a minimum of $35,000 was put back into the community in the form of truck rentals, fuel costs and other supplies.

As stated before, Clarke's experience in the field is extensive. Originally from Fort St. John in northern British Columbia, he is a crane operator and has experience operating graders, loaders, CATs and backhoes. But he started out as a truck driver.

"Basically you can say that I have driven every highway in Alberta, B.C., NWT and Yukon," he said. He added that back in the 1970s and '80s he would drive between 500 and 700 hours a month.