Glen Korstrom
Northern News Services

NNSL (Oct 01/99) - Workers at Giant Mine, who are set to be laid off after the mine's sale, will receive three kinds of help from the department of Education, Culture and Employment.

First there is training before a job starts, second there is a wage subsidy program called Training on the Job. Finally there is an apprenticeship program that provides both a wage subsidy and transportation and accommodation costs.

"I think because there is such a mass number (of Giant workers), we'll probably dedicate one or two staff that they will continue to see," said regional superintendent Rose O'Donnell-King of pre-employment training.

Because of a deal between ECE and the federal Department of Human Resources and Labour Canada last year, ECE delivers what O'Donnell-King calls Part 2 training dollars.

Part 1 dollars are the funds that pay for an employment insurance recipient's basic stipend. Part 2 dollars are the funds on top of that which are earmarked for training before a job starts.

O'Donnell-King said the E.I. Part 2 dollars are basically individual plans where people would come into the office and see individual counsellors to determine their own career path.

"We can't say everybody will get $2,000 because one person might need short-term help to get into the work force and somebody else might need long term help," she said.

Aside from the Part 2 training dollars which are aimed at a program called Building Essential Skills, there are also two other ECE programs that help workers re-enter the workforce: training on the job and apprenticeship programs.

O'Donnell-King calls the training on the job program "fairly successful" since it has helped about 25 people during the past year.

Through the program, ECE contributes a subsidy to the employer in accordance with how many hours an employee works.

In essence, it helps pay for the training hours an employee would need and makes the position viable for the employer.

The other main program for training is an apprenticeship program.

It involves a wage subsidy but also involves paying for transportation and accommodation if the training is to take place in Edmonton or other locations far from Yellowknife.