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Heavy equipment course fills a hole in Kitikmeot

Kerry Mccluskey
Northern News Services

Goja Haven (Oct 30/00) - When Allen Kaloon makes that big climb into a mining company's tandem truck for the first time, a sense of pride and accomplishment will sit beside him.

When he collects the first paycheque he's earned in a couple of years and puts food into his kids' mouths, he'll think back to the heavy equipment operators course that helped him turn his professional life around.

"I didn't have any experience or a Class 3 license and without it, I couldn't drive. With this, I can get work in a mine or with the hamlet," said Kaloon, from his home in Gjoa Haven.

"It was a good experience for me. I learned things like air-brakes, how to drive a Cat, a tandem truck, things I didn't know before," he said.

Kaloon is one of 11 Kitikmeot residents who graduated from a four-week heavy equipment operators course hosted by the Kitikmeot Employment and Training Partners.

Charlie Lyall developed that nonprofit organization. He said he'd grown tired of the lack of opportunities for Kitikmeot residents and decided somebody had to do something about it.

"Somebody had to take the bull by the horns," said Lyall, a resident of Taloyoak.

"I was getting fed up with Nunavut Arctic College having all kinds of courses, but never having jobs at the end," he said.

"I also didn't see any preparations for the mining that's hopefully going to happen in this region. As a result, the Kitikmeot Employment and Training Partners was born."

And because Lyall saw the problem was widespread and touched all of the hamlets in the region, he said it became a clear mandate of the association to pull in trainees from all five communities.

The first heavy equipment operators course was held last spring and all 12 of the 13 graduates have since found jobs. Lyall said it was too early to predict how many of the new graduates would get jobs, but he was certain they won't have any problems.

Sean Peterson, the association's manager, said one of his primary tasks was to make sure workers can fill jobs created by the mineral industry. He said it is important to have a pool of workers ready to go when a mine begins production.

"Our leadership wants our guys to have those entry level skills," said Peterson, adding that the organization didn't focus on just a single sector of the workforce.

"We will continue consulting with different types of organizations. We want to see what other employment sectors are not being addressed and based on that, we'll develop our next training courses."