Yellowknife (Oct 08/04) - The NWT is getting $13.3 million over five years in skills training aimed at aboriginal people.

Western Arctic MP Ethel Andrew-Blondin was in Inuvik on Friday to announce the NWT's share of the $85 million Aboriginal Skills to Education Program (ASEP).

The NWT's share is expected to result in training for 1,400 aboriginal participants and employment for 500 people in the oil and gas industry.

After arriving at the college 30 minutes late, Blondin-Andrew began by expressing her satisfaction at being a part of steering the Aboriginal Skills to Employment Program to fruition.

'Bring jobs closer to home'

"As an aboriginal person born and raised here, every time we get something I'm happy," she said. "(This will) bring jobs closer to home and I encourage you to take advantage of opportunities just outside our doorstep."

The hope is that this money will be used to train aboriginals in time to work on the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline, if there is one.

Pipeline challenges

The future of the pipeline project is still unknown as the Dehcho First Nation has launched two legal challenges.

Fred Carmichael, Gwich'in Tribal Council president and chair of the Aboriginal Pipeline Group (APG), hopes the pipeline will go ahead.

"If there's going to be a pipeline, we want ownership," he said in reference to the formation of the APG, which has secured a one-third piece of the proposed pipeline.

"Without a pipeline there'd be no opportunity and no point for the ASEP," he said.

Carmichael expressed his concern for the environment, as well as the social cost of not building a pipeline.

"Sure, I'm concerned about the environment, but there's measures in place to deal with that," he said. "I'm concerned about social impacts, but without jobs there's going to be a social impact as well."

Speaking on behalf of the Dehcho First Nations, whose members will also benefit from ASEP, Liidlii Kue Chief Keyna Norwegian asked those in this region to understand the concerns of her people.

"We're in a difficult period without a settled land claim and so the Deh Cho find themselves in an awkward position," she said.

"We're pleased to be a part of (ASEP), but at the same time the decisions we make may impact your region. Please be patient with us," she said to those at the ASEP announcement.

After the speeches, Norwegian said the Deh Cho's environmental concerns were in the best interests of everyone.

"Other groups think we are slowing down or trying to stop (the pipeline)," Norwegian said. "What people have to realize is that we are here to safeguard and protect the land.

It's not that we are against development or the pipeline, but we want to have some control and as it stands we have no control."

Identify the needs

When asked what the funding would mean for Aurora Campus and how much was to be earmarked for training programs in Inuvik, campus director Miki O'Kane said that would be decided by the aboriginal groups involved in the project.

These include the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, Gwich'in Tribal Council, Sahtu Dene Council and Deh Cho First Nations.

"They will identify the training needs and ask us to deliver the training," she said.

While the spectre of a scuttled pipeline deal looms, ASEP plans are expected to move forward as the skills the initiative aims to foster are considered to be transferable and not necessarily specific to the oil and gas industry.