LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON
With the community still reeling from a month of break-ins and thefts, one Fort Simpson man is in pursuit of a solution.

Kirby Norwegian, left, drives a screw into the substrate of the wood to secure the frame of a stool. Beside him, Brandon Hardisty breaks out the measuring tape at Thomas Simpson Secondary School. Dennis Nelner is seeking ways to get young people active, including through trades training. - NNSL file photo

Dennis Nelner is intimately familiar with the problems facing youth in the Northwest Territory, in part because he has two children of his own in the school system. His eldest, a boy, is 15.

Over the month of June, Nelner collected more than 150 signatures on a petition to increase funding for local programming and governance workshops for community-led boards and district education authorities.

The response from community members, he said, was overwhelming, with nearly everyone he spoke to expressing support for more youth programs and some even offering to help out.

That petition is now in the hands of Nahendeh MLA Shane Thompson, whom Nelner has asked to present the petition to the legislative assembly when it resumes this fall.

Aside from petitioning the government for more funding, Nelner is also reaching out to potential corporate sponsors such as Canadian Zinc Corporation to gauge whether there's an interest in sponsoring a trades-related class for high school students.

"There's so many benefits for industry," he said, citing a home-grown workforce as one main advantage.

More funding could go toward tutors, extra classes for struggling students or evening classes students otherwise might not be able to take, he said.

In addition, funds could be used to bolster Thomas Simpson Secondary School's recently re-instsated shop class.

"I remember going to school here (in the 1980s) and having regular shop class, after-school class and evening class. I was exposed to all those," he said.

"It used to happen before, so it's not like we're re-inventing anything here."

Reached for comment by e-mail, Joseph Lanzon - Canadian Zinc's vice-president of corporate affairs - confirmed he had spoken to both Nelner and Thompson about the initiative and petition.

He said the initiative is still in its early days but said the company supports community-based initiatives that are related to trades.

"With (Nelner's) knowledge of aboriginal and territorial governments, (he) can be very helpful in putting an initiative into delivery," Lanzon stated.

Nelner sat on the district education authority prior to the last election and was instrumental in getting the shop class running at Thomas Simpson in January.

He has long been an advocate of trades training, the impact of which he says could be night and day for youth who have never had the opportunity to experience it.

One of the major impacts, he said, would be the sense of pride that comes along with creating something with your own two hands.

And although his petition came prior to a rash of break-ins in July and early August, Nelner points to that as evidence that youth in the community need more programming to occupy their time.

"That's why I see trades being a salvation in many ways," he said.

"There's nothing inherently wrong with these kids. There's absolutely nothing wrong. They're bored, they have a high level of risk at that age . (and) there's nothing to do."

He points to a recent trades awareness trip his son took to Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo, B.C., as evidence of the success trades courses could have.

"My kid was there for two weeks and they had a really good time. My boy loved it," he said.

"At that age is when they're soaking in the info. The stuff they learn is going to be for a lifetime.

This is the time you want to teach them the action of swinging a hammer or twisting a screwdriver or wrench."

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