Local Indigenous educators are happy to get $1.2 million in provincial funding for one of their programs.
Around 56 students are currently in the Anishinawbe Forestry Operator Training and Apprenticeship Program through Oshki-Pimache-O-Win: The Wenjack Institute.
Innovation and Training Co-ordinator Gordon Kakagemic says the program is an important tool to introduce Indigenous youth to the forestry industry and teach them skills to help them get jobs.
“Youth who live in their communities, especially the remote fly-in communities, there’s no opportunity for them to be exposed to these type of industries,”
Student Raymond Shebagabow from Long Lake #58 First Nation is completing the second phase of the three-stage program, working out of the Quetico College School camp.
He indicates he’s happy with the skills he’s learning on-the-job.
“I’ve learned about sylvaculture, forest management,” he explains. “We’ve been in the field learning about how the trees are cut, how the trees adapt, how they compete when they grow.”
The funding was announced by Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities Ross Romano.
“We want to make sure that these people have the opportunity to not only find work, but find work in their own backyard and be able to stay home, be able to stay with their families, and be able to get back to their communities.”
The province also announced another $1.2-million for Confederation College to provide forestry training for 144 workers and people searching for jobs.
