Liberal Candidates Talk Trades Training
Monday, May 6, 2013 @ 1:34 PM
Prince George, B.C.- Surrounded by recently upgraded equipment at the John A Brink Trades Centre in Prince George, and clippings from 250News and other media outlets, Liberal candidates Shirley Bond and Mike Morris ( in photo at right) said they wanted to set the record straight about the Liberal Government’s commitment to trades training in the north. “We don’t have to look very far to take a walk back through time to look at the countless number of headlines that demonstrate on going investment here at the College of New Caledonia” said Bond.
The headlines included:
· $6.46 million investment to John A Brink Trades Centre
· $10 million dollar investment in P.G. campus for Technical Education Centre
· $1.1 million for Medical Lab Tech program
· $2.7 million for new medical radiography tech diploma program
“BC saw a record number of qualified tradespersons enter the job market last year” says Bond, “We also, in 2013, have a record number of apprentices in the system. We are currently training twice as many apprentices as we did when we became government.”
Morris says the ITA has increased seat capacity “ Seat capacity in the ITA has increased by 16% over the last 6 years from 18,098 in ’06 to more than 21,600 in 2012-13.”
“Over our 12 years in government we have made skills training a priority and we are going to continue to do that” says Bond. She points to a statistic which indicates the Liberal government has spent $2 billion dollars in capital funding for campuses throughout the province.
So if the Liberals are committed to trades training, what about the proposal that would see the Rustad sawmill site turned into a trades centre? It is a proposal the New Democrats have gone on record as saying they “would seriously consider.”
Bond says the Liberals took a close look at it, “We were very willing to partner and look at how we might work very closely with that group that brought that proposal forward. One of the things that we were insistent upon though, is that it be done in collaboration, wherever possible, with the College of New Caledonia and looking at how we could maximize the benefits of any further investments. We insists that there needs to be a business case to demonstrate that kind of investment that we were very much prepared to sit down and work closely on that project, but we did say that we thought it needed to be looked at in conjunction with other training programs and we encouraged the group to work with the College of New Caledonia to try and bring that proposal into place.”
Although criticized for apprentices not completing their programs, Bond says the facts are, that B.C.’s apprenticeship completion rate is about 54%, which is higher than the Canadian average. “Let’s look at the entire story, not just a portion of it” says Bond, “Our numbers are better than average in Canada and completion rates are an issue right across the country. So to pluck British Columbia out of those numbers and simply say it’s a problem in British Columbia, is inaccurate.”
Comments
The apprenticeship program has been gutted by the liberals and has such a high failure rate. It was much better when industry had a proper voice at the table and could assist the apprentices with the overall process.
Shirley Bond was the Minister responsible for the Appreticeship Program when it was gutted. Another severe case of selective memory!
The apprenticeship program has been gutted by the liberals and has such a high failure rate. It was much better when industry had a proper voice at the table and could assist the apprentices with the overall process.
Wow! And she said that with a straight face! Thats why Companys like Canfor are going over sea’s to get trades people.
ITA pays for 18000 seats and 50 % end up in an apprenticeship, think there is problems, also whe they talk about apprenticeships it covers everything,not just welding, Heavy Duty, Millwright,Auto, Elect… the reports on ITA site tell more of the story.If we believe Bond what happened in the past 12 years all the reports said problem coming they cut ITA, cut support thy are now put out pretty reports thats about it.
ITA pays for 18000 seats and 50 % end up in an apprenticeship, think there is problems, also whe they talk about apprenticeships it covers everything,not just welding, Heavy Duty, Millwright,Auto, Elect… the reports on ITA site tell more of the story.If we believe Bond what happened in the past 12 years all the reports said problem coming they cut ITA, cut support thy are now put out pretty reports thats about it.
After the WIDC scandal, Pat Bell stepped aside but Shirley Bond didn’t have decency to do the same even though her fellow BC Liberal MLAs wanted her to do. Any vote for her is a vote for approving corruption and approving WIDC scandal. She should cover her face in shame and hide.
Time to say no to corruption and bring a change of government.
No change. Just different ideology. Thank you for your vote. See you in four years.
The headlines included:
· $6.46 million investment to John A Brink Trades Centre
· $10 million dollar investment in P.G. campus for Technical Education Centre
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The question that should be asked of Bond is, “How many new seats and programs in Trades resulted from these ‘investments’?” … replacing 50 year old, condemned, asbestos insulated buildings and makeshift rented quarters is not increasing capacity … if CNC admin had not made ongoing submissions based on work place health conditions and taken advantage of federal infrastructure dollars trying to rebuild a broken economy, Bond wouldn’t have much to brag about …
â Seat capacity in the ITA has increased by 16% over the last 6 years from 18,098 in â06 to more than 21,600 in 2012-13.â
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OK ..based on Bond’s own numbers, the funding provided for ITA seats will sustain a total workforce of 43,200 Trades positions for the entire province of 4.4 million in everything from Chefs through Film Industry trades to the traditional construction trades along with the manufacturing sector .. (Based on a 50% completion rate and a 4-5 year cycle to train up a trades worker)
That would suggest that the current BC government supports 1% of the provincial population in the Trades .. the rest needs to be imported, stolen, whatever .. even if these calculations are out by 100% then the provincial government only supports 2% .. really, only 2% of our entire provincial population to work in Trades .. better open up more recruiting offices in Newfoundland and Eastern Europe
I don’t know which gov’t brought in the CTC program but its a great program where you can take a year of trades training at the college while you are still in highschool. The school district pays for the tuition so it’s way cheaper than going after you graduate. The program has been improving every year. Lots of times there are some empty seats tho so don’t how people can complain that there isn’t any trades training. The biggest problem is that the kids have to spend their summer apprenticing somewhere and it’s really hard to find an employer to apprentice at. That’s on the businesses tho not the college. They all complain they can’t find workers but they aren’t willing to hire apprentices.
The biggest problem is that the kids have to spend their summer apprenticing somewhere and it’s really hard to find an employer to apprentice at.
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gitterdun .. I agree with you .. what employers really want is fully qualified trades workers that will work cheaper than they did last year .. there isn’t really a Trades worker shortage, 6 applications for every vacancy .. many employers just want something for less .. when employers can’t get enough applications, check their pay levels, short term contracts, working conditions, etc. .. there is usually a reason
.. we had a family member do the CTC program and it was a great experience .. many of his classmates left for Alberta after graduation and never came back .. don’t blame them .. our loss though .. exporting our youth
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