Sign up for the meadowlakeNOW newsletter
ID 19352369 © Vignes81 | Dreamstime.com
MLTC Career Expo Tour

MLTC career tour focuses on trades and education

Jan 22, 2020 | 4:43 PM

Meadow Lake Tribal Council (MLTC) is hosting a job fair for nine local First Nation Communities.

Chris Mazuren, organizer of the MLTC job fair, told meadowlakeNOW the council is committed and obligated to all nine nations.

“Some of the industries collecting resumes will be the mining, oil, power and forestry sector, heavy equipment jobs, we have [the] Fort McKay group of companies coming across the ice route to land in Clearwater and coming down to Flying Dust,” he said.

Mazuren noted he’s received feedback on past events. There were some requests for jobs in eco-tourism, farming innovation or sport fishing. Others expressed concern against environmentally destructive industries such as potash, uranium or clearcutting.

“I’m getting a lot of elders and concerned young people asking from the community asking for industry that is in harmony with the Earth,” he said.

Education

With an emphasis on STEM careers (science, technology, engineering and math) in some Canadian classrooms, Mazuren said some find such industries to be destructive to the Earth and not of traditional practice.

“Even sport fishing barrels down to math and science, but it’s not the traditional way and not the way people view traditional lifestyles. Unfortunately, we’ve created an economy where the number one priority is paying bills,” he said. “We’ve created our own nemesis in that way. It’s tough to balance the needs of the community and also make sure that we’re not freezing to death and have the ability to survive.”

Aboriginal liaisons from the Edwards School of Business, Northwest College, Gabriel Dumont Institute, SAIT, University of Lethbridge, Canadian Armed Forces and Saskatchewan Trades and Apprenticeships, will also attend.

“What we’ve found is there hasn’t been much attention given to the trades. Even looking at last year’s budget and how much money of the budget went towards the trades and the trades being one of the six components, I figured it was time to enhance the trade perspective through MLTC,” Mazuren said.

Mazuren said there isn’t much knowledge within communities about trade positions.

“The nice thing about trades is you can make money while you receive your training,” he said.

He noted the CRA improved processes for the trade industry when seasonal layoffs happen.

“We took the initiative to focus our career expo this year on the trades though there will be a diverse range of industries and schools at the events,” he said.

“I challenge people of the community to come out and enjoy this event and take back whatever you can and hopefully have a good employment opportunity to come of it,” he said.

Tour Dates

  • Clearwater River Dene will kick off the tour on Jan. 27 with high school students invited to join at 1 p.m., adults can join at 3:30 p.m., at the Band Hall.
  • Birch Narrows Dene, Jan. 28 at the school gymnasium with high school students invited to join at 1 p.m., adults can join at 3:30 p.m.
  • Buffalo River Dene, Jan. 29 at the school gymnasium with high school students invited to join at 1 p.m., adults can join at 3:30 p.m.
  • English River First Nation, Jan. 30 at the school gymnasium with high school students invited to join at 1 p.m., adults can join at 3:30 p.m.
  • Canoe Lake Cree First Nation, Jan. 31 at the school gymnasium; high school students invited to join at 9:30 a.m., adults can join at noon.
  • Waterhen Lake First Nation, Feb. 3 at the school gymnasium; high school students invited to join at 1 p.m., adults can join at 3:30 p.m.
  • Flying Dust First Nation, Feb. 4 at Flying Dust Gymnasium; high school students invited to join at 1 p.m., adults can join at 3:30 p.m.
  • Makwa Sahgaiehcan First Nation, Feb. 5 at the School Gymnasium; high school students invited to join at 1 p.m., adults can join at 3:30p.m.
  • Ministikwan Cree Nation, Feb 6 at the school gymnasium; high school students invited to join at 1 p.m., adults can join at 3:30 p.m.

nicole.reis@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @nicolereis7722

View Comments