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ASSINIBOINE COMMUNITY COLLEGE BUILDING LOCAL CAPACITY First Nations partner with ACC for community-based training By Bob Armstrong F irst Nations across Manitoba turn to Assiniboine Community College to help train members and provide a local workforce for needed projects like upgrading and expanding on-reserve housing. While ACC has partnered with First Nations to provide health care and early childhood education programs, some trades programs are driven by the demand for housing in the community. Plumbing and pre-employment construction courses are among the recent programs provided in partnership with the Brandon-based college. "Assiniboine Community College has been involved in training in communities and meeting the needs of First Nations communities for years," says Tannis James, director of continuing studies. This winter, ACC's Enhanced Aboriginal Plumbing Trades program will give 15 students from Peguis First Nation and neighbouring Fisher River Cree Nation the opportunity to obtain their mature student Grade 12 credential and complete their Level One plumbing theory course work to lead to apprenticeship. Peguis would like to extend training opportunities all the way to Red Seal certification. Pam Favel, program coordinator of Peguis First Nation Training and Employment, says the goal is to help Peguis build the capacity of its own members to enhance the community's housing and infrastructure. It's not the first time Peguis has worked with ACC to provide local training. A licensed practical nursing program taught at Peguis by ACC trained 25 students for work at personal care homes and care centres. Earlier this year, 15 students at Sandy Bay First Nation completed ACC's Applied Building Construction program, which counts as Level One carpentry training for those who graduate with a 70 per cent mark or greater. The program left the community with a fully equipped workshop upgraded to meet the standards of Apprenticeship Manitoba. In addition to theory and skills classes in a workshop, the students carried out a practical, hands-on project in which they built an extension on the Sandy Bay Child Care Centre, which will allow the community to pursue provincial licensing for childcare. Those 15 graduates are just the tip of the iceberg of Sandy Bay's interest in training, says Cathy Spence, program director for Aboriginal Skills and Employment Training Strategy in Sandy Bay. "I have people phoning, they're asking me when the next trades training program is," she said earlier this year. "We would certainly like to see more trades training in the future." At Long Plain First Nation, a group of 14 mostly young adult students recently completed a week-long workplace safety training course that offered certification in standard first aid, transportation of dangerous goods, WHMIS (Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System) and other courses. Many of those certifications are required for work on construction or industrial job sites. In Sioux Valley First Nation, a six-week home plumbing course provided students with the skills they will need to assist plumbers in repairs and installation. The same program has also been offered in Berens River First Nation. ACC programs may incorporate cultural perspectives or elders, and they are tailored to the specific needs of each First Nation and its people. Peguis's Pam Favel says another advantage is that students don't have to leave the community, and their support system, to access training programs. "We've had a much higher success rate with community- based training." ■

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