A 70 per cent increase in apprenticeships in the next three years. More youth programs in high schools to draw people into trades. A whole new approach driven by industry needs.
That's not a recap of the big redesign of education and training announced last week. It's a description of the last one, 10 years ago.
Most of what was promised in the new skills-for-jobs blueprint was outlined in the same enthusiastic terms a decade ago. It bleeds away some of the enthusiasm for the ambitious new program to realize it's a repackaging of a similar thrust from years gone by.
The previous push revolved around the creation of the Industry Training Authority. The B.C. Liberals, then two years into their first term, blew up the previous NDP government's version of apprenticeship training -- heavy on union involvement -- and replaced it with their own, the ITA. It was a stripped-down version that handed most responsibility over to employers.
So when the government committed once again last month to meeting the skilled-trade shortage, the performance of the ITA was a central part of the equation. While much work was done in government on the concept of re-engineering education and training, an outside consultant was engaged to review the ITA. That was Jessica McDonald, once a deputy to former premier Gordon Campbell and a major force through most of his government.
Her report was included in last week's big announcement and it's quite a read. The short version of the apprenticeship story over 11 years is that it posted impressive numbers of new entries, but faced questions about the quality of the training, the low completion rate and continued resentment from trade unions left out of the picture.
McDonald took a much deeper look. As circumspectly as possible, she flunked the outfit for being dysfunctional and failing to deliver. The ITA lacks direct industry experience, and doesn't collect or use data properly. The board itself relied on lengthy studies, lacked decisiveness and was reactive rather than planning ahead.
There was a lot of creep in the bureaucracy, as well. It was originally planned to have a staff of 10 or 11, but now has 62 employees.
She described the dysfunctional atmosphere in which the outfit operates. Organized labour feels marginalized. Employers don't feel they are heard. Some new directions taken have caused strain over how they were undertaken. Conflicts have "led to deep silos in the system, with each partner focusing on their own interests."
Reading the report, it's no wonder that the preferred method of hiring by most employers in B.C. is to poach workers from rival firms. Committing to get involved in apprenticeship training looks to be an exercise in frustration.
The three things that make apprenticeship programs work are screening, tracking and personal support. On the last requirement, McDonald urged the ITA to hire 15 advisers from within the current budget. Counselling was one of the strengths of the previous program the Liberals abandoned, so the idea represents backing up and trying again to get it right. She also conceded that unions need to be at the table, something that was abandoned in the 2004 version.
Her vision of the new board is one of a "driving force" made up of people with a track record of acting beyond single interests.
The government had a new lineup ready to go this week, made up of people from various fields. There's Tom Sigurdson of the building trades council, now a director of an outfit he's criticized for years. Also on board is former NDP MLA Rick Kasper, a retired bricklayer and Sooke councillor.
But the headliner is the new chairman, Gwyn Morgan. The retired founder of Encana Corp. lives in Victoria, is a solid B.C. Liberal supporter and adviser to Premier Christy Clark, with a long list of accomplishments, including the Order of Canada. He's a controversial figure who used a newspaper column the past few years to provoke upset on a number of issues (including the "appalling academic inertia" in schools that turn out liberal-arts grads who can't find jobs).
If they wanted a driving force, that's what they got.
