Just prior to Premier Christy Clark rolling out her jobs plan in late September, the B.C. and Yukon Building Trades Council expressed support for expected announcements that would open up in northwest B.C. more than $15 billion in new mining and hydro projects.
But the union-based organization, an umbrella group for construction unions in B.C., quickly followed up by raising alarm bells over the provincial government's "broken" trades training system.
"Thousands of apprentices are lost in the system, not knowing when or how to register for technical training or unable to find new sponsoring employees after construction lay-offs," Building Trades executive director Tom Sigurdson said in a press release at the time.
In 2003, the Industrial Training Authority (ITA) was created by the Liberal government and has been a target of criticism by Building Trades ever since.
In an interview, Sigurdson said the ITA is simply not as effective as it could be.
As of 2010-11, just 40 per cent of apprentices completed their training program within six years of initial registration and Sigurdson blamed the poor performance on the so-called "self-help" training model introduced with the launch of the ITA.
In contrast, Sigurdson said union-sponsored apprenticeship programs have seen a success rate twice that total and noted the ITA figures include the union-sponsored programs which help boost the total figure.
Sigurdson said Building Trades members provide better support for their apprentices. Member unions employ some 85 counsellors and instructors whose job involves keeping track of their progress.
"We have a structure that when an apprentice goes out to work with one of our contractors, after they've accumulated 1,600-1,800 hours of practical, on-tool time, they're brought back into the class," Sigurdson said.
"They are compelled to be brought back into the class...so we get them through the system, whereas with the ITA there is nothing that compels. In fact, it's a disincentive, in some instances, for them to return to class."
A busy employer will be reluctant to let an apprentice go back to class, Sigurdson argued, while one who is not busy usually means many are not busy, "and you've got a whole bunch of employers that are trying to get into the same seat to get their theory."
Jobs, Tourism and Innovation Minister Pat Bell has some numbers of his own that compare the old Industry Training and Apprenticeship Commission (ITAC), which existed from late 1997 to spring 2001, when the NDP was in power, to the ITA over the years it's been operating under the current Liberal regime.
At 34,645, ITA had more than twice the number of registrants in 2010-11 than ITAC had at its peak in 2000 and, at 7,318, ITA had issued significantly more credentials in 2010-11 than did ITAC in its best year, 1997-98, when 4,125 were issued.
And funding for ITA stands at $94.4 million per year compared to $73.7 million for ITAC in its final year.
Bell, the MLA for Prince George-Mackenzie, said the figures add up to a "clear demonstration" of the Liberal government's commitment to jobs training and that the completion rate has remained roughly the same when compared to the system in place when the NDP formed the government.
"I'm not so sure it's a case of specific program structure as it is just the nature of the business," Bell said, adding that nearly double the credentials are now being issued than a decade ago.
"It is beginning to fill the gap," Bell said. "I think that gap is something we will need to continue to focus on.
"We're hitting that period where many people are 55 to 60 years old and they're going to be retiring.
What's more, he said there is a need to "professionalize" other jobs that haven't been part of a formal certification process - like heavy equipment operators and truck drivers - "it adds to the complexity."
Sigurdson remains unimpressed. ITAC had 120 apprentice counsellors on its payroll, he noted, compared to just 60 for ITA. By comparison, Building Trades has 95 employees dedicated to serving some 5,500 apprenticeships and operates on a $10-million budget funded through the member unions' collective agreements.
The Building Trades delivers a better bang for the buck, Sigurdson asserted.
"We can't afford to let these guys fail," he said.
