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Ministerial Statement
Julie Bettney
Minister Responsible for the Status of Women

November 20, 1998

Mr. Speaker, for many years women have been under-represented in the full range of occupations. Statistics from 1997 indicate that fifty per cent of women employed in Newfoundland and Labrador were clustered in the clerical, sales and service occupations while only six per cent were employed in the areas of primary, processing, construction and transport equipment operating.

Mr. Speaker, our province is expecting to have significant economic and employment growth in the natural resource sector, particularly in the offshore petroleum industry. Despite this growth however, women continue to be under-represented in this sector. Only five per cent of those employed at the Hibernia construction site and on the Hibernia oil rig are women. Clearly, Mr. Speaker, we need to increase the numbers of women who benefit by being employed in the offshore petroleum industry.

In order for women to take advantage of these opportunities they need to develop the skills required to work in this field. In the 1995-1996 academic year, only 16.8 per cent of those enrolled in engineering technology programs in the public college system were women, while less than 10 per cent of those enrolled in trade programs were women.

Mr. Speaker, as Minister Responsible for the Status of Women, I am pleased to announce today an initiative that addresses one of the barriers to women=s economic equality. Along with my colleagues the Honourable Fred Mifflin, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Secretary of State for the Atlantic Opportunities Agency (ACOA), the Honourable Ralph Goodale, Minister of Natural Resources and the Honourable Charles Furey, Minister of Mines and Energy, I am pleased to announce a $250,000 Equity Fund under the Offshore Skills Training Fund. This fund is financed through the Canada/Newfoundland Offshore Development Fund.

The Equity Fund, Mr. Speaker, will be designed to encourage women to consider a career in the offshore petroleum industry and to help reduce the barriers that women face in trying to enter a wider range of occupations. The Equity Fund will help to accomplish these goals through two components.

The first component is a community-based program to increase women=s representation in the industry. The community-based program will focus on activities to inform women about petroleum related occupations, offer supports in career exploration, and work with training institutions and the petroleum industry to directly address women=s career issues.

The second component includes grants of up to $3,000 for women who have been accepted to a petroleum-related trade or technology training program. These grants will provide an incentive for women to enter these fields. We hope this will improve the retention rate of women who enter petroleum-related training programs. As more women enter and remain in the petroleum industry they will become role models for post-secondary students who are considering their career options.

Mr. Speaker, the Equity Fund also benefits the employer. With more trained workers, employers will have a larger pool of potential employees and will benefit from the various talents that people from diverse backgrounds can offer the workplace.

Mr. Speaker, the Equity Fund will be administered by the Department of Education in consultation with the Women=s Policy Office and the Department of Human Resources and Employment.

Mr. Speaker, the under-representation of women in a broad range of occupations is one of the key factors that contribute to women=s economic inequality. Jobs in the petroleum industry tend to be relatively high paying and women should have access to these career opportunities. Since women have not traditionally worked in the oil and gas sector, they need to be supported and encouraged to seek careers in this industry.

Mr. Speaker, along with establishing the Equity Fund, the Department of Human Resources and Employment and the Department of Mines and Energy earlier this year provided $20,000 in funding to the Women in Resource Development Committee. This committee will use this funding to promote women=s employment in the resource-based sector.

We=ve also entered into discussions with the College of the North Atlantic to look at ways of improving women=s access to training in non-traditional areas. The college will be forming a multi- party working group to address some of the issues around womens low participation in the training programs in these areas of employment growth for our province.

Mr. Speaker, I am confident that the Equity Fund will benefit women individually, as well as increase their opportunities to contribute to the economic development of Newfoundland and Labrador. I look forward to its implementation.