For the past four days, 37 high school and post-secondary students have been in Calgary participating in the national Skills Canada Competition. I am pleased to report that 10 of our students received medals at the competition this year.

It is extremely encouraging to see this level of interest and success by so many of our province�s young people. It is an indication that we are making great strides in promoting skilled trades to our young people through initiatives like the $11 million high school skilled trades program, and $1.5 million in funding to double the number of seats in skilled trades programming at College of the North Atlantic.

Most recently, we have invested $200,000 to support a request to employers and unions to pilot initiatives aimed at females and the trades. The proposals will test new approaches to increase the number of female apprentices in the workplace.

I have made it a priority to ensure that as a government, we take all necessary steps to break down barriers in the skilled trades, a sector traditionally dominated by men. I am pleased to report that since 2004 the number of women registering for apprenticeship programs in non-traditional trades is up by 35 per cent.

In addition, Budget 2008 is allocating $1.3 million annually to support the hiring of apprentices in government boards and agencies. This builds on the more than $2.3 million over the past two years to hire apprentices across government. I am pleased that as a government we are making a very practical contribution to help build our skilled labour force and I encourage other employers in our province to do the same.

It is evident from the results of the Skills Canada competition that our youth are recognizing the opportunities that exist in the skilled trades. Their individual success will translate into success for our province overall. An investment in this area is certainly money well spent. I offer my congratulations to this year�s winners and best wishes to all who competed at the Skills Canada competition.