Mulgrave council endorses green jobs skills initiative

MULGRAVE — Council for the Town of Mulgrave is throwing its support behind a plan to build the next generation of “green skilled” workers in Atlantic Canada.

Councillor Krista Luddington told her colleagues at council’s meeting on May 6 that Municipality of the County of Richmond Warden Amanda Mombourquette has reached out to nearby municipalities for letters endorsing a funding application by community colleges in the region to Employment and Social Development Canada’s Sustainable Jobs Fund.

Reading from Mombourquette’s request, Luddington said, “NSCC is planning to submit an exciting proposal [involving] partners across the Atlantic region – Holland College, NBCC [New Brunswick Community College], CCNB [Collège communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick] and College of the North Atlantic – to develop and deliver the training that will be required to support Atlantic Canada’s energy transition.”

In essence, Luddington reported, the concept is to accelerate training to meet industry demand in hydrogen, wind, solar and other low-carbon energy over the next decade, “effectively green skilling our Atlantic Canadian workforce.”

According to Mombourquette – who is co-chair of the Strait of Canso Offshore Wind Task Force and Community Innovation Lead at Nova Scotia Community College: Strait Area Campus – the project includes engagement of students in from Primary to Grade 12 “to put clean energy careers in Atlantic Canada firmly on the radar of our youth.”

Said Councillor Bob Russell: “It’s a good idea. It’s crazy not to [do this].”

Council unanimously agreed to write a letter of support for the application.

Alec Bruce, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Guysborough Journal