The CWB Association Welding Podcast
The CWB Association Welding Podcast
Skills Canada Series - Season 3- Episode 2 with Courtney Donovan
The CWB Association is thrilled to collaborate with Skills/Compétences Canada on a special podcast series. This year, we are excited to interview the Skills Canada Executive Directors from across Canada. Tune in as we explore their skills journey and commitment to promoting skilled trades in their provinces and territories!
Courtney Donovan, Executive Director of Skills Canada New Brunswick, has transformed the organization from an unknown entity with minimal participation to a powerhouse connecting youth with life-changing career opportunities. New Brunswick's team has grown from 10 competitors in eight areas to 45 team members competing in 42 areas at the Skills Canada National Skills Competition. What makes the Skills Canada experience so powerful is its ability to break down barriers and to open doors, creating connections between generations of tradespeople. Looking ahead, Courtney's vision includes expanding training opportunities through interprovincial and international competitions, leveraging New Brunswick's unique status as Canada's only bilingual province.
Website: https://www.skillscanadanb.com/
Follow Skills/Compétences Canada:
Website: https://www.skillscompetencescanada.com/en/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/SkillsCanadaOfficial
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skillscompetencescanada/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/skills_canada
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/skillscanada
There is no better time to be a member! The CWB Association membership is new, improved, and focused on you. We offer a FREE membership with a full suite of benefits to build your career, stay informed, and support the Canadian welding industry. https://www.cwbgroup.org/association/become-a-member
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All right, I can check. Check, I'm good. So I'm Max Duran. I'm Max Duran, I'm the CWB Association Welding Podcast, pod, pod podcast. Today we have a really cool guest welding podcast. The show is about to begin. Hello and welcome to another edition of the CWB Association podcast. This is a part of our wonderful special series with Skills Canada competitions and we are interviewing all the executive directors of the provinces and territories of this country. We're having such a good time here in sunny, beautiful Regina, saskatchewan, which is the host of Skills Canada's competitions this year. Today I got Courtney Donovan here, who is an old friend, fantastic lady and a real comrade bro love you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, second time on the show here, like within a few weeks. I know I feel famous now like well, you are, but you were famous before, uh maybe just in New Brunswick, but we're spreading out, we're spreading out, we're spreading out so let's talk a little bit first about the team. How many people are here from new brunswick? How many? How much staff? What's what do you got going on?
Speaker 2:so we have 45 team members here, 42 competition areas, which is by far the most people we've ever sent. I think the I noticed the walkout. You guys had a big team we do have a big team and that's not trainers yeah um, we actually only have three trainers here with us. It's mostly chaperones because, again, our high school delegation is so large. Yeah, um, we have 25 secondary students here with us. This year when I first started, we were bringing 10 in eight areas.
Speaker 1:I remember one year there was like three. Yeah, you know we, we.
Speaker 2:So we've really expanded and the growth in the competition areas at the secondary and post-secondary level, um, and for me that was really important because these are all areas and education that's obviously offered in our province but by us not participating, those students in those careers or just in those programs in general didn't have that same opportunity. Um, so it's really important to me to kind of find them and link them to the competitions. There's still some we don't participate in but we're in far more.
Speaker 1:You want to fill those gaps oh.
Speaker 2:I am going to fill them all. I'm you know even even the ones that we don't even teach in the province. I'm like, okay, how do we get that industry in the province?
Speaker 1:So I can then compete, you know Well and that's an interesting thing that you bring up is that not all provinces compete in all things. I think there's a general thought that this is skills, here's the number, here's all the competencies you can compete in, and every province is going to do it all. But that's just not reasonable, it's not doable right.
Speaker 2:And it's not just that, it's again the industry.
Speaker 1:If the program isn't there or the industry isn't in your province, how do you find Like shipbuilding in Saskatchewan right, exactly right.
Speaker 2:How do you make those connections? And again, some of the high school programs that are competitions that we're competing in this year. We don't have those programs in New Brunswick at the high school level, so to for us to be able to, you know, have someone here.
Speaker 1:It's making sure that industry is engaged so that those competitors can actually train with industry because the program's on their school, yeah, um now, there's been a lot of investment in new brunswick in the last few years and you know, sometimes you see investment dollars get announced in provinces and you're like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. But I feel and maybe because I love the maritimes and maybe because I, because I have such a great relationship with you, I know what's going on in new brunswick. But there's been some definite forward movement in new brunswick in terms of trades programs, the colleges, the new schools, the new training centers. I feel like there's just things blowing up all over new brunswick yeah, yeah, I mean, there always has been.
Speaker 2:We are, whether it's skills or, I think, new Brunswick as a whole. I continually feel like we are the best kept secret. Yeah, you know, I have the privilege of going into the high schools and going into the colleges and seeing the programs and the passion that exists and, again, the industry that people have no idea that are there, and not only what those industries supply to the province but the country and the world. Um, and we're so bad about bragging ourselves up, we're so bad at it, max.
Speaker 2:Just so bad at being Canadian, like, come on, brag, I know so so that's where, again, I get really passionate about is is figuring these things out, because I want people to know.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And I was, and we've talked a lot about this. Um, you know the rhetoric in New Brunswick for a very long time and it's still a little bit. Is that there's nothing here?
Speaker 1:That's right. You got to leave to make money you have to leave, and not just money.
Speaker 2:you have to leave for your education.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:And now is one of those. New Brunswick students know that that's not true.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you can do it all right there.
Speaker 2:You can do it all in your home, you don't have to leave. This is I've been around the country, I've been around the world. This is we have it great in our province and there are so many opportunities. So, again, making sure that everyone knows about those opportunities and if I can help in any way create more opportunities, then you know yeah, that's you will.
Speaker 1:That's my dream. Yeah, making those. You're a connector. Yeah, like you're, like that awesome piece in lego that fits everything I try, I try whether it's again my, my sport background other coaching background and and again.
Speaker 2:I think growing up too, I was not exposed to the trades. I come from a family of all trades people. My dad's a welder, my mom's a hairdresser, my uncle's an hvac and you know careers and have been there 40, 50 years and I wasn't exposed to any of it so even now understanding those careers and that none of you know, nothing can operate without the trades yeah we hold the doctors on such high pedestals, but they can't do their job without any of the trades yeah the hospital
Speaker 1:wouldn't even be there no, they wouldn't even have a scalpel to use. Exactly.
Speaker 2:So I think again, I feel so fortunate that I've been almost able to marry those two parts of my life.
Speaker 1:Let's talk about that, because that's one of the things I wanted to do with the EDs specifically is get the backstories, you know, like the origin stories, because everyone gets in the skills through different ways, right? Some through the trades, some not right.
Speaker 2:So how did you end up in this?
Speaker 1:role, so my mother has been, of course my mother.
Speaker 2:She has been a hairstyling NTC since 2009,. I think she actually, sorry, started as a judge and when she went to a Skills Canada national competition to judge in hairstyling new brunswick didn't have a competitor, and at that time she then proceeded to call the ed and say this is who I am. Why don't we compete?
Speaker 2:I'm going to make us a competition and he was like oh, I don't know who this random woman is but sure, okay um so really, she started um and would come home and talk about it every year, and my again, my father and I we don't know what you're talking about. You leave for a week, have fun. It is what it is.
Speaker 1:It's just probably like there's so many welders there, yeah, and we're still like we don't really know.
Speaker 2:And again, this is the and I totally get it, because skills is the strangest thing to try and explain to someone if you've never been here. Right and fully understand the greatness of all of this, and so, anyways, a job posting came up after New Brunswick had been granted hosting the 2016 National, and it was just for a one-year marketing position, so I applied.
Speaker 1:Was that your background Marketing?
Speaker 2:Yeah, mostly sports, sports, marketing, sports. So I applied and was that your background marketing? Yeah, mostly sports sports marketing sports. Um, that was very much my background with the senators and soccer canada and then helping start the national basketball league of canada and and then mostly monkton and get the team up and anyways applied for the job, ended up getting it Started in January 2016 with no real expectation. The first few months, you know, it was fine.
Speaker 1:What was the state of the New Brunswick skills team at that time? I mean?
Speaker 2:We were 20 people and that was the largest team we'd ever had, and it was because it was in New Brunswick.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay.
Speaker 2:Still very small.
Speaker 1:Yeah, compared to some of these. And what about staff wise? Staff still very small, yeah. And what about staff-wise?
Speaker 2:Staff. It had been one person since 1998. I was the second ever staff again starting in 2016. Yeah wow, and I had no expectation. I again did not know what this world was. Our provincial competitions were one or two at a time on weekends. No one came. There was no.
Speaker 2:I say say hoopla or any excitement and and definitely no one paying attention. Yeah, um, and then you know, we we build up to the national that year and all this setup and it was just the setup phase max and I running around like a crazy person and looking at somebody from alberta saying is amazing, why don't we do this provincially?
Speaker 1:And he looks at me.
Speaker 2:He goes literally everyone else does.
Speaker 1:Yeah, all the time.
Speaker 2:Okay, so I'm really late to the game, but once we you know we're in that first national and again, I knew before we got through the setup phase that I was never going to and I stayed in that role until um november of 2019 and then I moved into the executive director role um, and now we are a team of five members and two contract positions. You know, full board. That is extremely active um.
Speaker 1:It is representative of education, but also heavily um industry and all industry so, in the six years you've been with it, what have been some of the biggest success stories you can see in your, in your, in your tenure?
Speaker 2:Um the growth and just people knowing right, the more the team grows, that's more youth I get to impact. Our provincials are bigger. We we went from having these provincial competitions that no one attended to, none of the largest in Canada. Thereada, there are two day. There's conferences again. You guys came this year. Um, there's thousands of kids that get to walk through see the competition, plus all those students that now have that platform provincially that we did not have for, you know, 20 plus years for the kids to see the opportunity that they may not even know existed right and teachers and parents, like even the amount of parents we have here this year.
Speaker 2:We've never had that yeah so the interest is starting, and and again. Not that we're late to the game, but we're catching up. Um so so, growing the team in itself, I say was is a big piece yeah because and I want students here, yeah, um, but programming, we didn't do programming before you, you know so even introducing manufacturing into the schools.
Speaker 1:That has been an incredible thing for us to do Um starting. It's so needed out there, so needed.
Speaker 2:Um, and even you know a lot of the in-school programs specifically for young girls, bringing in, you know, all the nines and tens and introducing them to you know shop, not only in their school but making sure it's linked to careers, and bringing in industry in their specific area. Yeah, um, so again really helping to make that change what about the sponsors?
Speaker 1:you know, because that's something that I see lots with with lots of the different provinces. Some provinces one or two sponsors and you go to another province they got 100 sponsors and that's a big part, because there is limited funding, there is limited resources and getting that sponsor network is huge to be able to grow. How's that changed in your six years?
Speaker 1:so we had none when I started zero is not a good number, so I I kid like this is so, um, when I first started our uh, all of our funding came from the federal government.
Speaker 2:So when I again first started, my position was the first bigger or larger investment from our provincial government, which again has continued to grow. Skilltree is New Brunswick and New Brunswick is fabulous. We love working with them. But then the industry. It was again important to me. What are we training these people for? So, the more we engage them again, it's, it's to offer that direct connection. But they also then want to support us, right, because they see the good work we're doing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, um, and we have a lot of partners now you know we've started even a bit of a tour in new brunswick we've got some stuff going on, so um Well, then the kids are connected.
Speaker 1:They are and, like these sponsors and supporters, they're basically investing into their own workforce.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:Like I mean they're going to poach all the best kids, 100%.
Speaker 2:Yes, and that's what we want, and that's good. Yeah, that's exactly what you want, like, come to the competitions, come for your, you know.
Speaker 1:You always want to be taken in the draft.
Speaker 2:Always.
Speaker 1:Always, doesn't matter who at the end of the day and again.
Speaker 2:That's really important for me to make sure those partners are there and engaged, because I want them to have the best Right. I don't especially our secondary students that are so engaged. I want them to make those connections before they, you know, think they have to go somewhere else because there isn't a, you know, a future for them in the trades.
Speaker 2:I want them to find a job here, right I, I want them to naturally have those connections and and be oh it's you know easier to go to university and get a business degree. Well, why didn't we continue on that welding path right? So I think even and we have, I want to say, at least 50 partners, down in new brunswick at least I. I don't even want to start dating them because I will forget, but it's that mutually beneficial for both sides. That's so again, like you, said, and a worthy investment.
Speaker 2:I tend to be a bit of a connector, whether I mean to or not, but it's just so important for me because, again, the more we can do that then we're not losing people through the gaps, or whether we're talking about duplication or wasted funds, it's or wasted funds.
Speaker 1:It's how do we build all the team bigger um again, whether it's partners or, yeah, actual kids. So on our last podcast we talked a little bit about how you know, we went to kazan together. We were in russia. I love that you shared that picture. That was a beautiful picture it was.
Speaker 1:I completely forgot we took that, but uh, it was a good find but now, like you know, in your ed, in your ed chair you you've been to a world right. Even I don't think new brunswick had anyone attend that world's that you're doing automotive service.
Speaker 1:It was our first and only ever competitor so far in automotive service so so you know, you go out there with one, one person, with team canada, to another country to compete at the world, and I mean our nationals. No joke, it's big, it's awesome, like this is huge here, but worlds I kazan was 78 hectares.
Speaker 2:Yeah, if I recall it was.
Speaker 1:They actually built new buildings just for that like it's olympic level it's olympic level and abu dhabi in 2017 was the same thing so how do you bring that experience back now? You weren't ed at that time. Right now you are. How do you bring that experience back into this realm to help, either you know a support your, your province, and be like you can get to this level, or be, you know, be more proactive on us attending or being or hosting that stuff so there's a theme with me again a little little bit of a connection.
Speaker 2:You know, this competition actually is probably the first time we've had people purposely trained trying to make Team Canada.
Speaker 1:Good, good, and you have to. To get to that level, you have to.
Speaker 2:But again, it's through the partnerships. It's through the UA213. It's through JTC, it's through our New Brunswick Building Trades Unions and again through Skilled, through our New Brunswick building trades unions and again through skilled trades, new Brunswick, that we are able to support these people and and that's what I want to continue to grow Right and because, again, it's that opportunity not only for that student who's trying to get these accolades and reach that level, but then everyone gets to win.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Everyone gets comes up like Everyone A rising tide raises all ships.
Speaker 2:Yes, His community, his high school. That is a win that everyone is going to get celebrate. So that's been really important to me again to get that messaging out there, or just not even messaging, just understanding of what the opportunity really is. You know, we throw money at athletes and don't even think twice about it.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And and we need sport. That's not where I'm going with this you know, but when again the pandemic happened.
Speaker 1:Entertainment sport the world stopped, except for the trade except for the trade.
Speaker 2:So, again, we need these people to to be excelling, we need them to our infrastructure, just the safety of the world. So, again, to be able to give them this platform and then bring those partners in that wouldn't typically get an opportunity to do this yeah that's so important to me that's awesome.
Speaker 1:Now, yourself, you know when you look at the path that you had to get into this. You come from a sports background. You do a little bit of work with skills. You get, like I said earlier, you dip your finger into the pool. Next thing you know you're swimming because it just draws you in. Now, what skills have you learned? What has skills taught you about you know your own personal development so much yeah I stopped. I've been stopping people on this question, yeah um one.
Speaker 2:I didn't know that I wanted to work with youth this much yeah, you know I. I had a high school. My high school principal actually told me one day he goes, you're gonna be a teacher.
Speaker 1:I said absolutely yeah, you're like oh, gross absolutely not.
Speaker 2:I can see me coaching, but I will never be a teacher yeah um, but doing this type of work I get to have that.
Speaker 2:I don't want to say same effect, because teachers do yeah so much um, but I get a glimpse of it you have a, you have a connection there, yeah, yeah and and helping people is just so important to me and I again this job, as we talked about a little bit before and I will not, but it has been a crazy seven days leading up, like insane, probably the last almost 10 years. The last seven days threw me for a loop, but again you're going for the kids.
Speaker 1:Well, and it's honing your skills. You're an executive director. This is a skill set, right yeah?
Speaker 2:You know, being adaptable, because that's all this is At the end of the day. The only thing that really matters to me is those competitors, experience, or just youth having an experience at one of our events and the volunteers and the NTCs and PTCs.
Speaker 1:You want them all to have a good time.
Speaker 2:Everyone, right because this is again even those people. They're typically in the back of shops and they're so passionate about their trade or technology area but they still don't get that same opportunity. And to see those volunteers just get so excited to support the future generation and students and you get to be. You know, isn't EV a small part of?
Speaker 1:organizing any of that. You see those organic connections happen where it's, you know, the 18-year-old and the 50-year-old and they would have never run into each other just in random. But then you see them connecting and imbuing that like I mean the kids given the older person energy and life again, and the older person's giving back experience and and, and you know, and mentorship. That's a beautiful thing to witness yes, like again I.
Speaker 2:If I start telling you too, too many of the messages the kids have been sending the last couple days, I will definitely cry, because I'm a crier, but it, oh my god, you probably get me at some point this week, but it's again when you're getting messages from people and you're just trying to do your job and then you get a message from a student that just tells you that you've changed their whole life again, I probably will cry you've changed their whole life trajectory.
Speaker 1:Yeah, just you being you, yeah it's uh, yeah, it's impactful.
Speaker 2:It's been again, again I doesn't that invigorate you?
Speaker 1:doesn't that fill your cup?
Speaker 2:yeah and I don't know how I could ever leave. People are always like what's your next step? I'm like what do you mean like here? What am I like? What projects am I working on next? Because I'm not leaving um sorry guys succession plan. Yeah like no, I'm here, like our again, our old president, john oats, in russia.
Speaker 2:I did an interview with him and he told me then he goes skills is like mafia once you're in, you're in yeah you might leave for a bit, but you you'll come back to the familia phone is always on and you there would will be a time you get that call and it's so funny because again our welder on the yeah um, he is trying to make team canada right now and I saw him this morning and his, his trainer is here, and his trainer is an alumni who's also a national uh medalist, who you interviewed when you were in new brunswick yeah and I said to evan yesterday on the bus. I said did you, did you ever really think you'd be back? He goes, absolutely not.
Speaker 1:But he goes. It's the best thing ever. You silly duck, we knew you'd be back.
Speaker 2:Yeah, come on now, especially your UA.
Speaker 1:Come on, you were coming back.
Speaker 2:You're too in there, whether you realize it or not. But yeah, just being any small part of that, it even any small part of that, it's just again, it's, it's shocking that it gets to be.
Speaker 1:And this world is not for everyone, don't get me wrong. Yeah, it is a little crazy.
Speaker 2:It's kind of crazy and hectic it is yeah it is, but if you are one of those people that this is for you, what you get out of this week just makes all the chaos completely worth it I don't understand.
Speaker 1:Maybe I just don't get it because I'm I'm simple, but how can someone come to a national skills event and not come out of these three days just invigorated with energy? You know like I tell people all the time, like as a trades person. Even the welders I just run into, like some manufacturing shop, they're happy with their welding job. They're not thinking big picture, they're already done. But I say to them still if at some point in your life you have the opportunity to attend a national skills competition, do it it'll. It'll even give you pride in your own trade that you didn't even know you had right, no, and honestly, my dad?
Speaker 2:he was a welder at the same shop for almost 30 years and then he's been teaching the welding technology engineering program at a community college in New Brunswick for almost 20 years now. And I don't think he understood his I don't want to say worth, but the career you know he even had that stigma about his own trade. Yeah, I struggled with that too.
Speaker 1:Until I started in this job, I called myself just a weld stigma about his own trade. Yeah, I struggled with that too. Until I started in this job, I called myself just a welder for a long time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you know. So when I first started, I'm because I really took an interest. I went through all the shops, all the programs at all the community colleges. Take me through. I want to understand. I used to have really long stiletto nails and I would do electrical, I would take electrical lessons, I would do masonry car painting. Because again I really want to know and again I remember going through a shop and he's explaining to me and why did you send me to university?
Speaker 2:I would have loved this program and you know I'll never forget the look on his face and it's um. But even that I think I've been able to help him because I value the career so much and and you know the stigma that a lot of the generations have, you know don't yeah.
Speaker 1:Do you feel that stigma is breaking down? Do you think it's getting better?
Speaker 2:I do like we're talking new brunswick I do because, first of all, I don't think people have a choice you know where he work is work.
Speaker 1:You need to work well, not just that.
Speaker 2:I mean all.
Speaker 2:All over the country and really in New Brunswick, we're hearing about shortages whether it's labor shortages, whether it's construction and the housing shortage, but even you know, as important as construction is when we're talking about that and massive shortages, well, we still need to make sure we're taking care of manufacturing and transportation, because construction can't do their job also without those industries. So that's all really important to me and it's just continuing to go at it and again, the more we have these shortages and talk about them, whether you want to believe there's a stigma or not, or that these jobs you know, jobs are still there, yeah.
Speaker 2:But it's also kind of uphold. Well, yeah because it's keeping you know things from moving on and people are seeing that right and you know it's hard to not value a job that, when you need a house, built you need some work done and you can't find anyone.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you want your kids, even as a parent, to have a good job that has pension and benefits and they're secured. You don't want them out like the big, the big it of the 80s and 90s. When I was coming up, everyone had to go into computer science. That was the future. Meanwhile, 90 of my friends that went into computer science have never worked in computer science because, a the jobs paid garbage and b they weren't that many. It was like a false narrative, right no, and anyways it's.
Speaker 2:I don't know where I was going, sorry I lost my train of thought that's, uh, that's the adhd kicking in there. But, uh, no, I I agree and again, any part that I can have and just helping, just educate people right, like we have a. We have a mom here. I don't want to out her too bad, but she, uh, she actually works for one of these school districts in the province and so her son's here competing, so she decided to, you know, come along high school student and she goes.
Speaker 2:He's a really smart student and when she he told me he wanted to go to a community college and take this, she goes. As a mom, my heart was broke no you know just that automatic oh, you're settling or something right, and then she goes, and then I come here and see all this and she goes. Now I can't wait for his future yeah so again to see it even in real time yeah, and and now that is again.
Speaker 2:Somebody that works at a district in the province of new brunswick is gonna go back, you know, has this completely new view.
Speaker 1:Those people talk you know and spread the word.
Speaker 2:They do and and it's, it's important it's.
Speaker 1:It's really important. What's some of the obstacles you've had to face. You know, coming into this ed role like small team, no sponsors, limited budget, like I mean, what, what? What? Were a couple things on your list right away, like I gotta fix it best kept secret. No one knew we were there yeah no one knew just like marketing, really, you know marketing.
Speaker 2:No one knew we existed um provincially, nationally, internationally. The thought prior to me starting was we're not going to tell kids, you know even the few presentations that we would do in school. We're not going to tell kids about world skills because we never make it where when I came in, it's well.
Speaker 2:Maybe we're not making it because they don't know they can yeah, like I mean you gotta set the bar right, yeah um, so a lot of that and again, having that marketing background, um, and our office had been in fredericton, which is, you know, our province's capital, and we were in a government building. Um, we, were kind of not even in sight, not in sight, and so the first thing I did was put our office directly in one of the bigger community colleges in the province yeah um. So you know is that mbcc? Moncton, it is mbcc yeah, and we're, and we're still there um and I love that college.
Speaker 2:It's all the guys there too yeah, and and again, whether it's mbcc, ccmb, they have both been so supportive in this um. We work so much with our colleges. We couldn't have moved to the big model without their support in the slightest. But yeah, it just takes everyone, and being able to pull all those pieces together and almost help them realize what they have and how good they are.
Speaker 1:I love it Now with your 42 competitors, that you have here 45. 45 competitors 42 areas. Okay, 45 competitors, 42 areas. Is anybody here on a world's rip Like, is anyone doing a second time? Is anyone on a gold? I mean they're all golds provincially.
Speaker 2:So again, josh Richard, our welder, post-secondary welder, ua 213, he has his site set and again he's in the partners. We would not, he would not have been able to have the training he has had without their support. That has been huge. So he's here trying. Our robotics team has let me know that they are actually trying.
Speaker 1:They're in the running, which, again, I was not expecting.
Speaker 2:They are a secondary team. They're two high school students. I would never put any pressure, but I like to hear it.
Speaker 1:I like to hear it Go for it.
Speaker 2:But that's also as we grow and as people in the province know. The provincial competitions are now getting more competitive.
Speaker 1:Yeah, which then keeps creeping up. Exactly.
Speaker 2:So our national team, naturally, is getting a little bit more competitive, and while we only brought home three medals last year, I think we had and if I'm remembering correctly we had at least 10 others that were just within points of either.
Speaker 1:And the points are tight, so tight. So tight, like the littlest error and there's 11 people tied for fifth Right, Right, and you're like oh man.
Speaker 2:So we have. I say those two that I know specifically are trying Everyone else. If they do, they haven't maybe.
Speaker 1:That'd be great, but it's an experience, exactly, but.
Speaker 2:I will everyone else if they do. They, you know, haven't that'd be great, but it's an experience exactly. Um. But I will say we have a uh, alice, our car painter. She won a gold medal her first skills national competition. She came back last year, didn't place oh, wow so she is back with a vengeance to say the least, um alice is. Is you know here to take names? So I say keep an eye on her. Yeah and um, who else? But yeah, like we uh.
Speaker 1:William taylor, he's here in carpentry his second time you know, last year one time like as as in my experience, if you can get that two run person, it makes such a difference because they know what they're getting into yes, and and just the, the nerves, and again, just man.
Speaker 1:I talked to those welders this morning there I said to one of the, the ntcs there I'm like you can smell the fear in this room, like I'm not gonna say that to them. But oh man, their eyes all look like little caged ears. You know, it's like I had.
Speaker 2:I told them all like relax, I take a breath, drink some water and even like this is um the first year, we're competing in a bunch of it areas, oh fun so it was so funny, funny, not funny. Back when skills was getting set up in new brunswick, our premier at the time, uh, was actually pulling shops out of high schools because we were going to happening here in sketch right now we were that going to be a tech province, um, so that took a lot of turnaround, but again, the funny part is we never competed in weird.
Speaker 1:How'd that work?
Speaker 2:we never did so this year we again. I think we have at least eight competitors who are competing in tech areas, all brand new to us. We're competing in car painting and auto body at the high school level. Those programs aren't even offered in schools right In.
Speaker 1:New Brunswick, that's wild Again.
Speaker 2:Industry partnerships, yeah that's amazing Because, again for them, if they can start working with these students earlier and training them, it's better for everyone too, if the interest is there right. So again, it's making that connection. It's just again finding a passion for all this that. I had no idea I would ever have in this lightest. Again, it was very much going to be a one-year contract for me.
Speaker 1:What would you have done?
Speaker 2:Probably go back to sports.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I would imagine Did you get this rush of love and energy in the sports world? Were you feeling it? Because of love and energy in the sports world where you feel in it, because I mean that's also very desirable fun jobs and you're working with young people in careers.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean I, I loved it, don't get me wrong.
Speaker 1:Yeah but is? But do you got this? Yeah, you got 200 kids walking by is amazing yeah, you know, this is, this is everything yeah and it just it doesn't compare.
Speaker 2:It doesn't compare. And again, bringing the team here, even just our team that we have here, one thing we didn't talk about we had at least 10 kids in our team who had never been on a flight before.
Speaker 1:Oh my God, how did that go All good. I mean, we got here A couple out of hands.
Speaker 2:No, but that's the thing, even just giving that experience right, it's just outside the border. Break those barriers, yeah, and then you see a bunch of students who didn't know each other and then you know we're one, one half day in and they're all bonding and making that team and just that in itself, especially like every team here wants every single one of their competitors on the podium because they're just fabulous. Yeah, they're all fabulous, yeah um, but no that being able again to create any of that for these students is just the best thing in the world.
Speaker 2:Like I, I truly feel blessed that I get to do this, even on the, even on the hard days even on the hard, even on the hard days.
Speaker 1:Now, what about? You know, like your wish list, because I'm sure you got some things you want to do and you got projects in mind. What do you got on the wish list coming up next?
Speaker 2:I got some stuff I want to do, you know.
Speaker 1:Top secret? Apparently no, no.
Speaker 2:Again, background in sports Not too top secret. I still want to train more. And training is important to me, not just provincially but nationally.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Interprovincial training, bringing more opportunity to our competitors.
Speaker 1:The US does so much of that with their competitors.
Speaker 2:So I guess next project is how I create more of that for New Brunswick. Right, we are the only bilingual province.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:That is our superpower. We don't always use it as our superpower you can go anywhere you can and, and even on that note, because we're the only bilingual province, it makes it easier for the rest of the country to come to us yeah um so again.
Speaker 1:Projects in the works on how I would love to see how you do that, because when, when we went to skills with adam, we sent them to competitions in the us. Send them to competitions in other provinces, because you need to start doing that, like you can't just sit in your in your booth and think that that's enough to win, no right and, and even on a winning scale, just again the opportunity you know, if, if we all start provincially start doing that, what does that then do for our industry?
Speaker 2:what does? That then do for mobility?
Speaker 1:yeah, um, and confidence of the kids to know that they can handle it anywhere.
Speaker 2:Yeah, um and again. So next project is is how I do more of that new brunswick, how I create more opportunity not only for our students in our province, but create more opportunity for everyone in the country to come to new brunswick and you get a little bit of that.
Speaker 1:Do you want to show off that province so bad?
Speaker 2:Oh I love it, I just love it. Again, I don't know. I love it, but it's also again, I think, because for my whole childhood that rhetoric I heard. And now this is, I feel, like my service to everyone else, to you know, get the message out.
Speaker 1:I feel you feel like my service to everyone else, to you know, get the message out.
Speaker 2:I feel, yeah, I'm in saskatchewan, right, and saskatchewan honestly gets bad mouth quite a bit, I know, across canada I was gonna say I feel like we're like opposite ends, but there's a lot of the same, not, you know, messaging or just ugly speak right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but now, literally in the last three days, all these people coming here and seeing the city and the facilities, all I've heard people say is like I had no idea regina was so pretty. I had no, I had no idea regina was so green, had so much the beautiful lake downtown, the beautiful downtown area, this amazing facility. I'm like, yeah, I've been trying to tell you guys that it's awesome here for a long time. Yeah, yeah, well on that note.
Speaker 2:Uh, funny, but not funny because the math is not mathing, because in my head I'm still only 25. But my first time here was 20 years ago for canada games wow, for the summer games, summer games yeah, um, I was on new brunswick basketball team and our canada games was in regina and I remember coming here years ago.
Speaker 1:Yeah, again in my head.
Speaker 2:I'm only so the math ain't mathing, but I remember the same thing Our team, we were, you know, oh, this Canada Games was here.
Speaker 1:Why do we have to go to Regina?
Speaker 2:And we came here and everyone had an excellent time. Like you said, it is a beautiful city and not somewhere that you know many people might just travel to or vacation to Right. So it's a really neat way for people to come here and again. Now they might come back on vacation come visit you.
Speaker 1:That was gonna be my last question. What's your experience with this skill so far? How are you finding this venue, the organization, how's it been going so far?
Speaker 2:It's great. I mean it's just getting started, but it's great. I love the venue. It is massive, huge yeah, every time my board member is like we need to bring this back to New Brunswick. I'm like, again, we don't have anything, we're just happy to build it with you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I will gladly, and you don't want to have the rain. Apocalypse of Halifax.
Speaker 2:Right, right, like I'm more than happy and I don't think people realize Right Again when I'm saying they have three hundred and eighty thousand square foot of just competition space. I know Insane, that's insane.
Speaker 1:Insane.
Speaker 2:And it's, it's, it's. This competition is not going to stop growing.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:If anything. Oh, I know my team's just going to keep growing.
Speaker 2:Like I, until we can, new Brunswick is in every single category. I am not going to stop, um, but it's just going to keep growing. And again, the need is there. The one is there, whether we're talking about the shortage and industry needing to come here because they need to recruit and get these people, or whether it's the students coming to visit because, again, that's some of that stigma is being relieved and people more interested in in learning about the education and the careers. Um, this isn't going to stop growing. Like I can't wait to see where this is in another 10 years.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm very interested too to see you know at what level do we take it to, especially since Canada is growing and is strengthening and you know the the countries that we normally competed against that were always stronger and bigger, are not as big or as strong. It's like we're catching up, Right. So it's like you guys all watch out, we're coming, we're coming, yeah.
Speaker 2:And again, that's even, I feel that provincially Right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we're coming.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we are coming.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so watch out.
Speaker 2:Yeah, once we again start, once everyone knows that this is an opportunity, and especially that international is an opportunity. We will not be making Team Canada by accident anymore.
Speaker 1:I can tell you that Awesome Last question yeah, For any of these competitors that are coming to people listening that are just learning about skills, thinking about getting into skills, what's a piece of advice that you would give a young competitor that wants to get into skills?
Speaker 2:Do it, don't think twice about it, don't hesitate, doesn't matter what area, just do it. I again, I've gone to I don't know how many national basketball tournaments. I did the canada game, saying I did the university basketball. It was great, don't get me wrong. But if I get to be 16 again, I would purely just be playing sports at school and this would be everything. What, what trade?
Speaker 1:would you be? Oh my god oh my god, what trade. What would you like you knowing what you know now? What would you do?
Speaker 2:it'd be a hard toss-up between welding or millwright you love welders so much.
Speaker 1:Is it because of your dad?
Speaker 2:no, I just love what so we're just the best. Probably shouldn't say this, but especially during covid um, when again work was a little bit slower. Everything I was in the shop lot. I generally wanted to learn how to weld yeah um, so I do well you are pretty good we have a welder at home. Yeah, I joke often. I'm like if I ever get sick of this, you guys will see me on the competition floor like, yeah, if it ever happens.
Speaker 1:I mean you are a little over 25 now, that's okay.
Speaker 2:I mean I don't have to make it to worlds I can just do provincials and nationals, uh, but no, like I, I probably would. I just I love it and I think it's the diversity of both the trades to be honest and um, I think you guys interviewed calvin getchell when you were in new brunswick and he has a red seal in both of them.
Speaker 1:He's a national medalist in both of them yeah, and I think too, and his accent is adorable little saint stephen boy, little saint stephen boy, uh, but even him, you know.
Speaker 2:When he was going through school, he graduated great marks and he was told that, uh, he was throwing his life away, and I have never seen anyone be more successful.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, he's doing all right.
Speaker 2:I don't know if there's anyone in the country that has more national medals than?
Speaker 1:Calvin Gedgell does right.
Speaker 2:And the success that he's had. So I think, seeing the different things that he's been able to do too, it's really interesting and I find it fascinating and I just love it. I love it and I'm not just sucking up to you because it's well like.
Speaker 1:No, I get it, it, I love it and I'm not just sucking up to you because it's well like no, I get it.
Speaker 2:I get it because I love welders too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, awesome. Well, thanks so much for being on the show with us. Thank you for being a part of the ed skills canada special and, uh, as always, it's great to see you great to see you.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much for having me awesome and for all the people, make sure you keep following this entire skills series. We're going to do about, I think, 11 interviews between today and tomorrow, so they're working, they're getting the juice out of me, and then we got a few onlines, but this whole series will be about 14 interviews and you're going to want to catch them all. So keep downloading, sharing and liking our podcast and we appreciated everything. Catch you at the next one. We hope you enjoy the show.