The CWB Association Welding Podcast
The CWB Association Welding Podcast
Skills Canada Series - Season 3 - Episode 6 with Brandon Villeneuve
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!
Executive Director, Brandon Villeneuve, pulls back the curtain on the extraordinary logistics required to build trades education in Canada's Arctic. With communities connected only by air, prohibitively expensive travel costs, and weather that can ground flights without warning, simply getting competitors to events becomes a monumental achievement. Yet the challenges don't end there – finding local industry mentors, securing sponsorships in a region without major corporate presence, and creating training facilities that compare to southern resources all require creative solutions. Despite these obstacles, which make Skills Canada Nunavut's mission both challenging and profoundly impactful, Nunavut's trades landscape holds tremendous opportunity.
Website: https://www.skillsnunavut.ca/
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 check, check. Good. So I'm Max Duran. Max Duran, cwb Association Welding Podcast podcast 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 week we have the honor of being here in Regina, saskatchewan, for Skills National Competitions. As a part of our programming with Skills this year, we are interviewing all the executive directors of all the provinces and territories across the country. Right now we have Brandon Villeneuve, who is the executive director for the Nunavut group. How's it going, brandon? It's going great. I'm having a great time. How are you liking regina so far you ever been here before?
Speaker 2:no, this is my first time in regina. Um, it's been beautiful. I I like in terms of landscaping. The city is miraculously well kept and that's been really cool to see yeah, I think it's a.
Speaker 1:It's something that people don't expect when they come to regina how green it is, how much parks and trees and water, and a few of our kids that we brought down have never been down south before.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so some of them are are seeing trees for the first time so that's been really neat and they've been really enjoying that.
Speaker 1:That's good. That's good. So let's start with your team. How many people came down? What are you representing?
Speaker 2:so there's about about 36 of us who came down. Um, we have a handful of kids who are part of the soaring skills program oh, awesome, yeah, um. So we get to bring them and they're not competing, but they get to check out the competition and and see what it's about. Um, they trend a little younger. I think all of our kids are in grade nine.
Speaker 1:Okay, that's a great age to do this, though.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they're all very excited. They're having a blast. They have gone back to their hotel, they're wiped.
Speaker 1:It's hard to wipe a 15-year-old. Let me tell you.
Speaker 2:Oh my God, yeah. And then we have a number of chaperones. We have kids participating in cooking, baking, small engine.
Speaker 1:How many trades are you got competitions?
Speaker 2:for I believe we have 13 participants in 11 or 12 trades, some of them are two. Yeah, double trade?
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you know as you prepare them for this journey. You know, like you said, so many people from the Northern Territories have never left, have never been on a plane, have never traveled without their parents or family. How do you prepare everyone for this, like, I mean, at least you're not dropping them into Toronto or something real scary but that's next year. That's next year right, but at least for this, you know how do you prepare them for this type of trip.
Speaker 2:We prepare them for this type of trip? Um, we prepare them by being honest. We we let them know what to expect. Um, we tell you know you're going to get to, there's going to be a lot of people we are. So our territorial competition before this is in a high school gymnasium. So going from that to this is is a wild shock.
Speaker 2:I'm assuming to most of them yeah, um, so we, we let them know. You know it's going to be a big thing. There's going to be a lot of people there like just do the best you can learn from the experience, have fun with it and yeah, just enjoy yourself.
Speaker 1:Yeah, good, yeah. Now, in terms of the people that you have supporting them. You said you got 13 competitors and you said 36 in total, so that that gives me 20, no, but 30, no, 20. I'm really bad at math right now. 23 support people, so is that family?
Speaker 2:oh, no, sorry 36, uh 13 or competitors 10 or soaring skills students okay, okay so, uh, you got 13 other supporters then yeah, so three are the chaperones for soaring skills. We've got a number of chaperones and coaches with us. We have have our staff which is four of us, and then we have coaches to support the competitors.
Speaker 1:Now, have you been to Provincial Skills? How long have you been with the Skills family?
Speaker 2:So I was on the board, originally in Nunavut, I felt that it was a board that'd be fun to be on and a good cause to get into Um. And then our executive director position was opening up this year and I said, no, that's something I feel like you're good at. And I got lucky and got into the position I'm in. So I've been in this position for only about two months now. Oh wow.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, you hit the ground on fire.
Speaker 2:There you go, I hit the ground just as Territorials were starting. I was very lucky in the executive director before me had been there a long time and it was pretty set up yeah. They had a pretty well-oiled machine already going, so I'm very lucky in the position I'm in.
Speaker 1:How long has Nunavut have had a skills team? Like, have they been around since 98, kind of, when everyone joined up, or uh, none of it didn't exist in that's right. So like, uh, what?
Speaker 2:did they come into it? I think our incorporation documents 2005, so I'm assuming we had shortly after programs and I know we've had teams for at least a decade. I know there was a covid kind of messing stuff up and we weren't able to go around. It's really hard to do things in the North because there's you can't drive, it's very expensive, everything has to fly.
Speaker 1:That's right and everything's far from each other.
Speaker 2:So to bring people in from other communities we have to fly them in from all over the place. Wow, and during COVID that was just not a thing.
Speaker 1:Well, and the price of that? Even at the best of times it's, it's pricey you live in a pricey world I I have a friend of mine who does nursing up in in of it.
Speaker 1:Every year he goes up on a tour and he always sends down those pictures that scare everybody, you know, like the 26 pepsis and the yeah, everybody goes to take pictures of the orange juice price now, but you guys gotta live in that yeah, so, like when you're talking about supporting the kids in trades, you gotta've got to factor in that's a major barrier or hurdle that you need to manage through, because the consumables and the equipment and the things they need to train are more expensive.
Speaker 2:There's a couple of things we really have to factor in that changes in the north. One is definitely cost yeah, especially with airlines, and having to transport back and forth from other communities because we're centralized in a call it, but we want to include as many of the communities we can, for sure, and it's not that big right. Yeah, a call it's about 9 000.
Speaker 2:The territory itself, I think, is about 35 yeah but we want to include as many kids and give them the opportunity from all over the territory and that becomes really pricey no, um, and then also, along with uh, materials and things are more expensive up there, but a big one is just finding support as well right um because there's I mean there's a ton of different trades and technologies and service skills that people compete here that we can't really take part in, cause we just don't have people up North who are doing those?
Speaker 2:trades and skills. Um, we're, we're at uh, we're a victim to what we can find. We, we're, we have a passionate group and we're, we're reaching out to more to try and get more partners. But there's some things we just there's no business for up north.
Speaker 1:There's no. It's one of the questions I've had with all the executive directors, and it's how important partners and sponsors are in order to be able to support your team. Now, the more remote you get, the further you get away from main centers, the less companies you have, the less availability to sponsors and supporters. How do you because a big part of your job is to find them how do you find or how do you work with that system?
Speaker 2:it's it's just a matter of going out and, uh, putting your boots on the ground and knocking on doors just communicating with everybody and, uh, shareholders and stuff locally, um, we don't have the, the major corporations that are down here. A lot of them are just not present up north. So it's and part of it. It's not all a negative, some of it is a positive. It's a smaller community.
Speaker 2:You get to support more local community partners, so we get to support local community partners, but we also know each other a lot more. There is a small town mentality, like I know the people who run the hotels locally I know, yeah, we know a lot of the teachers. We know a lot of people who just like if we need something, we know, hey, we can reach out to this company specifically and yeah, it's, there's a lot of help and stuff like that.
Speaker 1:Well, let's go back to you. Let's get your origin story all right. So you were on the board, but now you're the ed. But what pulled you into this world of skills at all? How did it get on?
Speaker 2:your radar. So I'm from sudbury, ontario originally. Okay, the big nickel. Yeah, um, I went up north and and just loved it. Yeah, that was about eight years ago.
Speaker 1:I was in banking for a long time um, like the working for the banks or robbing.
Speaker 2:I was uh, legally I can't discuss um no, I was working for a major bank, for a while and I. I wanted to do something more, uh, to contribute to the community, so I left banking and joined the government. For a while, uh, the government in, and and I was working in a position where I could help. So were you banking in? Yeah, okay, okay, I see, yeah, um, so I went with the government who I was in a position where I could help.
Speaker 1:So were you banking in Nunavut? Yeah, okay, okay, I see yeah.
Speaker 2:So I went with the government who was in a position to provide grants and contributions to nonprofits. So that felt like kind of a middle ground where I wasn't directly helping but I was supporting in some way Corporate, but still community. Yeah, so it was kind of a middle ground and I was happier in that and and then, uh, I got on the board here and saw how passionate these kids were and how passionate like people were locally, because I I myself personally have no trades experience, nor in your family.
Speaker 2:No, I have, I have uh, an uncle who changes tires and stuff and my grandfather was an electrician so my family has a little bit yeah I've done a few things with them when I was young cool, um, but I saw all the passion and the kids and the community and how much that skills benefits them and their future and just building up there and I said, you know, I want to be a part of that. I joined the board and it's been fantastic. Then this position opened up.
Speaker 2:I said, you know, this is kind of what I've always dreamed of is doing something more that that really directly community, yeah, Something that it can see a real tangible impact locally. And uh, it's worked out really well.
Speaker 1:And in that learning curve, for you to come into this and basically needing to know a little bit about all the trades, being involved with everything and trying to make those connections when you don't really have the background. What was that curve like?
Speaker 2:Uh, it was exciting. I'm, I'm somebody I love to read up on stuff and I love to learn and I've learned a lot in the last 60 days or so. Um, I've I've trusted, uh, in the people we work with. I've learned a lot from them. Um, and I'm going to keep learning. Like there's going to be some stuff I'll try that's new and even just wandering around here I'm like that'd be fun to do. It's. It's a steep learning curve at some points but, it's, it's been so.
Speaker 2:I've been happier in the last 60 days doing this work that I have in any job I've ever had, and it's been so rewarding.
Speaker 1:Well, have they? Have they given you the mafia speech yet? No, not yet.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because once you're in skills oh yes, no, somebody mentioned that to me pretty early yeah, when I get no, I came last year to nationals, yeah, and I was on the conflict resolution committee and they said, uh, you know, once you do this, once you're doing this forever. Yeah, and I said, oh, okay. And then this year they're like we told you. Well, we see your position now. We discussed this.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there's no way getting out of it. And I mean, I'm in the same boat. I started off as a mentor, helping with scales, supporting as a welder welding instructor, and then eventually just got more and more involved with it. One of the first things I did when I became an ed for the canadian welding bureau is we gotta tag out the skills professionally. It makes sense. We're in a private association, well-funded one, where we can support and do a lot of good.
Speaker 1:But number two, personally I have an attachment to it. Right, I feel, like you said, this is an organization that does very like a to b connections, where we're helping young kids and they succeed and I'm not talking medals, we're talking just success and then from there they go off to have amazing careers and it's, it works every time I'm really looking forward to that aspect of working with skills is just seeing these kids go from uh, competing here and like working with us, working with our mentors, to seeing them go on to competing here and like working with us, working with our mentors to seeing them go on to be apprentices and getting jobs in this, these areas, yeah.
Speaker 1:And I think that's something I'm looking forward to the most in throughout my time. Well, and what's going to happen and this is what I heard from a couple of the other EDs that have been around for over 20 years is that you see the long-term cycle of skills where it goes like and then they become the next EDs, and then they become on the board and it's like it's a life like that. They've kind of been skills or skills adjacent.
Speaker 2:Yeah, uh, some of our board or skills alumni, uh, our program coordinators, the skill skills alumni as well for new needed for us Yep they they just see the passion. They want to give back as well. Uh, in when you came into this role, did you have any not-for-profit experience outside of the the bank? Um, not a ton. I did a lot with the government when I was dealing with non-profits and doing uh I did their grants, contributions, applications and stuff like that yeah so working with that and and diverting funding and working in that aspect was really helpful yeah um, but other than that no it's been.
Speaker 1:So what skills did you have to learn real quick? What were the skills that you had to pick up and be like, okay, I gotta get better at this.
Speaker 2:I worked for the government for a while and there was a lot like government has a lot of money Going from a major bank to the government, to a small nonprofit. You have to learn budgeting but stricter budgeting very quick yeah, rubbing those pennies together.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, that was you know going. I knew that going in because I was on the board. I knew what we were working with. Yeah, so there will be a lot of I'm a lot of uh, reaching out and hoping we can get more sponsors in the future now, are you the type of director that wants to budget first and then find the money, or do you like to find the money?
Speaker 1:I my anxiety, I want to know we have something before we're going to spend it.
Speaker 2:Uh spending money we don't have.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's that it's not just there, no, no we, we.
Speaker 1:I do not want to put us in a hole of any sort so, yeah, now what about the skills that you feel you you're going to need to learn? Like, the whole aspect of this of the setup is skills based, essential skills, skills for success, all these things. So you came in with a certain set of skills you're learning, you know better money management skills, budgeting skills. But when you come here and see all the other, you know, uh, eds and the ntcs and just the system in general, what are the things that you're like?
Speaker 2:okay, I gotta pick up on these things um, a big thing that I'm uh gonna be working towards in the future is just working on things like uh programming and, um like curriculum management in terms of like putting workshops together or even our territorial skills competition, putting stuff together that is, uh, just beneficial to the kids and prepares them for what to expect here.
Speaker 1:Being in a community where everyone's so dispersed into small communities, does the online or the virtual sphere help with recruitment or with bringing people in, like I mean, I've heard that kind of go both ways, depending on on the province more recently trending that direction a little bit.
Speaker 2:Um until I would say about two years ago, the internet was horrible yeah, you guys are all starlink now. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I have one on my house yeah uh, we have one on the office. Yeah, it's. Yeah, it's just. Without that we could not function. Yeah, like it. It's like a fortune to get 200 gigabytes a month with our our plans and it's still not even good.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean it's, it's functional now which is good, yeah, um, but a lot of people still don't have home internet, so right, it does help in terms of communicating the schools a lot, but people still don't have home internet, so it does help in terms of communicating with the schools a lot more.
Speaker 1:But you're not able to run virtual competitions yet.
Speaker 2:We did. We've tried a little bit during COVID and last year we did a little bit as well, because we again going back to the travel thing, we did territorial skills last year and 50% of our competitors were weathered out. Their flights were canceled, they didn't make it, yeah. So we had to kind of adapt to something remote, because we can't, they can't drive in. So if their flight cancels, hope next year?
Speaker 1:Wishful thinking. What if you could acquire funding to bring everyone down to like an Alberta or Saskatchewan or Ontario and have access to a college for like a month and have everyone train on professional equipment, with all the space and all the consumables and all the resources they need? Like, like. How would you, how do you support your team, to get to the point where they're getting the same level of support that the major centers get?
Speaker 2:It's, I mean the, the pipe dream would be getting something like that.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Um, just to get that support is just working with partners, and something I'm doing this week is reaching out to NTC members who organize the competitions here and kind of bringing what we do sort of up to par with what you're doing here and just gaining more information and tips on how to prepare our competitors.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And we've brought a couple this time to work with gaining more information and tips on how to prepare our competitors. Yeah and um, we brought a couple this time to work with. Uh, we brought a plumber and a mechanic down to work with a little bit of the ntc, to kind of just the procedures and the formats yeah just to gain some more knowledge on how to work with kids and how to how to put a, put a competition together that'll be, beneficial to them.
Speaker 2:Um so, just working with the right people is like huge are the sponsors and partners, and and just volunteers are just a massive part of what we do like the most. You can hear people just loving it right now yeah, but like the, the volunteers we we have are fantastic and without them we just can't do this yeah, like all these not-for-profits, like without the volunteers you don't really have a business. Yeah our territory skills competition. We have a ton of volunteers and without them that doesn't. That doesn't get together.
Speaker 1:Yeah what about the communications or interactions between the territories? Like, I mean, you're not really any closer to northwest territories than you are to manitobaoba per se.
Speaker 2:We do have a really good relationship with the NWT and the Yukon. My first week we talked with the other Blake and Katie yeah. Previous ED Janice introduced me to them online very quick. We have calls set up Because we all to some degree deal with the same thing. They have been great and just reach out.
Speaker 2:we have calls set up where cause we all to some degree kind of deal with the same thing so we can uh, they have been great and just been, you know reach out to us if you have questions like and they've been really helpful in that, because we sort of deal with the same issues and the same logistics problems and it's nice to have people who are in my position and it both physically and also like logistically.
Speaker 1:And that helps a lot. Now I know that, uh, when I was talking to blake, there was a the dream floated of could we ever, or could you ever, host a national conference in the territories, like how would that happen? Because like how do you bring the spotlight north? As you know, was kind of how the conversation started and so like thinking about that, asking you how do we bring the spotlight? Because with the spotlight comes money, with the spotlight comes funders. Absolutely right, like how do we get the spotlight up? Just a small community like that, but is obviously harnessing great talent.
Speaker 2:I would absolutely love if the nationals could be held in nunavut. Um, right it just logistically. We well, look at this center. We, we have nothing. Even if you add up all of our public space in the calo, it's, we just don't have it. No, um, hopefully someday. Um, the only way that could really work is like splitting it up and putting some here and some there. But then logistics, yeah, then you're back to.
Speaker 1:That should be even more of a nightmare.
Speaker 2:But day one yukon, day two northwest but it would be so wonderful to have it up there that would be, it'd be so cool and it would really, because part of it is, uh, engaging the kids and bringing them in and coming down here is a big thing, but, like one thing the territorials skills competition does for us is that we can really bring the community in and let them see what it's like, and so having nationals up there would be just so wonderful in terms of bringing people in and be like this is where we've been going. This is what we've been doing and really, opening their eyes to that.
Speaker 1:I know that at the CWB Association we're looking all the time at how we can support the territories better. We have camps, we have a number of programs running in all three territories, but they're only like exploratory, they're kind of just scratching the surface. The conversation always comes up how can we make a more lasting impact?
Speaker 2:We really I mean me personally going forward. I want to do more to bridge the gap between uh grade nine and apprentice and I want to do more to uh mentor throughout the year leading up to territorials nationals. Yeah, um, and work with kit just finding out what kids are passionate about, what they want to do what they're interested in, getting them in front of whatever they need to try it, and then just putting them in contact with the right people. That'll nurture that skill set and just building towards the future.
Speaker 2:So a big thing is just keep working with these kids and and and being present rather than, you know, prepare for a competition or workshop and just try and do something that is more regular.
Speaker 1:Yeah, now is the work there for them that's a, you know, that's a conversation I had with the maritimes. Like I live in saskatchewan, out here in the west, that's never an issue. There's always work. We have very low unemployment rates. It's we're blessed, you know, to have that ability. But you get into the, the, I guess, the exterior parts of the country and it's not as solid, but I don't know the story in any way. Like what? What is going on up there, industry wise? What's the big hires?
Speaker 2:uh housing is. We have a huge uh housing deficit up there, so construction yeah construction trades up north are always hiring and always interested in hiring locally because with a lot of those companies they have to fly people in from down south to do that that's so expensive yeah they so it.
Speaker 2:You know, if you're a apprentice carpenter, like a apprentice plumber or something like that, you like you'll get hired. Yeah, there is work for trades. Um, I know there's some stuff building up in the technologies. I think um like there's some places that's graphic design, things like that so there are jobs up there for them?
Speaker 1:what about mining? Is the mining?
Speaker 2:industry is big up there. Um. We have baffin land and agnigo eagle there and doing work. There's many mines in Nunavut?
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I'm sure they're looking to hire. Yeah, they're always, Just like everyone else millwrights, welders, fabricators, all of it right we had one of them come to our territorial skill competition and set up a booth. Nice.
Speaker 2:They're always interested in trades. We have two major airlines up north like Comair Canadian North that are always looking for people. There is a lot of opportunities. It's just a matter of getting it in front of these kids and getting them aimed towards those opportunities and get the training they require to get there.
Speaker 1:Is there still a lot of thoughts or I guess trends in the north of you need to get out of here, we need to move somewhere else to make money. I got to leave here or are people pretty happy trying to stay there, stay in the community and and, and I guess, contribute locally?
Speaker 2:I I don't hear the mentality of of having to leave to make money there's. I've talked to people who have to leave for education sometimes because that might not be offered right but uh, most people I thought like they want to stay there and there are opportunities if they get the right training and the right skills that to stay there and work, but people, people I talk to just love being there and love the north and love their families and and the people there and and will stay there if they can, and there's, like I said, a lot of opportunities yeah, it's funny because we always joke in saskatchewan that you know all these transient workers float through saskatchewan and then we catch them and they never leave.
Speaker 1:It's one of those provinces you don't hear much about. Everyone thinks we're flat and ugly and barren. Then you get here and realize that it's actually really cheap to live here and really good money and it's not that bad right now. I've also heard the same of the territories. Yeah, I've had many friends go up to the territories on a one-year contract. They never come back.
Speaker 2:I went up for a vacation. I went up to check it out for a three-week vacation and I just fell in love with it.
Speaker 1:And I was like it's great here and my father texts me about once a year.
Speaker 2:He's like when are you coming back? Are you coming back?
Speaker 1:And last year he mess.
Speaker 2:He messaged me and he said I don't think you're coming back.
Speaker 1:I said I don't, I don't think so Like, for why? Like you're good, right, I love it there.
Speaker 2:When you got an awesome job. I couldn't be happier with my job, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, now what about the kids that are are here competing, or the students are competitors. I should say every province has like the things that they're especially good at historically.
Speaker 2:What is it that none of it's coming here to crush that? Do you think? Like we got this in the bag. You know what? We have an exceptionally, uh, excited group of kids who are just really passionate, ready to be here, just to be here. Yeah, um, yeah, I, I would say honestly across the board.
Speaker 1:We're just ready to go and ready to be here.
Speaker 2:Yeah, um, yeah. I I would say honestly across the board we're just ready to go and ready to be a part of this.
Speaker 1:Yeah, um hopefully it gets them on the podium.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they've been working really hard, um, and we just want them to do their best and enjoy themselves, and it's it's a big deal to be down here oh for sure, yeah, I think.
Speaker 1:To the, to the, every single one of them, it's a life-changing moment.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a big thing. The first time I came last year was a really eye-opening experience for me. The territorials were cool, Like for Quebec. Yeah yeah, Quebec City Territorials are cool and it's beautiful to see that and be part of the community.
Speaker 1:But when you come here and see the kids from up north take part in this, it's really overwhelming at first yeah, and you see them interacting with mentor and with the other competitors, right, and they're making friends and they're making new acquaintances and people from across the country right just like walking around this week and seeing them uh interact with their coaches and do their their uh, do their work uh, because I've just been spending the day kind of wandering around and see how students are going yeah.
Speaker 2:And even I haven't really known them that long and even I'm filled with pride Like I can't imagine how their parents and stuff feel. One of them is being chaperoned by their mother and she's just like beaming over her daughter earlier.
Speaker 1:I would hate to be chaperoned by my parents. It would make me 10 times more nervous.
Speaker 2:I think they're having a blast, but that was really heartwarming to see earlier.
Speaker 1:She was just beaming over her daughter like doing a great job. What's one of the like? I mean, we talked about logistics, we talked about funding, but when you look at the, at the, at the psyche of the kids, what's one of the obstacles that you got? To make sure they're ready for, when they're getting ready to prepare out there um a big thing is just being listening to them yeah um, obviously you know first aid jitters.
Speaker 2:Today we've had some, some kids struggling with some stuff and it's just listening to what they need, encouraging them, because you know we're not, we're not giving them the speech of like you need to go win, you need to get first we aren't just go do the best you can and be happy with that Learn yeah, Learn, and I said to somebody earlier don't compare yourself to the other competitors. Compare yourself to who you were yesterday.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:If you learned something today, then you were better than you were yesterday. Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah, I think that's the best mentality to go into this with.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. Now, you said you walked around. You've walked the whole floor. Oh yeah, no, you said you walked around, you've been. Have you walked the whole floor? Oh yeah, I've done the whole floor multiple times. At this point, what do you think of the venue and the setup here?
Speaker 2:I love the setup. There was something in Quebec City where we had no. There was nowhere to sit down, Like at all, and that was rough so it's been nice to have the area over there and just have a seat for a sec. Yeah, but it is um the other thing about last year and well, they did a great job and it was wonderful. Uh, the space is wider here so they fit a lot more in here and it's. It's great. It looks terrific in here. The energy is just really high. It is everybody's having a blast.
Speaker 2:I love seeing like the, the elementary schools and stuff come in here.
Speaker 1:That's really neat. They get so pumped they're running around just like crazy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, one of my favorite parts of this is just watching them interact with the tri-trade booths. Yeah, like there was, uh, the one doing the digital welding stuff earlier.
Speaker 1:That's just really cool to see it is now, as you walked through and checked out all the shows which are your favorite to watch, like as a spectator, not as a judge, or as a or as an ed.
Speaker 2:We had this conversation right when we were coming down here. Yeah, um, I love watching the cooking and baking because I like doing some cooking everyone's top three I the, the landscaping really blows my that one's been up there. Yeah, and I was just I love gardens and I love just walking by like last year, that was one that I sat like, actually sat and watched a little while, just Just going from a pile of dirt to a beautiful thing in two days is crazy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it takes me nine weeks to plant the garden. These kids are doing something you could tell on TV in two days.
Speaker 2:I also like walking by the animation and game art one too.
Speaker 1:I'm a big gamer and I love animation, so going by there and I'm like I love going by early in the competition when it all looks just looks like notes and paper and doodles on paper, and then you get to see the end product at the presentations and it was like how did you get from there to there in such a short span?
Speaker 2:I did that this morning. I went and looked around and I'm going to go back tomorrow and yeah.
Speaker 1:And see how far they've gone. Yeah, yeah, it's really cool to see it is. It is. What are your expectations for you and your position going forward? You're new. I'm sure you got some visions of where you want to take this. What are your visions for the work you want to bring now?
Speaker 2:My vision is just I mean, it's going to depend on what we can do. My vision is just ultimately just boosting capacity. Yeah, Just offering more programs, offering Different trades. Different trades but also doing more to keep consistent with them. Okay yeah. Keeping up to date with them so that Because sometimes you know we do a workshop in like August and they might be interested. Then we do the territorial skills competition.
Speaker 1:I'd like to do some things that are Too long of a break in between.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'd like to do some things that are it's too long of a break in between. Yeah, I'd like to do some more things that are year round. Yeah, that we have kids who are more prepared and just more confident going into this.
Speaker 1:They can take more from it. Well, we've talked to some of the provinces and, like I mean, they got gold medal winners that are training full time right. Like I mean that's it right, yeah, I can imagine.
Speaker 2:I I've seen some videos of worlds and that looks the whole crazy experience, yeah, it. Yeah, a big thing is the, the turnaround right, the, the people we have now. I'm hoping they'll come back and maybe encourage and create that mentor cycle. Yeah, we're big on that mentor cycle and the alumni coming back and helping where they can.
Speaker 1:Awesome. Last couple of questions for you. Number one we talked about the trades you love to watch and look at, but let's hit the reset button. We're going back in time and Brandon's you know, 16, coming. And we're going back in time and Brandon's, you know, 16, coming, getting ready to graduate high school. But knowing what you know of all the trades now, what would you choose to be something to go into school for?
Speaker 2:Honestly, if I went back at 16, I probably would have gone to school for 3D game art.
Speaker 1:3D game art is that the second person that said that today? Yeah, yeah, and the other one was blake from northwest okay, him and I are gonna chat later.
Speaker 2:Big gamers yeah, we'll chat about that. We haven't had a game conversation yet, but we are now you are?
Speaker 1:yeah, we talked about it for like half an hour after the show. We're like game, game, game, game. Because I'm a huge gamer I'm gonna do it tonight.
Speaker 2:I'm messaging blake, after this we'll meet up all right, awesome.
Speaker 1:And last question you know, in terms of inspiring your, your group, you know, when you're trying to get the competitors together and and they're kind of getting just in the initial concept of skills, what do you say to them to pump them up? What do you say to them to get more involved in skills, to work towards this end?
Speaker 2:um, just being encouraging. Just like you know, you're learning something new that maybe you don't follow as a career, but it's going to be skills you have for the rest of your life. It's something you're going to remember for the rest of your life. Honestly, I wish I would have had this in school. I think this is a life-changing experience for these kids. It is genuinely something that they're never going to forget, and that alone is worth taking part in this 100% Awesome.
Speaker 1:Well, I hope you guys get on the podium. I hope you do well, and I'm very proud of you and your program and what you're doing. Me, too, I couldn't be happier with how it's going Awesome. Well, thanks so much for being on the show today.
Speaker 1:Thanks for having me. I had a good time Okay and awesome. Well, for all the people that are following along with the skills podcast, make sure you check them all. We're learning about every province through their executive directors and what they do and, uh, you know how they can succeed. And we're here in Regina and everyone's given it. We're going to find out Saturday who the winners are. That's going to be crazy, but we still got another full day of podcasts to record tomorrow, so make sure you check out all 13 podcasts that we'll be doing Until then. I'll catch you at the next episode. We hope you enjoy the show.