SaskParty Slams NDP For Native Job Numbers

SaskParty Slams NDP For Native Job Numbers

Tuesday, June 14, 2005 at 13:26

The Saskatchewan Party is blasting the NDP government for the province’s dismal statistics on Aboriginal employment.

A Statistics Canada report released yesterday says, of the four western provinces, Saskatchewan has the lowest employment rate among off-reserve Aboriginal people.

StatsCan pegged the rate at 50.7 per cent. That’s compared to the 62.6 per cent employment rate of off-reserve Native people in Alberta.

The report also says Saskatchewan’s unemployment rate in the off-reserve Native population is a very high 16 per cent.

Saskatchewan Party MLA Wayne Elhard says the Calvert government is failing the fastest-growing segment of the province’s population.

Elhard says even though unemployed Native people appear to be staying in Saskatchewan, he wouldn’t be surprised if they started heading to Alberta for better training and employment opportunities.