Like almost everywhere else in Canada, qualified truck drivers are in short supply in Manitoba. But it seems that trucking companies across the province have a resource that is largely untapped: Manitoba’s native population.

“We have an industry in this province that needs good people,” says Abie Parenteau, departmental co-ordinator with the Manitoba Metis Federation in Winnipeg. “And we have good people in our group who want to work and develop a career they can be proud of and support their families with. It’s a natural fit.”

The MMF and the federal and provincial governments are co-sponsoring a training initiative through the Reimer Express Driver Training Institute in Winnipeg, most recently graduating 18 Metis students from a 13-week course in February.

A total of 43 Metis have taken their training at the Reimer school, which is affiliated with Reimer Express Lines of Winnipeg, and all had been drawing unemployment insurance from the government prior to enrolling.

“The majority are now trucking with various firms across Manitoba and are enjoying their work,” Parenteau says. “We’re proving that the program can pay off.”

David Chartrand, MMF president, estimates that the Metis population in Manitoba is around 150,000. Although often lumped in with First Nations people in the public mind, he notes that the Metis have never enjoyed the Treaty Rights of the First Nations People nor do they want to.

“Our people have traditionally been fishermen and trappers,” Chartrand says. “Those industries are dying. We have to retrain our people for the future.”

The government-MMF arrangement provides tuition and living allowances for students taking the course.

“Many have family in Winnipeg they can stay with,” Parenteau says. “Others get a travelling allowance and make enough from their EI benefits to pay for basic items. They’re really in the city to concentrate on getting their training.”

Both Chartrand and Parenteau believe that trucking has good future employment potential. The province has benefited from north-south trade, and is the northern terminus of a proposed transportation corridor between Manitoba and Mexico. And, as Chartrand notes, the trucking industry is expanding at a time when thousands of qualified drivers are nearing retirement.

“We’ve never made a conscious effort to target our recruiting to specific ethnic backgrounds before; we look for good people, period,” says Ken Shostak, director of risk management at Reimer Express.

“But here’s a group that collectively says it wants work. We should be happy to oblige, because qualified professional truck drivers are becoming harder and harder to find.”

Parenteau says the MMF’s association with the Reimer school-a reputable one-has helped keep the program going.

“Even though there are plenty of driving jobs out there, the trucking lifestyle and the commitment to working away from home and at odd hours is one that some students may not be ready for,” he explains. “We wanted to work with a training program that focused on turning out people who are prepared to become good professionals.

“The Reimer program does that. It’s not one of those where you go for a few days and then boom, you get your licence. We don’t want a situation where you end up devoting a lot of time and effort on people who realize that the profession just isn’t for them.”