Canada and Alberta support infrastructure investments to upgrade Yellowhead Tribal College's STEM facilities

EDMONTON, AB and TREATY 6 TERRITORY, AB, May 7, 2021 /CNW/ - Together, Canada, Alberta and Indigenous peoples are working in partnership to deliver infrastructure projects that meet the interests and needs of Treaty First Nations and help advance reconciliation for the benefit of current and future generations of all people in Canada.

Today, the Honourable Jim Carr, Minister and Special Representative for the Prairies, on behalf of the Honourable Catherine McKenna, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, the Honourable Prasad Panda, Alberta's Minister of Infrastructure, and Dr. Diana Steinhauer, President of the Yellowhead Tribal College, announced joint funding to upgrade educational facilities at the Yellowhead Tribal College. Once the project is completed, students will benefit from a restructured classroom and laboratory, expected to increase educational attainment in the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).

The Yellowhead Tribal College strives to achieve academic excellence and student success by providing academic programs and services founded on the worldview of the Anishinabe, Nehiyaw and Isga peoples. The project announced today will also support the College's mandate, particularly in STEM fields, by generating interest and growth in student enrollment, notably among Indigenous students. The project includes removing walls to widen an existing classroom and laboratory, complete with electrical system and electrical connections, exhaust fans and control devices, air ducts, fume hoods, and new flooring.

The Government of Canada is investing more than $176,000 in this project through the Community, Culture and Recreation Infrastructure Stream of the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program. The Yellowhead Tribal College is contributing over $43,000, and the Chemical Institute of Canada is contributing $15,000 through its Chemical Education Foundation.

Quotes

"Yellowhead Tribal College integrates Indigenous People's traditional knowledge of the land with advanced science. By investing in the College's classroom and laboratory, we're encouraging post-secondary education, and equipping tomorrow's scientists, engineers and inventors to become world leaders."

The Honourable Jim Carr, Minister and Special Representative for the Prairies, on behalf of the Honourable Catherine McKenna, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities

"Construction at the Yellowhead Tribal College will help protect the lives and livelihoods of Albertans by supporting good-paying jobs for Edmonton area workers, providing economic benefits throughout the local community, and ensuring students have access to the modernized facility they need to help achieve their learning and career goals."

Prasad Panda, Alberta's Minister of Infrastructure

"Not only does this project build on the foundation of the spirit of Treaty No. 6; it is a collaborative enterprise for the benefit of current and future students. A safe place to learn, cognitively, spiritually and physically, is created by this project. Creating change by including the First Nations' way of knowing, it also provides opportunities to engage with Elders in a science lab."

Chief Tony Alexis, Yellowhead Tribal Development Foundation

Quick facts

• Through the Investing in Canada Plan, the Government of Canada is investing more than $180 billion over 12 years in public transit projects, green infrastructure, social infrastructure, trade and transportation routes, and Canada's rural and northern communities.
• In Alberta, the Government of Canada has invested more than $5 billion in 352 infrastructure projects under the Investing in Canada Plan.

Associated links

Investing in Canada Plan Project Map:
http://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/gmap-gcarte/index-eng.html

Federal infrastructure investments in Alberta:
https://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/investments-2002-investissements/ab-eng.html

Investing in Canada: Canada's Long-Term Infrastructure Plan:
https://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/plan/icp-publication-pic-eng.html 

Yellowhead Tribal College:
https://ytced.ab.ca/ 

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SOURCE Infrastructure Canada