Kenney pitches virtues of skilled trades, but don’t ask him to fix a leaky pipe

OTTAWA – Even though he hopes to encourage young Canadians to learn trades, Employment Minister Jason Kenney admits he probably would have made a lousy plumber.

Kenney says governments must work to remove the stigma that plagues trades like welding and plumbing — and provide young Canadians with information about what vocations have the best job prospects.

But the University of San Francisco philosophy graduate says it’s “highly improbable” he could have been a successful tradesman, given his lack of practical skills.

Speaking on the eve of Wednesday’s “skills summit” in Toronto, Kenney says his goal is to ensure young Canadians make fully informed decisions that are unencumbered by stigmas attached to skilled work.

He says European apprenticeship programs — elements of which he hopes to replicate in Canada — simply give youth more employment options.

Kenney notes that in countries like Germany and the U.K., such programs don’t trap young people in the trades, but rather provide them with a skill to fall back on when they choose to continue with their academic pursuits.

Wednesday’s summit, which will gather stakeholders to discuss the labour market and employee training, comes less than a week after Kenney announced an array of changes to the controversial temporary foreign workers program.

Follow Lee-Anne Goodman on Twitter at @leeanne25