Mr. Speaker, during Women's History Month we reflect on our history to determine our progress and our future. Earlier this month I was pleased to be part of the launch of a Youth Internship Canada
initiative that will give young women from across Canada an opportunity to stake a claim to Canada's high tech future.
The three year construction technology for women demonstration project will provide 260 Canadian female high school students with the chance to explore the rapidly expanding field of construction technology. It will bring together industry, labour, educators and government and is designed to provide young women with the knowledge, skills and confidence to pursue careers in largely male dominated fields.
With women currently making up less than 1 per cent of the workforce in trades, technology and blue collar operations, this excellent project will help steer young women to further studies in engineering, architecture, urban and land use planning, surveying, energy conservation retrofit, building trades, communications networks and computer design.