Tyler Bernard shifts with just a hint of discomfort as a tape recorder is thrust towards his face.
Not long ago, Bernard may well have slapped the recording device across the room or even taken a swipe at the reporter.
Today, he possesses much greater calm and far more determination to succeed.
"My attitude has changed like a hundred per cent,'' said the 19-year-old member of the Lennox Island First Nation.
"It has been from down here going 'I hate the world' (to where) now I can sit down and breathe and actually relax and talk to somebody.''
Bernard is one of 11 aboriginal participants in the 60-week, $250,000 pilot program - a partnership between Holland College and the Mi'kmaq Confederacy of P.E.I. Employment Services that is being funded by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada - that develops life skills and aims to pave the way to a career in a skilled trade.
He, like the others, has come to the program hauling some heavy life baggage.
A teenager awaiting the arrival of his third child, he has had more than his share of difficulties. He began the program on Nov. 30 expecting to be the first one to depart in failure.
Today, he views himself and his prospects with newfound optimism. He is determined to finish the program then follow in his grandfather's footsteps in becoming a Red Seal carpenter that would allow him to practice his trade anywhere in the country without the need to write additional examinations.
"This program has helped me a lot...I'm finishing it,'' he said.
Program facilitator Wayne MacFarlane says he is pleasantly surprised to see all 11 participants still in the program at the halfway mark.
Of those 11, adds MacFarlane, nine have undergone a significant positive change in attitude and perspective.
"From my perspective, at the halfway point, we've exceeded expectations,'' he said.
Susan Howard, strategic planning consultant with Holland College, says for a program of this length to have no attrition this far along is remarkable.
"We hope that some of them might consider a program at Holland College but more importantly that they find a direction for the future whether that be work or studies,'' she added.
The first 20 weeks of the program focused on life skills.
Participants tackled problem solving, decision-making, conflict resolution, team building and leadership skills.
"I think one of the things that kept them here was their desire to do better,'' observed MacFarlane.
"A part of the program is that everybody has an acceptance of everybody else for what they are and we have managed to deal with that. And one of the things that was stressed during the program is that our differences is a positive not a negative.''
Dellis Bernard, 20, of Scotchfort didn't know what to expect when she headed into the lengthy program with 10 young men.
She knew, though, that she wanted to move her life forward. A single mother who dropped out of school before completing Grade 11, Bernard wasn't doing much with her life on the reserve. She felt she had hit a dead end.
"I was living day to day on welfare and it (the program) seemed like a great opportunity to have a steady pay cheque (participants are paid minimum wage based on a 35-hour work week) and also giving me the experience of what it was offering,'' she said.
Bernard is in the program with the long-term goal of becoming an RCMP officer after seeing the Mounties have plenty of presence and positive interaction on her reserve.
"I just take this opportunity and run with it really...at the end, something is going to come out of it,'' she said.
The middle 20 weeks of the program introduce participants to a host of trades, including welding, automotive, culinary and carpentry. Two weeks were spent volunteering time to work on two houses with Habitat for Humanity.
The final 20 weeks will be spent in work placement.
Jeff Brant, former director of socioeconomic development with the Mi'kmaq Confederacy of P.E.I., sees the program filling a critical void.
He says the program gives a foundation, what he calls the soft skills of work, to properly prepare participants for the workplace.
"We have a lot of clients who are not quite ready to go to work,'' he said. "You can't go in to a workplace and have attitudes that aren't conducive to the attitudes that make a workplace work.''
He says the program instills the confidence and develops the skills needed to succeed. He says similar programs that typically run only 20 weeks fall short.
"It takes a longer term commitment,'' he said of the year-long program. "We're taking the time to make an investment in these clients.''
Brant is eager to see the province buy into the program as well. He says the model, which was developed over a number of years through a host of expertise, is ready to prepare both aboriginal and non-aboriginal Islanders for gainful employment.
"This is a good investment for the province to make into this program,'' he said. "Tell us what you need, we'll train the workforce.''
Brant says the end goal of the program is to get the participants to go to work or to head back to school.
MacFarlane says the Mi'kmaq Confederacy's measurement of the program's success is in how well the participants develop. He likes what he has seen so far.
"To date, we have nine that have experienced a lot of personal growth,'' he said.
Human Resources and Skills Development Canada lauds the success of the program so far, noting all participants are still on board with the work experience phase expected to begin in mid-August.
"The Mi'kmaq Confederacy of P.E.I. have used their ASTSIF (Aboriginal Skills and Training Strategic Investment Fund) Project as a means to pilot a new approach to transitioning aboriginal clients into employment,'' the federal government department notes in a statement.
"As a result of the success of this project to date, MCPEI is now proposing to incorporate this transition approach into their core programming for the next five years under the new Aboriginal Skills and Employment Strategy.
Abegweit First Nations Chief Brian Francis describes the program as a "tremendous'' initiative for the aboriginal community.
"It's unique in it allows them the opportunity not only of developing life skills but to explore the different career options and choose one that is most suited to them...this gives them that focus, that little sense of direction,'' said Francis.
Bernard, too, certainly gives the program a passing grade.
"It's a great opportunity,'' she said. "I'm glad that I'm here.''
jday@theguardian.pe.ca
