Testimonial: Atlantic Policy Congress Secretariat - Green Jobs S&T Internship Program
Transcript
John Paul: My name is John Paul and I am the executive director for the Atlantic Policy Congress of First Nations Chiefs (APC).
Charlie Marshall: My name is Charlie Marshall and I’m a Junior Fisheries policy analyst here at APC.
John Paul: Our organization is a policy research advocacy organization for thirty communities across Atlantic Canada and into the state of Maine and the Gaspe Peninsula of Quebec and we advocate on import policy issues that directly impact our leaders in all our leaders in all our communities across the region.
Charlie Marshall: I was hired on a year ago through the Green Jobs program and now I’m full-time.
I have an undergrad in aquatic resources and I minored in public policy. I heard about the APC, and I decided to apply for a position for a Junior Policy Analyst.
John Paul: The Green Jobs program has been very beneficial in providing a real tangible opportunity for him to enhance his skills and to be an effective part of APC.
Charlie Marshall: So I’m on the road a lot and I attend a lot of these meetings to understand the proponents’ perspective and I also go there to represent the member communities and their perspectives.
It’s all related to the fisheries file, such as species stock assessment, species at risk, food fisheries, that sort of thing.
But I’m not there to boast an opinion on behalf of the chiefs. They have varying views and objectives for their communities so I’m mostly there to just observe and gather information.
These days there’s a lot of interest in consultation, especially surrounding the fisheries file. It’s really an important topic. So another big part of my mandate was to develop this document to help federal proponents connect with the right people when it comes to indigenous knowledge.
When it comes down to it, it’s about building relationships and gaining that trust of the organizations and the people that run them.
John Paul: The funding of the Green Jobs program was very easy to manage. It had minimal amounts of paperwork and it did provide a real opportunity for him.
Charlie Marshall: I want to continue doing this and work my way up into higher-level decision making. I’m really grateful for the experience I got through the Green Jobs internship. I now have a fulltime job and I still have a lot to look forward to.
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