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Because of MacLeod’s a-ha moment, Hydro now runs driver-training programs alongside its other skills training sessions.

Since June, 20 people have got their learner’s permits. Josh Apsassin Paquette is one of them.

“It feels really great,” he said in a phone interview from Dawson Creek. “That first feeling behind the wheel? You can’t believe you’ve got this far.”

After high school in Dawson Creek, he went back to the Blueberry River First Nation.

“I was really doing nothing. I was around a lot of negativity back at home — drinking alcohol and drugs. I wanted to get away from that and move away from the rez.”

At a cousin’s suggestion, he signed up for Hydro’s Essential Skills to Trades program at Northern Lights College.

“It’s changed me. … It really made me realize that I can accomplish stuff. It made me want show up every day because I’m meeting new people. I feel confident.”

Apsassin Paquette now hopes to continue with either carpentry or welding training. But he knows that to do either, he will need to be able to drive to the jobsite.

He has already bought a car — a 2009 Mitsubishi — and is getting in as much practice as he can with mom along for the ride. That is one of many restrictions on new drivers — they have to have someone with them who has a full driver’s license, and they can take only one other passenger. They can’t drive past 11 p.m.

Within a year, he will be eligible to turn that ‘L’ into an ‘N’. But before then, Hydro is paying for professional trainers to work with him and others from Halfway River, Doig River, Blueberry River and McLeod Lake First Nations to help ensure they pass their next tests — both written and practical.

“Sometimes, it’s just easier to bring the training to people,” says MacLeod. “It’s certainly a more comfortable environment for them.”

It certainly seems a simple fix. Of course, increasing the number of drivers won’t solve double-digit unemployment among youth. Yet, with a rapidly aging population, we need more young people in the workforce. And if having a driver’s license helps, more employers and educators need to make that happen.

dbramham@postmedia.com

Twitter: @daphnebramham