(photo / Saskatchewan Apprenticeship and Trade Certification Commission)

By Kenneth Cheung

TRADES

‘Backbone of Canada’: North Battleford journeypersons recognized with SATCC awards

Dec 10, 2024 | 10:23 AM

The Saskatchewan Apprenticeship and Trade Certification Commission (SATCC) awarded 52 scholarships and awards on Dec. 6 to honour exceptional journeypersons, industry partners, and educators in the trades, three of which are from North Battleford.

“The trades are the backbone of Canada, and everything that needs to be done in your house and on your vehicle is done by a tradesman,” said Tanner Gartner, an automotive service technician who received the Bruce Pearce Scholarship.

Gartner has always had a passion for being a mechanic, a love that dates back to his childhood.

“My parents had a big backyard, so I always filled it up with junk, ripped things apart, and did not know how to put them back together,” he recalled. “My dad would do his best to try to help me when I messed up.”

Fueled by his enthusiasm, he started his mechanics journey about seven years ago while in Grade 11. He secured a position at the Ford dealership, where he started by changing oil and putting on tires.

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Reflecting on the moments that shaped him into the mechanic he is today, he believes every day is a “learning curve.”

“You can get yourself into some pretty sticky situations where you have a customer who wants their vehicle back, and you don’t know how to fix it. But those days are the days you learn the most about your job, and that’s what you take into the next job, and you just learn from it,” he noted.

Looking ahead, he feels that receiving the scholarship boosts his confidence in his ability to improve. When asked how he envisioned the future, he wants to have his own business.

“I want to employ other mechanics, and I want to teach the new ones coming up and give my knowledge to the next generation. And then my kids hopefully will be in the same boat as me,” Gartner said.

Another recipient from the city is Jeffery Schwab, a heavy-duty equipment technician who received the Outstanding New Journeyperson award.

After operating equipment for about 15 years, Schwab decided in 2019 to pursue further education to advance his career.

When discussing the misconceptions surrounding the trade, he pointed out that it is not for “dumb kids.”

“A lot of guidance counsellors will push the kids that aren’t good in math or good at school in the trade, and it doesn’t really work,” he noted. “For my trade in particular, we have to do a lot of figuring out for like flow rate, electronic systems or calculating voltage and amperage resistance and electrical circuits.”

“Even an electrician [or] plumber to be in one of those trades in this day and age, especially with the way the vehicles are now, you got to be pretty smart,” Gartner added when discussing the misconception of trades being a low-level job.

Although they work in different fields, both aim to achieve the Red Seal certification to meet national professional standards. Notably, to receive the award and scholarship, they both achieved the highest score on their trade certification exams between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024.

The third local recipient is Dalton Keys, a Powerline Technician who also received the Outstanding New Journeyperson award.

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Kenneth.Cheung@pattisonmedia.com