To the Editors,
In 1973 I enrolled in a nine month welding course at Mohawk College in Stoney Creek. We also took blueprint reading and some school subjects and welded four hours a day and I passed with a U69 all position stick welding and a 4 position Mig welding test after eight months. I applied to John Deere in Welland and passed their welding test and welded there for 30 years.
I find it is just stupidity that men are not given an equal number of opportunity to be eligible to participate in the so-called welding training when two thirds of participants have to be women or disabled to participate, or maybe men could pull a Lia Thomas to participate.
Unless you have welded as a fulltime job that requires passing a welding test and reading a blue print when you started, you would unfortunately know a disabled person is not going to qualify as there is handling of steel when welding and if you make a bad weld you have to grind it out and reweld it and just imagine wearing a leather smock and welding shield in the middle of summer for eight hours.
I remember about four years ago a similar course was given to 20 Indigenous women to learn how to weld. How about telling how many of these women are welding now?
I guarantee no rookie welder will pass a legitimate government test with 30 hours of welding training.
The government should have set up a legitimate six-month welding program to train some real welders properly, to be employable.
Doug Wadel,
Dunnville
