Alfred Moses

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ll follow up with questions to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment on my Member’s statement.

I’d like to ask the Minister if he in fact is familiar with the Canadian Education Association and the Ken Spencer Award for Innovation in Teaching and Learning and if any of those programs that this organization has awarded, if he’s looking at ways to better our education system through these programs. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I’d like to acknowledge the departments of ECE and ITI for their contributions and beginning to build strong support for school food initiatives and also recognizing the important role that health and nutrition have played in learning and development.

Some future projects that East Three School gardening program plan do to include a traditional food snack program as well as an ethnobotanical garden with medicine and food plants. They’re also looking at doing a cultural lunch program featuring northern games as well as knowledge sharing and looking at creating prototypes for indoor aquaponic and...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate being able to comment on our last opportunity with this department within the life of this government. You do learn a lot over the three years, whether it’s through the business planning or the main estimates budget discussions that we’re currently having. We’ve also had a lot of correspondence with this department here and you do learn a lot, especially if you chair the committee that’s the oversight for this department, in terms of what was said, reports that were done, documents that might have been tabled or even just more consulting and going out to try...

It’s possible that there might be limits on the amount of dollars that a small business can access. We all know that when you’re putting in infrastructure such as solar energy, that high cost of shipping materials up to, let’s say, the Beaufort-Delta region and then installing them, it does come at a very high cost, and with the amount of sunlight we get during the summer there’s a short window to get any kind of profit on that.

Would the Minister also look at a solar energy program, a program that promotes the use of solar energy technologies in the NWT and work with Arctic Energy Alliance to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’ll have questions for the Minister of Public Works and Services. Last week I had questions in the House about the Net Metering Program and some questions around energy. I know this department has taken over the responsibility for energy. I’d like to ask the Minister, in regards to supporting small businesses, I understand there’s a business support program within his department and I want to ask the Minister, when was that program last reviewed in terms of supporting businesses in the Northwest Territories?

Under this program, this program is designed to help...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, 2015 was a great start for many people in the Beaufort-Delta region, particularly those in the area of sport and recreation. We have seen a lot of achievement so far in this early start to 2015. We had some basketball teams bring in some banners, and we had a young lady from Fort McPherson win a gold medal at the Canada Winter Games. In fact, we had a strong delegation representing the Beaufort-Delta region at the Canada Winter Games. Just recently, our Inuvik women’s team won the territorial championships this past weekend.

This is all a good segue to show...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Under the energy department there is an area under solar energy, and for the last couple of years it has received funding in the area of maybe about $625,000.

Can I ask the Minister if that funding has been fully utilized throughout the Northwest Territories as well?

It’s a shame to hear that the program wasn’t fully utilized in previous years, and I do understand that the department does have a partnership with the Arctic Energy Alliance.

I was wondering when was the last time the Minister met with the Arctic Energy Alliance and looked at this policy to see what barriers and challenges are preventing our businesses from actually participating in this program that can potentially help businesses succeed, get a higher revenue but also cut down on our carbon emissions.

I’d like to ask him, when was the last time that his department and staff met with Arctic...

Like I said, it’s a high cost of travel. Inuvik comes down to participate in all these events all the time from the Beaufort-Delta region. As well, it’s a great chance to showcase the Beaufort-Delta region. Also, it might be one of the last times to actually drive the ice road, so that’s one thing to also highlight.

Before I finish off my Member’s statement, I would just like to thank the Arctic Winter Games 2018 Bid Committee from the Beaufort-Delta region for their hard work and for doing an excellent job in showcasing what we have to offer in the Beaufort-Delta region.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Standing Committee on Social Programs has completed its review of Bill 38, An Act to amend the Jury Act. The committee thanks the Minister and his staff for presenting the bill. The bill permits the sheriff to obtain names of prospective jurors for a French or bilingual trial from a jury list compiled in accordance with the regulations. It also exempts from jury duty employees of the Public Prosecution Services of Canada and the Department of Justice of the Government of Canada.

The public hearing on the bill was held on February 2, 2015. The committee heard from the...