Alfred Moses

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to welcome and recognize Ms. Crystal Fraser. She is a PhD candidate. She is undertaking her PhD in Canadian history at the University of Alberta, and actually, she was just recently up in Inuvik where she presented her research on the history of education and residential schools in the Mackenzie Delta region. I believe she also visited Fort McPherson, Tsiigehtchic and Aklavik. I just want to welcome her to the House and congratulate her on her research and wish her the best of luck in her studies.

I’d also like to welcome all of the Dehcho leadership and their...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just following up on that, who initiates the practice? Is it the department that goes to these organizations and seeks this information and whether or not we have to increase the salaries or the core funding to this group, or is it a request brought forth by the non-government organization to initiate the process and that review and make the necessary changes?

Will the recommendations from these committees or the reports that they have become come before standing committee so we can hold them accountable to the work that they’re doing and ensure that these recruitment and retention practices are best served?

Thank you, Madam Chair. I think that’s a good practice, because you heard some Members here say that some people don’t even get an interview and they don’t even understand why they didn’t get an interview in the first place. They don’t have an opportunity to appeal because they didn’t have a chance to even get to the interview process. I mean, we might be screening out people that are long-time residents and might be screening out people that have the community experience but maybe not the education that is always required, so that is something that could also maybe be looked at.

We talked...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Just to follow up on a couple of things in terms of recruitment and retention as well.

Yesterday the Minister stated, I believe, that it takes about six to eight weeks for when a job that’s available to the general public closes to the hiring process. So about a month and a half to two months before someone can get a job within government. I know we’ve got to go through the interview process and all the areas to make sure that this individual is qualified and ready for the job; however, that seems like a long turnover time for when I put my application in to get a job...

The reason I ask if they look at priority regions and communities is if we put this back in this formula funding that we’ve been using since 2007, that means all regions would get a share of the pie, I guess, and it’s based on enrolments. You might have a region or a community that might not have high enrolments in daycares when this Junior Kindergarten came into effect, because now we’re getting more people out of the daycares, so it’s definitely affecting enrolments, so I’m glad that he’s doing that.

One area that I want to touch on with the daycares is these inspections. There was a news...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to follow up with questions to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment as well. When we talk about educating and getting our residents out into the real world with a quality education, it’s all got to start somewhere and where that starts is with early childhood development. Specifically with licenced daycare organizations that we work with, this government funds licenced daycares.

I’d like to ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, when was the funding policy on how we fund licenced daycares last reviewed? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As much as I’d like to do a rebuttal to the Member’s statement, and the importance… Actually, I will.

This government is focused on increasing the health and the wellness of people across the Northwest Territories. As a fact, increasing our economy, increasing our skill force, increasing our education and our health care systems in the regions through the Northwest Territories, and I believe this government’s been doing a great job in decentralizing the jobs in the communities, bringing families to communities. In Inuvik alone I know that the opening of a couple offices...

Just more of kind of like an education awareness little dialogue here. It’s good to know, because we do, as Members, get approached by a lot of NGOs about core funding, about operations, about salaries, things of that nature. So in terms of how it’s being developed, I know looking at the avenues moving forward. Just more of a comment and I’m glad to see that this department has increased the forced growth for these two organizations, because as NGOs it is pretty tough to do business out there sometimes. I’m glad to see that this department has taken that initiative and worked with these two...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just have a couple of comments. First of all, the contribution of dollars going into the Indspire Awards. I think it’s a very beneficial program and one way that this government supports non-government organizations that recognizes our Aboriginal Northerners that are doing great work in the North and even across the country. We have had some Northerners that were recognized under this program.

Also, I just want to acknowledge the ongoing support for the Women’s Advisory, which we just witnessed here last week with the Campaign School. I think that was something that this...