Alfred Moses

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The last question is in terms of any of these business owners who have products that might get ruined or be spoiled that have to stay on the other side of the river and can’t get to the community of Inuvik, does the Department of Transportation, who takes care of this infrastructure and operation, have a reimbursement program for who falls behind, whether it’s a contract or whether it’s in goods and services being ruined? Do they have a reimbursement program for our small businesses that are affected when there is a delay in goods and services coming across the ferry...

As I mentioned in my Member’s statement, just because the ferry is in the middle of the river and it’s moving at, like I said, a snail’s pace doesn’t mean that it’s operational, and it’s also a delay in terms of products and goods being transported to the community of Inuvik.

I’d like to ask the Minister of the department what is his department going to do to communicate the operation of the ferry and the hours that it’s operating and the time and length that it’s going to be taking off and arriving from one side to the other, and if it’s shut down, how is he going to communicate that to the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Our Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment opened up his comments today, mentioning that small businesses and entrepreneurs are the backbone of our community and regional economies. It is no more prevalent than in the community of Inuvik. It is getting to that time of year again when the Peel River and the Mackenzie River start to freeze up and it starts putting a little bit of a delay and backlog into the delivery of goods and services up into the Beaufort-Delta regional centre and into the communities.

Today I want to talk about small business, especially in the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’m going to speak about the Aurora Campus in Inuvik. On June 10th members of the Standing Committee on Social Programs had the opportunity to meet with the Board of Governors, the executive, as well as the Minister and his staff up in Inuvik. Along with those meetings we had the opportunity to go on some tours. We toured the college, the classrooms, the residences. We looked into the mobile trades unit as well as going over to the Aurora Research Institute. Great facilities, great staff, and I think the Members can agree with that, and great work that’s going on...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I mentioned a few great opportunities such as satellite farm, fibre optic link and early childhood development possibilities with the great facility that this government committed to with the Children First Centre.

Would the Minister, when he meets with the Board of Governors, look at increasing the programs in the Inuvik Campus and one specifically, especially with our Early Childhood Development Strategic Plan, creating an early childhood development program to train our employees in the Beaufort-Delta region? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is a growing concern that has been happening over the last two to three years about the programs being delivered, enrolments dropping, and there’s a reason we have a low enrolment. It’s because we don’t have the programs.

With the programs that are being delivered at Aurora Campus at the moment, what is the campaign strategy that Aurora College is doing to try to get students not only from the Beaufort-Delta and Sahtu regions to that campus but from all the Northwest Territories and other jurisdictions possibly? What is the department doing to increase the awareness of the programs to try to...

I just listed off a lot of great opportunities that this government has invested in, except investing in our people. Where are the programs, where are the education opportunities, the training opportunities for great facilities like this, and staff, in the northern region of the Northwest Territories? It’s just not there.

I’m going to ask the Minister later on, where are the plans for this campus? Where are the plans for the staff? What are the plans for residents of the Northwest Territories, our students and our families, for the northern region of the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think we can see there is a bit of a focus and trend that some of the Members are talking about and that focuses on fiscal management and responsibility specifically with our short-term borrowing issue. I heard some questions that were asked around that issue. One concern that I have is the risk that it puts our government at when we’re having all these supps being brought before the government. With those supps, there are two big ones. I know there is one we knew was coming and that was on the news with the forest fires and that the government was going to have to take...

I’m glad to hear that the Board of Governors is responsible for the programs and how they are delivered throughout the three campuses here in the Northwest Territories.

How is the Minister working with the Board of Governors? He is the Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment in the Northwest Territories. How is he working with the Board of Governors to ensure that we have equally distributed programs in Yellowknife, Fort Smith and Inuvik? How is the Minister working with the Board of Governors to ensure we have equally distributed programs so that all regions can get the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Following up on my Member’s statement that I made earlier, I will be asking the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment about some of those issues that arose with Aurora Campus.

Can the Minister let me know, and the people of the Beaufort-Delta and the Sahtu region, is there an action plan moving forward for the Aurora Campus, whether it’s a five-year or 10-year action plan, short term or long term? Can the Minister give us any indication if there’s an action plan and is it being implemented? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.