Alfred Moses

Thank you, Madam Chair. I, too, just want to make a couple of comments in regard to the Children First Centre and knowing that is precedent setting and that coming out of this, if government is able to create a policy in which it tops up funding for registered NGOs in the Territories to be able to run their programs and to create capital projects, such as the hard work of the dedicated people of the community of Inuvik, I think this government should be supporting those kind of programs seeing as how we’re in a fiscal restraint. When a community can work hard and help find funding for 80...

That’s really good news to hear, that 30 of our 33 communities are actually accessing this funding for these justice committees.

In terms of alternative and diversion programs having our youth go out and do certain projects or do things for the community, can the Minister allude to what type of projects that these youth are getting diverted into to helping out in the community in terms of volunteering to ensure us that they are not just doing labour work, that they are actually doing some type of skill set that will help them become mature and responsible youth as well as teenagers, and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to follow up to my Member’s statement earlier and my questions today are for the Minister of Justice. With most of the criminal activity that happened in the community of Inuvik, it was stated in the news today that a lot of it had to do with youth. I wanted to ask the Minister of Justice what type of preventative measures or programs are in place to help these youth that are high-risk youth, maybe troubled youth, to get back and become a part of society again. What kind of programs are in place in the communities that can help these youth get back on track...

Thank you. The main concern here is we want to provide services and programs for the families out there in terms of early childhood programming. I want to ask the Minister in terms of space, cost in the NWT. We already have a very high cost of living, and in a community such as Yellowknife, there are a lot of facilities out there, but there are also high costs associated with it. So when we have a doubling of incomes sometimes, in some cases one of those incomes goes to child care fees. I want to ask the Minister if there are any subsidies in place for the high cost of child care for some of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are going to refer to early childhood development programming and infrastructure, keeping on the theme with all the good work that the Children First Society is doing up in Inuvik. I want to ensure that these programs are also provided to our small communities and our other regional centres, as well as here in Yellowknife.

I’m going to refer to the status report of the Auditor General of Canada, and specifically measuring the impact of early childhood education, there were a few things that were mentioned that needed to be taken into account. The department...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Children First Society of Inuvik is a dedicated group of parents and community volunteers who are committed to a better future for Inuvik’s children. They also provide early learning and care services for the young children and their families in Inuvik and the surrounding communities as well. One way that the Children First Society is going to be doing this is by the creation of the Children’s First Centre, which began in the planning stages about seven years ago.

With the land, the design and the great support from the community, I’m pleased to say that construction...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for providing that information in terms of daycare facilities and anyone that’s wanting to start up a daycare facility.

The question I was kind of referring to in my last question was particular for families. Families that need those subsidies to make a comfortable living but also have a safe and healthy environment, and to be able to put their young children in these daycares. Is there a subsidy for families that will offer them an easier life and way of living with early childhood development programming?

I commend the work that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment is doing in addressing the issues from the Auditor General’s report. The Minister made reference to it, but he did mention the inspections of daycare facilities and making sure that all daycare facilities are up to code. I was wondering if the Minister can provide us with a specific update on how many of our daycare facilities in the Northwest Territories are exactly up to code so that we can provide the adequate services in a safe and healthy environment for our early childhood children and staff as well. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize the current mayor of Inuvik, Mr. Denny Rodgers. I’d like to thank him for all his hard work and dedication for residents of the community of Inuvik. He’s also a big supporter of the Children First Society and a big lobbyist for the Aviva Community Fund, which the voting begins today.

I’d also like to recognize former Premier and newly elected Mayor Floyd Roland. I look forward to working with you over the next few years. I’d also like to recognize the mayor of Tuktoyaktuk, Merv Gruben, who is a strong advocate for a lot of projects in the Beaufort...

Mr. Chair, I have no further questions. I just want to commend the work and the initiative on this particular program in Inuvik and throughout the Northwest Territories, especially the larger regional centres. I just want to commend the department for that work. Thank you, Mr. Chair.