Bob Bromley

Thank you for those details. Of course, I’m horrified to see more iPads out there. I know that’s going to hurt us more than it helps us. I still haven’t had an explanation. Was this reallocated from inside the early development and learning program? Have they taken the early development and learning program dollars and reallocated them to early development and learning programs?

The opportunity to promote development of a made-in-the-North university with a curriculum tailor-made for northern students is not to be missed. In the words of founder Dr. Erin Freeland-Ballantyne, “we need to build a new generation of leaders and researchers who can walk confidently in both worlds and be change-makers.” The pilot has clearly demonstrated how. Now let’s put the financial and legislation support in place to put this unique model to work across the NWT.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Welcome to the Premier and his witnesses here on this occasion. Just looking at this bill and the work that’s been done, I have to congratulate all involved. I know it’s been a tremendous amount of work and today is an exciting day indeed.

I see an elders’ council. I see a justice council. I see a beneficiary’s board. I see the main council. These elements tell me that there’s been a lot of focus brought to these negotiations that the people are there to serve their people here, and there’s been a lot of excellent consideration gone into this.

I see an annual report at a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Dechinta, with leading indigenous professors co-teaching with northern leaders, is celebrating the fifth anniversary of a pilot project to test delivery of original northern university courses designed and developed in the North. It’s been a resounding success for the only land-based and independent university-accredited education provider in the Northwest Territories. It is now time to transition to an operational program in all regions.

The unique Dechinta model has no infrastructure expense. It is designed to be land-based and to use and support already built private...

Thank you. I understand the theory there. Of course, there’s a record of us going through that process and then having them fall off that list. I’m just wondering: is the Minister planning on pushing for some capital infrastructure projects that are significant and above the 2 or 3 percent of government infrastructure projects for 2015-16? Oh, I guess we’ve already proved that. Maybe I better make it the next year. How many years? Oh, my gosh. We have so many years of little to no infrastructure investment by this department, one of our biggest…our second biggest department, I think. Let’s...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate this opportunity to comment on the department’s budget. I welcome the Minister and his staff. I think in the Minister’s opening comments it had a lot of keywords that the Members are very interested in: early childhood development, education renewal, cost of living, supports to those most vulnerable and so on. I was happy to see the capacity to both re-profile and achieve new funding for key initiatives in this department.

On the income assistance side there are a number of expenditures planned to improve that situation. I think it is $6.6 million over the...

Again, I appreciate the Minister’s commitment and I am happy to work with him on that to provide any background and resources there. There is clear opportunity for northern benefits here, as I mentioned, including halting the habitat destruction, providing modest local employment in a remote community that has need of that and addressing the issues of high cost of living and food security in many of our communities that are in most desperate need.

I’m asking the Minister one last time, in his considerations, will he commit to providing committee with a full accounting of the cost and benefits...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up on my Member’s statement from earlier today with questions for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.

The grain harvesting practices throughout North America have been a windfall for the snow goose. As we’ve heard, large amounts of waste grain left in fields after harvest has made them fatter, enabling them to survive better and lay more eggs when returning to Arctic nesting grounds. This has caused overpopulations to where hunting can no longer control them and habitat destruction for all wildlife including caribou is the result.

I’m...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize my constituent from Ndilo, Brent Betsina, also winner of the national level silver medal from the Canada Games.

---Applause

More on that a little bit later. Welcome, Brent. Also, of course, my constituency assistant, Bob Wilson, resident of Weledeh. Of course, I’d like to join you, Mr. Speaker, in welcoming Ronnie Campbell to the House. It’s been a pleasure working with him, and I also wish him all the best in retirement. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Because of waste grain in the South, snow geese are overpopulating Banks Island and destroying wildlife habitat. Egg harvest can contribute to their control while addressing nutritional deficiencies and cost of living for NWT residents facing food insecurity.

More than two decades ago, Canada and the U.S. amended the Migratory Bird Convention to allow for the spring harvest of migratory birds to aid in management such as addressing the overpopulation of snow geese. But despite American states and some eastern Canadian provinces instituting spring sport hunts to...