Statements in Debates
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thanks again for the Minister’s comments. I guess I would just ask: will the Minister commit to keeping the House apprised and committee apprised with as much faithfulness as I commit to bringing forward concerns that I hear from the coalition to the Minister? Thank you.
I appreciate the commitment from the Minister. The 238 women and children last year, Mr. Speaker, the major coalition partners like the YWCA Yellowknife, the Centre for Northern Families, Inuvik, Hay River and Tuk shelters, NWT Seniors, Salvation Army and a host of others are our long-established and indispensible leaders and service providers in this area. So why is core funding for multi-year funding agreements for these groups even an issue? These partners are in for the long haul and shouldn’t be made to flounder between annual funding agreements.
So I ask: will the Minister commit to...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As a society we need to cultivate and promote our strong northern candidates for positions of leadership in education. Through its Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative, ECE is placing top priority on improving the academic performance of Aboriginal students, and rightly so. Grade standings, competencies, and graduation rates among Aboriginal students remain unacceptably low in comparison with non-Aboriginal students across the NWT. Here in Yellowknife 50 percent of our students are Aboriginal.
Regional consultations note that strong teaching and program...
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that consideration of Tabled Document 9-16(6), Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 1, 2011-2012, be now concluded and that Tabled Document 9-16(6) be reported and recommended as ready for further consideration in formal session through the form of an appropriation bill. Mahsi.
Just a couple more quick ones and then I want to follow the Minister’s comments up, which I appreciate, by asking for his assurance that he will be referencing the committee reports today and the Auditor General’s comments and principles on P3 partnerships, and making sure that those are well referenced in the model that we finally adopt, and that in fact we will not be going out to private partners and adopting their advice on a model to be followed by this government.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to ask a couple of questions on this project, as well. The $4.2 million being proposed here for this payout brings a total, as I understand it, to about $17.4 million for the Taltson project. These, of course, are all public funds that are going towards an unregulated power project with a partner that has no funds to contribute. Although I believe they did bring some modest, or were instrumental in helping the government bring in some federal dollars, modest though they might have been.
Where are we at in terms of paying those dollars back? Is the project still...
I’m not sure whether the Minister is avoiding the question here or just choosing to give unrelated answers, but I did point out very clearly that I’m not talking about meeting with Aboriginal groups. I see that that’s well identified here. I’m talking about, if you want to call it, a necessary component of negotiations towards a final agreement that is delivered by consulting with the public and developing our common understanding amongst all NWT residents about what we mean when we negotiate for authority for sustainable resource development, resource and land management regimes, and this is...
I’m not sure what the Minister was saying there. Was he saying that in fact his first answer was being adjusted here, or was this $572,000 identified just for meeting with the two Aboriginal partners towards resource revenue sharing? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just on the issue of the funding for the devolution negotiations, I’m wondering if the dollars that have been identified for working with the partners… I believe there’s about $572,000 for working on negotiations related to resource revenue sharing. Does that include potential partners or is that identified for just the government working with the two Aboriginal groups that have signed onto the AIP? Thank you.
Thanks for the commitment from the Minister, once again. Mr. Speaker, last session I spoke of overlap and duplication and the development of programs for men who use violence with a GNWT program that had been developed without even the knowledge of all coalition partners. The coalition was created as a clearing house of this work and is recommending a three-year community-based pilot program to create a territorial program standard. Will the Minister commit to working with his Cabinet colleagues to support this program and ensure that the departments use the coalition forum as their partners...