Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the comments of all my colleagues who chose to speak today. Of course I think it’s well established that UCEP does exist out there, but it runs out early every year and is insufficient to meet the need.

Mr. Speaker, I realize that because of our failed educational system and our lack of adequate counselling so even parents don’t realize that their students are getting an inadequate education or diploma until long after they graduate, this situation where we have been responsible creates a responsibility for dealing with it. The Minister has made some...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

WHEREAS people with post-secondary education are six times more likely to have employment, and completing post-secondary education dramatically increases the lifetime prospects of having well-paid, stable employment;

AND WHEREAS post-secondary education programs require secondary school graduates to have earned specific course credits for entry to programs;

AND WHEREAS students may not learn or realize early enough that they are not taking the courses needed for specific post-secondary programs;

AND WHEREAS students who are lacking courses required for entry to specific...

The Minister mentioned targets for greenhouse gas emissions and reductions. Our current target is clearly one that’s so modest it’s almost negligible, albeit it’s an important start. Will we be considering meaningful targets in line, for example, with scientific analysis and the urgency of the situation?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up on the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources’ statement earlier today and my colleague Mrs. Groenewegen’s statement on the content of the Minister’s statement.

I guess first of all I’d like to know, the Minister stated greenhouse gas emissions had broad implications to our environment and potential impact to the social, cultural and economic well-being of NWT residents. Just to confirm, does the Minister mean impacts like the anticipated loss of hundreds of species of arctic wildlife and plants important to our diverse cultures? Like...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will give up on the logic bit here, but I’ll just say that the many years the Premier talks about has been the time during which, thanks to our aboriginal partners, we have made considerable and great progress towards benefits that accrue to all residents of the Northwest Territories. Our history shows that Northerners have high standards for the way our government should cooperate with all citizens in building a sustainable future. We are patient and we make progress towards our goals one step at a time, regardless of barriers to the obvious and big steps we would...

I was speaking about the consequences to the future, and I’m sure that’s what the Premier was responding to.

The Premier claims the AIP is a good deal for the NWT and for aboriginal government partners who may eventually sign on, and it looks good to me. I have to wonder why, though, if this is such a good deal, our aboriginal partners are not already signed on and moving towards the strength in numbers that the partnership could bring to this. Obviously, we’re not there yet. I realize there are meetings scheduled for this evening and I hope that’s not the only step that the Premier is going to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also would like to recognize a couple of individuals in the House. Verna certainly has been great as the first person I get a cheery good morning from every day. I also want to recognize her as an amazing citizen. I see her working in Bailey House at the swap shop, and she’s a major recycler in town and involved in all kinds of volunteer activities. Gay Kennedy, I think Gay knows that all the Members are really great people here, but I have to admit, at times we must be challenging to work with. I really appreciate the two solid years she’s put in on our behalf. Thank...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The possibility of this government signing an agreement-in-principle on land and resource devolution with the federal government is indeed exciting, but for the Premier to sign without the support of our aboriginal government partners would not bode well. Surely he realizes we will require willing and collaborative partners for our future success and that to proceed without them risks starting a long and contentious road indeed.

The Premier has assured us that this agreement completely addresses aboriginal concerns, that it will not affect existing or future arrangements...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to speak briefly to this motion. I think, first of all, I want to thank my colleagues for bringing this forward. I think the House knows that I have spoken a number of times on this issue, so I will be voting in support.

Mr. Speaker, this is really all about values and capturing those values as we go forward in our development as a jurisdiction. We need a comprehensive process, a process that is of the people, for the people and by the people and that strives to get at those values and capture them in a way that shows how they will be incorporated into our...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This motion is partly in response to the results of our educational programs, which have created a situation where we have students graduating with a diploma which does not prepare them for the post-secondary education that they wish to take on. Unfortunately, when I went to school we had vocational and matriculation diplomas and it was very clear what they prepared you for in terms of post-secondary. Today we don’t have that.

I know the Minister is aware of this and is working with committees and others, his staff, to make sure that we plug that hole, but in the...