Caroline Cochrane

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that Bill 16, An Act to Amend the Social Assistance Act, be read for the third time, and, Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded vote. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

At one time in my life, there was a time when I thought I could do it all alone. I'm almost 60 years old, and I've realized that that's wrong. I do need people around me to provide me support. So yes, it's really important, actually, that we engage with all partners, the labour force, academia, everyone who has a stake in this. We cannot do this alone in isolation. This has to be a comprehensive, inclusive strategy as we move forward.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Skills 4 Success document is actually, in my opinion, a great document. It was done in partnership with the Conference Board of Canada, and it was a 15-year forecast of the jobs that will be needed within the territories, so it's really important. There was a lot of work done with this. The Member was right. The occupations are changing. The way we do jobs is changing, so this is really critical. We're using this document to look at all of our educational programming and our training programs throughout the territories. We are also using it in our high schools...

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that Bill 17, An Act to Amend the Student Financial Assistance Act, be read for the third time, and, Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded vote. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I'm going to try not to make this answer too long, because I could go on talking about traditional knowledge all day because I believe it's important to take that into consideration. This is the knowledge of our people. This is the knowledge of people who have brought history. It's not today's knowledge. It's historical knowledge that people have learned from, so we need to incorporate that into it.

I am going to use a concrete example, if I may, Mr. Speaker. When I was the Minister of Housing, I went up north to one of the communities, and we had built some senior's complexes. Because...

I would like to clarify about yesterday, for sure. Yes, I did make that comment. I should clarify. It's not that I can't make decisions. I can make decisions. I can decide whatever I want to decide. The reality is, I don't believe in doing that. I believe in best practices. Best practices means that you get the most qualified people around to give me advice to make strong political decisions. So I will correct that, to start with.

Then, absolutely, like I stated in the first answer, the Skills 4 Success is a very progressive document, in my opinion. I will be using that document. I will be...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am pleased to be here today to introduce Bill 17, An Act to Amend the Student Financial Assistance Act. I'd like to thank the Standing Committee on Social Development for their review.

This bill seeks to extend the term of Student Financial Assistance Appeal Board members from two years to up to four years. It also seeks to amend the qualifications for the post-secondary student representative on the appeal board to include individuals who have been a post-secondary student within five years of their appointment.

This bill will allow board members to establish continuity...

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair.

Yes, like I said many times, as soon as that person is in place, the first priority of all the evaluations is to be the social work program and the degree in education; that will be a priority. So, yes, that evaluation had better happen in the life of this Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

What I'm hoping will be left when this is done is that we will keep the strengths that are offered within the social work program currently and also address the weaknesses that have been identified in both reports.