Caroline Cochrane

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...

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...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. On my right is Mr. Andy Bevan. He is the assistant deputy minister for Labour and Income Security with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. On my left is Christina Brownlee. She is the legislative counsel for the Department of Justice. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am pleased to be here today to introduce Bill 16, An Act to Amend the Social Assistance Act. I'd like to thank the Standing Committee on Social Development for their review.

Bill 16 seeks to extend the term of Social Assistance Appeal Board members from two years to up to four years. It also seeks to add Indigenous governments to the list of public bodies with whom information received under the act can be shared.

This bill will allow board members to establish continuity and build greater corporate knowledge over the course of their term. It will also allow for more...

One of the greatest strengths within the program that was identified in the internal review was that it takes a northern context; taking people on the land, bringing others, et cetera. That will be there because, Mr. Speaker, thanks to a previous Minister of Education who was really focused on language and culture, we have language and culture programming throughout our education system, including our post-secondary. So I can't take credit for that. I do have to give credit where it was deserved. That was a previous Minister, Minister Lafferty, I believe, at the time, and so we will make sure...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have the political will to make sure that we have quality programming for our students based on the credited standards. I have the political will to know that the social work program and the Bachelor of Education program are in our top 10 needed skills within the Territories in the next 15 years. I have the political will, Mr. Speaker, therefore, to tell the person who takes the position, as I've stated many times in the House, that the first programs to be reviewed within the context of the Aurora College is the social work and the degree in education. Thank you, Mr...