Charles Dent

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Weledeh, the Bill 8, Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, 2004, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have known Mr. Zoe for a while. We served together in the 12th Assembly. Shortly after the election I met with Mr. Zoe, we went for a coffee and talked about our aspirations. He told me at that time that he wanted to be on Cabinet. Mr. Speaker, I told him that things have changed, and that attitudes towards alcohol use had changed significantly, that there was no longer any tolerance for alcohol abuse by Cabinet Members. I told him that I expected to hear from him that he understood that things had changed, and that he could live with these new...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m not sure. I guess it depends on the nature of the behavioural problems. I suppose, for instance, that a territorial treatment centre might be a facility that could be used for situations like that. But again, without knowing the specifics of the behaviour issues, it's hard to know. It may help the Member to know that I have advised the DEC Chairs that by this fall I will issue a directive that will stipulate what is acceptable use for the funds that are provided to deal with special needs. I am not certain that the school support funding has been spent...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, each individual situation is going to require a unique solution, so it is difficult to answer it in a general way. There are in every instance monies available for dealing with children who have special needs given to the divisional education councils, which in turn funds the district education authorities to provide the services. So the legislation in the Northwest Territories requires that the councils provide an appropriate level of education for all students, and that may take the provision of an individual’s support in a classroom, or it may take...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would have to take a look at the terms and conditions under which the program is offered. As I said, it’s a federal program. The federal government pays for the entire cost of the program and, therefore, they set the rules and conditions of who qualifies for it. We may not have the flexibility to allow for that, even if somebody was prepared to pay. But I can’t say that for sure, so I’ll look into it and get back to the Member.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can tell the Member that on more than one occasion during the 13th Assembly when I was Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, I sent letters to the federal government and asked the Ministers to reconsider their position on the university and college entrance program, which is offered only for treaty people. I have always been rebuffed in those approaches. I haven’t tried it again since becoming Minister, but I am prepared to immediately write to the federal government and again see if they will reconsider their position.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will certainly discuss this further with the Member. It is my impression that we do offer that kind of support, if it's necessary, right now. If the Member has examples where he feels we are not following through, I would like to hear about them. So I will commit to discussing with the Member his recommendation and we'll take it from there. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the college has an aboriginal language and culture instructor program which is designed to prepare aboriginal language teachers to deliver aboriginal programming in NWT schools. This is a program that is offered on top of the teacher education program and it can be supported through the student financial assistance program, which also offers access to scholarships, as well. We find that many employers are prepared to support their employees to access this kind of program, as well. So the answer is yes, we make this programming available to assist...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are certainly prepared to continue with our commitment to make sure that northern teachers are better prepared to teach about northern culture and history, and we will continue to work with our partners in the Western Canadian Protocol to strengthen significantly, where possible, the curriculum, or, where appropriate, the curriculum to deal with northern history. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I take very seriously the issue of providing student financial assistance to people who qualify for it. We need to have as many people who are enrolled in post-secondary opportunities as possible. But as I said, the only reason I am aware of for changes is if something is wrong in the application or the regulations are not being met. So in that case, it would be clearly laid out in the regulations that there could be changes if the application hasn’t been done correctly or there is some other problem. So, yes, I take student financial assistance very...