Charles Dent

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have to apologize to the Member; it appears that he has a copy of a proposal that I haven’t yet seen. As soon as I get my hands on that, I would be happy to consider it and see where we might be able to move with it. I would agree that we would like to do what we can to assist communities to ensure that childcare is provided and I will have to take a look at what they proposed specifically and see where we can go from there. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I do not believe that at any time the standing committee was informed that we might be having to look at replacing this building. Mr. Chairman, there were extensive consultations with the MLA for the region over the past two years. The village council has been involved in the consultations, the band has been involved in the consultations, and unfortunately it appears that in the act of maintaining good consultation with the community, the step of informing the committee that this was an impending issue was overlooked.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Certainly, I'd be happy to make sure that we're discussing with our partners that initiative or those sorts of initiatives. I know from my discussions with them already that they are already well aware of the importance of following through on this. So I trust that they will all move to ensure that we're seeing healthy foods in schools and physically active kids. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The additional cost would be whatever the cost per square foot is to add the space in a school when that school might be under construction. We have a number of schools in the Northwest Territories in several communities where childcare programs are being offered in classrooms that are essential or not in use as part of the regular school program. For instance, schools that are under capacity. So it is not an uncommon situation. In fact, it’s one that we think is good use of a space. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know from my discussions with the chairs of the divisional education councils that there’s a broad acceptance that we need to be moving this way. So I’m certainly of the opinion that the leaders in the educational councils will set the standards in their regions and make sure that they are moving to have healthy foods in all of the vending machines across the North. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I haven’t had a meeting with the proponents at this point, but I would be happy to meet with them and discuss their proposal.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. Most actions outlined in the Framework for Action have been completed. Significant among these is the implementation of the Protection Against Family Violence Act. As well, resource tool kits have been developed and distributed to frontline workers across the NWT to help them work with families who are suffering from the effects of violence. An integrated response protocol is nearing completion and we thank Yellowknife, Deline and Fort Resolution for their participation in the three pilot projects. We believe the protocols developed will...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I trust that I'm not going to have to provide a directive to enforce that happening. I believe that those who are elected to our divisional educational councils are themselves leaders and understand the importance of healthy food and do want to get junk in the trunk. I will work with the divisional education council leaders and if we don't see that movement happening, I may reconsider my position by next fall. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. More than a year ago I discussed with the chairs of the DECs the need for us to ensure that healthy snacks were available for children in all of our schools and all of the DECs have agreed that they’re moving towards this. I think most of them in the Territories have already moved to ensure that healthy snacks are in vending machines. I will follow up with the DECs and find out just what the state of compliance is with that direction.

This morning, MLAs joined the Awareness of Violence Against Aboriginal Women Journey for Change Walk. This walk is to remember those who have died, those who are missing and the many still living in violence and abusive situations.

I congratulate the individuals involved in this activity, particularly Marie Speakman, one of this year's Wise Women Award recipients and the person who came up with the idea for the walk. I wish them well on their journey and I hope we will all take this opportunity to remember how violence against women hurts all of us, our families, our children and our...