Charles Dent

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would expect that the relationship would be no different than in the office with the income support worker than it is in the housing office right now. Those people who are in stable situations wouldn't have to come in necessarily every month. It's not our intention that that sort of thing would change. Right now, typically somebody who is in a stable situation will have an arrangement with the housing authority where they may only go in once every six months, or once a year. The same sort of circumstance is going to apply for people in stable situations when the...

…for the name change on April 1st, but I would be happy to accompany the Member to the community sometime in the not-too-distant future to celebrate the change of name.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The names will change officially on April 1st, 2006.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am not particularly aware of what all other jurisdictions do. I know the department has looked at what is done in some jurisdictions. I know that included with the letter that was sent out by the assistant deputy minister was a pamphlet that was provided by Health Canada around the issue of anaphylaxis and preparing policies. So we have been doing some research to find out from the federal government and other areas what is being done. We will continue to do that and watch for best practices. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We already consider this to be an important program. It is being used now to ensure that aboriginal language and culture instructors in the school are moved into the UNW funding or salary brackets already. So it is being used to ensure that our staff get the recognition that they should for their qualifications for teaching these important subjects.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I said, we are taking a look at whether or not it would be useful to offer this program as a base-funded program through the college. We will have to work with the college after the curriculum is completed. As things stand right now, it is not a two-year program, but the new curriculum should turn it into a two-year program. Once that’s done, we can discuss with the college what it would take to ensure that this could be a base-funded program. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize some of my constituents who are here today with the UNW: Wendy Carpenter, Allison Barr, and Barb Wyness.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The ALCIP program is a college program right now. It’s not administered by schools. The schools purchase the delivery of the program from the college, so they pay for the delivery. But the program itself is already a college program. What we’re talking about, though, is increasing the requirements of the program to a full two-year diploma-type course that would, we hope, then be offered as a base-funded program by the college.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At the present time, this program is not funded as a base program, but is offered in partnership with the DECs across the Northwest Territories, so that they are paying for the delivery of the course when it’s delivered in the regions. There has been some discussion about the need to consider whether or not this should be one of the base programs, particularly when in the revised curriculum it becomes a two-year program. We are considering that, but have not in this budget included the funds for the college to offer that as a base-funded program. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good afternoon. I would like to recognize some people in the gallery today, too. David Clark, the president of the WCB is here; constituent Barb Wyness who is often with us during our sessions; and a former constituent and friend, Jennifer Babiuk. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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