Daryl Dolynny

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today the Minister spoke about safe communities and I spoke about the need to remove the politics from emergency services, especially in our smaller communities. It’s clear when one hears about a stop work order for an entire fire department that we should be asking those bigger questions. My questions today are for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.

Back in December 2014 the Fort Resolution fire department was issued a stop work order by Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission. Reports did cite deficiencies reaching as far back as July 2013.

Ca...

I’m encouraged by what I’m hearing from the Minister. I strongly know he is committed and passionate about wanting to get this back on the air, and I’m pleased to hear that the funding model might come under the one-roof model which would be administered through the GNWT.

But there are still some key areas of operational challenges that CKLB is still facing. The first one is the ongoing debt that this organization has been saddled with for so long. This debt is an albatross around its neck which prevents it from getting to the next level as a business entity.

What opportunities are there for...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Ms. Bisaro.

Closely related to the proposal allowing the retroactive reduction of ancillary benefits is the issue of how Bill 12 would affect the nature of the NEBS plan. Presenters who spoke against Bill 12 expressed the view that the NEBS plan is a defined-benefit pension model and that the provision allowing the retroactive reduction of ancillary benefits, if and when put into effect, would effectively shift NEBS to a target-benefit pension model.

A defined-benefit pension plan is a type of plan which pays a guaranteed, predetermined benefit on retirement...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the deputy minister’s reply on that. To the subject of daycares, daycare operators in general and the communication and interaction with the department. There have been, I guess, some barriers to that in the past, as a Member trying to facilitate a better collaboration with our daycare providers. What is the department prepared to do in this upcoming year to reach out to daycare providers in the Northwest Territories to engage them in a fulsome discussion, talk about their issues, engage with them in terms of what’s best for them and best practices? Is there a...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that response. It’s always important for us to reflect and evaluate monumental shifts or changes in leadership and, in this case here, how we are looking after our various divisions in management.

To the question of how well this has been working, I noticed that recently the graduation rate in the last year did rise slightly. I think it increased by around 8 percent.

What would have accounted for a larger increase in graduation rates? Of course, I think it’s under 65 percent, but there was something of a shift. Can we maybe get the department’s explanation why...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I would like to welcome the Premier’s delegation and all the people in the gallery here today who made the journey to the Legislative Assembly. Thank you for joining us today.

As mentioned by my colleague, a lot of key words were used – historic – and I think I’d like to echo those same sentiments. This is very much historic data. As we say, 19 years in the making, but I think it actually occurred even before that. I think it was back in 1976 when this first got off the ground. So this has been an extremely long journey with a lot of hard work, a lot of dedicated people...

Clause 49(1) of the NWT Corrections Act states: “The Minister may appoint persons to investigate and inquire into any matter connected or affecting the administration and operation of the corrections service or correctional centre.”

Can the Premier, given the seriousness of the circumstances, indicate to the House when such an investigation will take place? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday the NWT was witness to yet another scathing report of the Auditor General. This time it was on our corrections system. Members of the 17th Legislative Assembly are not immune to the ever-repeating saga of these types of poor department results, and we have only to reference the past child and family services, income support and daycare reports to familiarize ourselves with what many in this room know all too well.

Shamefully, it is only under the watchful eye and the written investigative powers of the Auditor General of Canada until departments or Ministers...

I appreciate it. No further questions on this activity. Thank you.

Maybe it’s a pre-ERI birthday gift. Again, it’s just something to note and, again, trends are something, I know, that many Members here pick up on and I’m sure we’ll have more questions in the future.

Mr. Chair, first when we took on this job four years ago, almost four years ago, the Auditor General report tabled information regarding the Adult Learning and Basic Education. Without getting into the details of that audit report, this is a report that, literally, it was scathing to a certain degree, but there were issues in terms of how we were evaluating this program and some of the monies...