David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Minister, for your response. The Minister spoke of a process that has been started by his department working with both the aboriginal government, the Akaitcho, and the City of Yellowknife. He says that work has begun on this agreement to set aside some land for development and to try to work together and cooperate on a long-term plan for the city of Yellowknife. I am just wondering when we might expect some dates or some of this work to be concluded and for the City of Yellowknife to have some surety on available land. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the price of residential land is determined by the location, cost of development, and supply and demand. Before you have houses, you have to have land to put them on. In Yellowknife, the cost of land has gone through the roof because of the lack of supply and an ever-increasing demand. People are paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to live in cramped townhouses with no land just to put a roof over the heads of their families.

Mr. Speaker, they are the lucky ones. Others are being forced out of apartments that they can no longer afford because of...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I guess the Minister and his definition of foreseeable future and my definition of foreseeable future are two different things. I can’t see us spending that type of money on a terminal building that is only going to be in its current location for 10 to 12 years. To me, that is not the foreseeable future, Mr. Chair.

I have a question. I am not sure if Minister Dent can answer this question, or perhaps Minister McLeod might be better equipped to answer this question, but this master plan for the Yellowknife terminal building or the airport property, the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, what the Minister is saying is if the student goes back to school -- and let’s say they become a lawyer or a doctor -- this $5,500 is never remissible because they missed a deadline. They’ve gone to school here their entire life, K to 12, and they come back to the Northwest Territories as a lawyer or doctor and the government won’t remiss a $5,500 payment because they missed a date. Is that what the Minister is saying? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, Mr. Speaker, in this instance, the debt has gone over to the FMBS and they are sending notices in the mail requesting payment of some kind. Even $50 a month for a student is a lot to pay, Mr. Speaker. I am just wondering again, FMBS and ECE not really working together. These are real people, Mr. Speaker, with real problems and each situation is unique. I think, as a department, we’re trying to send our students out to get an education and come back and be productive citizens and we need to find a way to be flexible. I know we have rules, I know we have policies...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am going to speak today about student financial assistance and some of the problems that constituents of mine and many others are having with the way in which policies and rules are enforced.

I have a constituent who ventured south to attend college for the first time last fall, after attending school here from kindergarten to Grade 12. This person was enrolled in six courses in the first semester. When they realized six courses were too much for them to handle, it was too late to withdraw. This young person gave it their best attempt and passed three of the six...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that we rise and report progress.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It’s quite nice that the government has spent this money and it can’t be deleted and we find ourselves in this position today. I know I made my points pretty clear yesterday, but I would like to add a couple of things. I just want to state for the record that I’d like a commitment from the government, you can criticize something to death, Mr. Chairman, and I’ve been critical of this expenditure, but I think the government needs to have a look at its airport, the grand scheme of things. I know there is a master plan that was developed for the airport property, and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m just wondering, if a student who is at university or college in the South and on their own ticket, paying their own way because they’re on suspension, having the FMBS debt of $5,500 hanging over their head, if they come back to the North next summer and work and then go back to school and they’re reinstated in SFA, what happens to that $5,500 debt that FMBS has over their head. Does ECE go back to FMBS and get that back? How is that all worked out if one doesn’t really know what the other one is doing? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, the Honourable Charles Dent. I outlined a story for him of a constituent of mine who has gone back to school and is faced with a $5,500 bill that is hanging over their head. I am just wondering what Education, Culture and Employment is going to do to try to address some of the students who face this situation that they didn’t quite meet the 60 percent mark, but they are still in school. They can understand that they are under suspension, but why don’t we call the dogs off on...