Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, a follow-up to my Member's statement; I have a few questions for the Minister of Education. Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned in my statement there's a lot of concerns how junior kindergarten will affect Aboriginal Head Start in the communities of Fort McPherson and Aklavik within my riding. In Tsiigehtchic there's not as much concern there because we do not have the program there. But I would like to ask the Minister: how can the department assure my constituents that junior kindergarten will not affect Aboriginal Head Start? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you colleagues. Mr. Speaker, and in my riding where AHS has helped Aboriginal children learn and grow - to get that essential "head start" - for two decades, we are not assured that immediate entry into the school system through junior kindergarten will serve our children better.

The department says participation in junior kindergarten will be optional, but Mr. Speaker, that choice won't be meaningful if other community-based programs are driven into a different operations model - or out of operations altogether. The government's mandate commits to supporting...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the department has said that the goal of our entire school system is to strive to be as culturally-appropriate as possible. How will junior kindergarten achieve this and how can the department be confident it'll do a better job than the Aboriginal Head Start? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, since junior kindergarten has been discussed, you know, one of the major concerns I've always had is we are taking on an extra grade, yet without any additional funding. How does the department expect to manage this as we move forward? As you know, the cost of doing business always rises in the territory, and with added teachers and assistants, how will the department manage this as we move forward?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to recognize my constituency assistant, Liz Wright. Also, the chair of the Porcupine Caribou Management Board, Joe Tetlichi, and the secretary/treasurer of the Porcupine Caribou Management Board, Deana Lemke. As you know, the Porcupine Caribou Management Board is the only wildlife management board that has a management plan for caribou, and I'd just like to thank them for all they do for the Porcupine Caribou on behalf of my constituents. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my riding, two young women recently graduated from Aurora College's Early Childhood development Program, along with another of their colleagues who graduated from Yukon College. These women are a northern success story. Gwich'in women who studied and trained in the Northwest Territories and Yukon; then took their skills home to our small community to care for the next generation through the Aboriginal Head Start program. But Mr. Speaker, the government's plans for junior kindergarten has left these Northerners concerned about both the children in their...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. Mr. Speaker, we need to look at the whole picture, from keeping the roof over people's heads to home ownership, ongoing maintenance to energy efficiency. It is too easy to sit in our warm, brightly lit offices in Yellowknife without considering the reality of our small communities communities. Mr. Speaker, we need to find a solution that works for people trying to make ends meet in places that are remote, cold, and where the cost-of-living is highest. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll have questions for the Minister later today.

Mr. Speaker, your committee would like to report progress, and Mr. Speaker, I move that the report of the Committee of the Whole be concurred with. Thank you.

Thank you, colleagues. I call Committee of the Whole to order. Mr. Beaulieu, what is the wish of committee?

Mr. Speaker, I realize the thresholds of income that people can make even though it does sound like a lot, Mr. Speaker, you know living up in our age in the Beaufort Delta, it's the highest cost of living anywhere in Canada I'm sure, Mr. Speaker. So would the Minister be willing to consider introducing the regional approach to thresholds to qualify for different housing programs, so a person in Aklavik for example would have a higher income threshold to qualify for a program than a person, for example, in Yellowknife?