Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in follow-up to my Member’s statement, I have a few questions for the Minister of Transportation. I'd like to ask the Minister: can the Minister confirm the number of crushers available in the Northwest Territories through his department at this time?

That sounds promising. My last question for today is: Will the Minister be willing to come to Aklavik to see first-hand the challenges, and also to meet with the community?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the community doesn't have the money that the Department of Transportation has to hire these contractors to do these services for them. The department has these crushers available to communities that need it. The community could do this work with their limited budget of maybe a couple hundred thousand, whereas to hire one of the contractors we're talking millions, at least over $1.5 million for sure. That's why the community is asking the department to work with them.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just a couple of brief comments. I'd like to thank the mover for bringing this motion forward. We have a lot of challenges in our small communities as I have said for the last four years now. In Tsiigehtchic, for example, we haven't had a daycare there for over nine years now. You know, that's pretty challenging, whether it's single mothers or parents that want to go to work, but they can't, because there's no daycare. It's pretty difficult to find a babysitter in the community, too. Those are the challenges we face. A lot of the Ministers may not understand that, not...

I'd also like to ask the Minister what options exist for students who want to stay in their home communities while finishing high school -- for example, Moodle, the program a previous Minister spoke about.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Follow-up to my Member’s statement, I have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. I'd like to ask the Minister: what are the criteria to decide whether or not senior high school is offered to students in their home communities such as Tsiigehtchic? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just a few comments. You know, the motion speaks to establishing legislation within the next two years for the ombudsman and you know I hope we're not setting ourselves up for failure with a lot of the changes we're making to the mandate. A lot of the intention means well, but we have to realize a lot of this is going to cost money and in our current situation here, you know, it's going to be challenging for us to fulfill our mandate. A lot of it we won't be able to fulfill because of our current situation unless things turn around.

It's just something I've been thinking...

It sounds promising. Will the department or the Minister commit to providing funds to do busing of our students to either Fort McPherson or Inuvik?

---Laughter

That leads me up to my next question. Is this decision made by the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, or by the District Education Council, and are the parents consulted?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as parents, the greatest gift we can give our children is a good education. Getting a good education sets our children up for success as adults. In the Northwest Territories, the 2014 employment rate for people with high school or post-secondary education is 76 per cent. For people who do not finish high school, that employment rate is cut exactly in half. If you successfully finish high school, you are twice as likely to find employment in the NWT than if you don't. Finishing high school is a bigger challenge for teens and young adults living in...