Thebacha

Statements in Debates

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 13)

Madam Speaker, could the Minister honestly say, before all the Members of this House, that the Affirmative Action Policy is actually working for the people of the NWT? Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 13)

Does the Minister feel confident that the Affirmative Action Policy is objective and serving the people of the NWT in an honest and sincere manner?

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 13)

Madam Speaker, I want to revisit the issue of the Government of the Northwest Territories Affirmative Action Policy once again, because, as I see it, this policy is not serving the people of Fort Smith or the people of the NWT. The e-mail that I received from the finance Minister on February 27, 2020, is a typical government explanation, and I do not accept a response like that from a Minister. When an MLA asks for a response in confidence, I expect a more personal and detailed response.

Madam Speaker, I strongly feel that the Affirmative Action Policy across the NWT, including the riding of...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 13)

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to make a comment and one question on Aurora College. I come, of course, from Fort Smith and the constituency of Thebacha. We are very proud of Aurora College and the campus of Fort Smith. We have a lot of incredible staff there who are very qualified who do have doctorate degrees and have a wide variety of academics who come to that college. It is not filled to capacity. The intake is extremely important to the community of Fort Smith. Aurora College has been there; that is where it started in 1969. I just want to make sure that you consider doing probably...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 13)

I just want to make sure that all students who want to take post-secondary education have access. I am saying that because we had a problem just before Christmas with regard to the new aviation program that was being held in Fort Smith. In the end, I want to make sure that post-secondary education includes pilots, that it does not necessarily have to all be associated with Aurora College or University of Alberta or anywhere else in Canada, and I want to make sure that access is important for all students of the Northwest Territories and there is no distinguishment of where they are going to...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 13)

I just have one final comment, and that has to do, again, with the territorial support team. If they're not doing regular territorial support team referrals to the communities on a regular basis, that is also a gap that I see. I think that, if it is a territorial support team and they are stationed here in Yellowknife, they should be making regular visits to the schools and to all the communities so that they have access to the territorial support team, even without referral. Everybody needs a team like that. You know, to have a qualified team like that, it supposedly should be at the disposal...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 13)

I have a question. We had a recent Auditor General's report, and I want to make sure that there's going to be enough financial allocation to fill those gaps at the DA level, so we could address some of those concerns in the Auditor General's report?

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 13)

I guess a territorial support team, they're very hard to find qualified people like psychologists and a whole team to go into, to have a team in every community which is ideal and that will never happen, but if the territorial support team is only done by referral, I think there should be a more organized group. The group should actually be doing every month or every two months, at least, into the community. When they're not there, I'm just wondering if the special needs children, the autism and all the special needs that we have at schools, are being financially looked after in a different...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 13)

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to reiterate what one of my colleagues said. I would appreciate that, I see the NWT Arts Council, the funding remains the same throughout, and also the Indigenous languages. When you're having flow-through money, I think it's extremely important that we increase them, because the communities are affected. We have a lot of very talented people in the communities, and I think that it's a positive thing. Almost every weekend there are different arts things that go on, even at the museum in Fort Smith. Languages are extremely important, and the cultural aspect...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 12)

Madam Speaker, finally, I would like to address the mayor of Yellowknife's media statement of February 19, 2020. The new Stanton hospital tax bill for the amount of $4.5 million is the highest taxed building in the NWT. The mayor of Yellowknife made a statement that she did not have to raise taxes because of a new assessed property value of the new Stanton hospital. My question is: as all monies out of public funds belong to the people of the NWT, are you comfortable as the Minister of Finance with this statement?