Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In small, remote communities in Nunakput, recruitment and retention of good teachers is a serious problem. Every year we have a huge number of teachers coming and going. This affects the learning of our students.

In the community of Tuktoyaktuk we have a teacher who will be retiring after almost 30 years teaching in the community. I had the honour of being one of Anna Marie Cameron’s students, as were my children, and many others also had the honour, as well. Her absence from the school will leave a large void that will not be easy to fill. In addition, all of her hard...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, I’d like to ask the Minister to reconsider reinstating the funding back to the communities and back to the teachers for their housing, and if the Minister could commit to me today to come to meet with the Tuk District Education Authority before the end of the session. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, our government, with our nursing we provide them housing right in the health centres. Mr. Speaker, we need to help our teachers because they’re the only ones that are going to help our students. Under the vision statement of this government, you know, it’s strong, healthy, vibrant, independent people. Mr. Speaker, we need this funding reinstated back into the communities for the teachers. We have to support them, because they’re the ones supporting our students.

Mr. Speaker, will the government commit to developing supporting our teachers housing subsidy program for all of the...

Mr. Speaker, these developments go to the very core of the challenge facing small and remote communities, especially in the Nunakput region. Due to the unique geographic challenges and the enormous operating costs, our communities are continuously disadvantaged while trying to provide the same services to the people that we serve and the students, Mr. Speaker.

I will have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment at the appropriate time. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to thank Member Yakeleya for bringing this forward. I will be supporting this motion and I look forward to everybody supporting it, as well.

Mr. Speaker, I had my EA at the Tuk Education Authority meeting. The cost of living in Tuk for rental housing is about $1,800 a month. For a person to come and live in the community and teach our students, we need the support. You know, we’re failing these teachers now.

Mr. Speaker, I’m asking the Minister to reconsider and reinstate the funding to give back to the community for our teacher housing program. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today in my Member’s statement I was speaking about the accommodations. Many communities have adequate accommodations. You know, in Tuktoyaktuk, our teachers housing, we’re really fortunate enough to have a six-plex, but our government has pulled the funding back from the community.

Mr. Speaker, considering the housing issue is a number one problem in recruiting and retaining good staff in the communities, and considering that some communities are not waiting for the government to help develop housing strategies for their staff, will this government commit to seriously...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The grassroots level, I live it. Everyday I’m home I see some students in the community of Tuk not going to school because of lack of support. I’m still getting the same calls that I’ve been getting for the last two years. I’m getting the same letters from the same parents that are not being helped. The Minister could do something about this. The Minister could tell the Beaufort-Delta Education Council to fix the problem, but yet he doesn’t. We’re going to do more reviews, more of everything, but we’re failing the students, Mr. Speaker. Two years now I’ve been standing...

Thank you. You know, all these meetings and nothing happening. Nothing’s been done, students are still at home. The government spent over $275,000 last year for the Western Arctic Leadership Program in Fort Smith. Why aren’t they doing that in Inuvik, why just one community in the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When parents send their children to school hundreds of miles away, they’re expecting a certain amount of assistance and care from the government and the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. Not that the region has not had good government-assisted boarding homes, parents are literally left out to make do on their own and the kids to fend for themselves, once they have to return home. It’s unacceptable. The lack of support and attention to this matter from the district education office, the Department of ECE, this government, shows that they’re not in touch...