Jackie Jacobson

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...

Thank you. I look forward to it too again, but voices are not being heard. Time and time again I have brought this issue up in this House. There’s a lack of support for our students in Inuvik that are coming in from the communities, it’s not there. They’re having to go home. I had a letter last week, Mr. Speaker, in regards to drug and alcohol issues, where a student was staying, they didn’t want to stay in that house. Something is wrong with that. Will this government conduct a thorough review to identify how many high school students from small isolated communities have dropped out of high...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Several months ago the federal government tabled a budget that included $150 million for the Tuk-Inuvik highway, not Highway No. 7, finally linking Canada coast to coast to coast. The result of many years of lobbying and hard work from the community, the leaders in the Beaufort-Delta, my office, and other organizations.

Unfortunately, with calling the election, the budget was not ratified in the House of Commons. However, the residents of Inuvik and Tuk and all over Nunakput are hopeful that the commitment with the first budget with this new federal government that this...

I also referenced the hard work that the leadership in the Beaufort-Delta has put in to ensuring that Canada’s national highway system reaches coast to coast to coast. Can the Minister assure the Assembly that he will engage with the Beaufort-Delta leadership in advancing this project, which are a pivotal partner on the whole road itself, and bring them down to Ottawa to help talk to the federal government on this issue? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today in my Member’s statement I spoke about the need to work with the leadership in the Beaufort-Delta to ensure that the $150 million commitment to building the Tuk-Inuvik highway appears on the upcoming federal budget. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister of Transportation update the Assembly on the steps that he and his officials are taking to make this a reality for the residents of the Beaufort-Delta? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Listening to the Minister with all the projects that he mentioned, not all the projects, they’re not going to be fully funded. The $150 million was put in the federal budget by the federal government, but it was not ratified. All of the other projects weren’t in the budget. Mr. Speaker, we just want to make sure that the $150 million gets allocated properly to the Tuk-Inuvik highway in making sure that the Minister goes down on that approach.

Mr. Speaker, will the Minister also consider taking some EDI members to Ottawa with him for this meeting? Thank you.

The Minister almost answered all of my questions there. I understand we’re still waiting for the Prime Minister to announce his Cabinet and there is some slippage in the engaging of the federal government. I’d like some assurances from the Minister that he and his officials are ready to hit the ground running to engage the new federal Minister of Transportation at the earliest opportunity. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My condolences to the residents who have passed away in my riding of Nunakput. I wish to take a moment to reflect on the constituents who passed away, the elders in my riding, since the beginning of my term. Constituents such as Andy Carpenter Sr., George Okheena, Jimmy Memogana, Margaret Egoytak, and Phillip Kataoyak.

The remembrance of our elders as opening a special event or discussion is an Inuvialuit tradition which I am especially proud of. I always start my Member’s statements with paying respects to the people who have passed away and their family and friends.

Si...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Out of the 67 percent of what the Minister is stating, the 2,400 units that we are paying the 21 percent paying zero dollars, 46 percent paying $32, it’s a total of 67 percent. The other 23 percent, Mr. Speaker, I think this option is going to help. It’s an option.

What I’m asking for, the Housing Corporation can keep their economic rent scale. This is an option B. If people are working, say if myself and my wife are working, we’re in a rental unit, we’re going to choose option B. This is the option that I’m providing today. For a five-bedroom unit I’ll pay $1,200 a...

WHEREAS “economic rent” for public housing in small and remote communities it unaffordable for most working tenants, due to local economic conditions;

AND WHEREAS the system used to determine economic rent is not fair to smaller communities where there are fewer public housing units;

AND WHEREAS the current system of adjusting the rental rates in public housing according to the fluctuating income of tenants is unnecessarily complex for both tenants and housing administration;

AND WHEREAS arrears in public housing are a perpetual problem for tenants and the Northwest Territories Housing...