Jackie Jacobson

Yes, good job on the teachers phoning every second or third day to the students in my household. What is our government offering for counselling for supports for students who require immediate help?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, today. What are the steps the government is taking to ensure that there is no child left behind in the up and coming school year, during this pandemic response? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Just in regard to sitting on the hamlet council prior to myself coming back to the Assembly, we've been working with our community and I thought we'd been short-changed in the community of Tuktoyaktuk in regard to having a tourism office, any kind of support that you'd get for camping. Are there any plans, I guess? I don't see it in the Main Estimates, here, but are there any plans to change that to work with the community of Tuktoyaktuk in regard to having that work looked at and getting it done for the community, instead of putting it onto the hamlet and stretching...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Just that being said, with our EDOs in our communities, I think we should be passing that information on. I'll be doing that in regard to, like, a co-op between the communities, and see what they want to share, if possible. People used to come in, like tourists, and they would buy your whitefish and dried fish, and stuff like that, so just giving them an opportunity to sell their products or trade into communities, I think that's really good, to start like a little co-operative between communities.

One other question I do have, my last question, is: is there a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What's the TA's and the school's plan to start getting ready for the opening of the school year to prepare their classes and schools for opening in September? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I really want to highlight again from my Member's statement that our local DEAs in the Beaufort-Delta did an awesome job, and still are doing an awesome job, on a paper base, giving weekly homework for the students. I'm just wondering: is there any possibility with the local DEAs to assist the students who are home and not conducive to learning in regard to computers and stuff like that?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The GNWT's decision to close schools for the remainder of the school year during the COVID-19 pandemic, I am in full support of. I am very happy they made that decision. I am concerned about the impact of our students' success, though. Almost overnight, students were sent home. The expectation that the parents will take the role of the teacher has left many parents, also working full-time jobs, feeling overwhelmed. I am not worried so much about the households where parents were able to shepherd their kids through the crisis at that time to keep them learning and doing...

Thank you, Madam Chair. No, just in regard to that, with the temporary shelter, hopefully you guys are going to donate it at the end, instead of pulling it out; donate it to the community. I know the community corporation, they want to build a really nice visitors' centre in the community, because Tuktoyaktuk is so awesome, and we just want to work together. Thank you, Madam Chair. That's all I have to say.

Oh, Madam Chair, I think I'm an interpreter tonight. We have in the Beaufort Delta in my riding, in our riding back home, I guess we have immense petroleum resources. We have 52 petroleum fields, 263 wells, gas, sitting dormant. When they did the Ikhil pipeline, they had 30 BCF that was providing Inuvik with natural gas. Now with the M18 which is 13 kilometers out of Tuktoyaktuk and 6 kilometers off the highway, we have 500 BCF that could provide condensate to run Inuvik for natural gas, provide jobs, all that good stuff, condensate to provide LNG to our more northerly communities. We're not...

Thank you, Madam Chair. There must be an excavator in the communities. Why are we having to wait this long? What could we do in the interim for the safety of the community of Sachs Harbour to try to get that runway opened up, or is the department going to be helping the airline for the $58,000 a month to bring that aircraft into the community? It's not the airline's fault; it's our government in regard to not providing adequate runway service to the community. Where does that fall under? Thank you, Madam Chair.