Jackson Lafferty

There is always hope.

---Laughter

Honestly, I can work with the Member and have that brought to my department to discuss further. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, again, with a coordinated effort and approach, we need to keep track of all the transactions that are happening within my department. I need to be on top of any request that comes in through an MLA so we are on top of answering their questions. We give immediate answer back, within five days. If it is a day-based operation, then we can definitely give it in a day. It is just a reporting mechanism, keeping track of all the transactions that are flowing through our department within the GNWT government-wide. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I have a return to written question asked by Ms. Bisaro on February 7, 2014, regarding reallocation of funds for junior kindergarten. Ms. Bisaro requested a breakdown, by department, showing where the reallocated $1.8 million in funding to implement junior kindergarten in 2014-15 in our smallest NWT communities will be found.

Mr. Speaker, the $1.8 million to implement the optional, play-based Junior Kindergarten Program for four-year-olds in 29 small communities across the Northwest Territories in 2014-15 will be sourced from the Department of Education, Culture and Employment.

Ms...

The workers were in the midst of cleaning out the asbestos and arsenic from the roaster complex at Giant and they were wearing the protective equipment required at that point. In some cases equipment fails, and in all the cases WSCC and company are still trying to find out how the workers were exposed. During that time frame, the WSCC were giving directions to the company on how to eliminate the exposure and WSCC also immediately closed the project down until the company determined what caused the spike. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. WSCC was first informed about the exposure on August 10, 2013, and they sent me a briefing note on August 14, 2013. Those are the days that have been identified. Mahsi.

That is happening at the same time as well. As you know, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment is the second biggest department along with Health and Social Services. We go through so many transactions throughout the day and we just want to be mindful of the requests that come in, so we can be prepared for the session and prepared for any briefings that may come up. So, we’re on top of the activities that are happening or transactions that may come across our table.

At the end of the day, we just want to keep track of all the transactions that are going through. We may have missed...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. There is a mutual agreement with the MLAs on guiding principles and process convention that we want to have a coordinated approach with our departments, not only my departments but other departments. Once it is funnelled through my department, we are fully aware of what is out there. But an independent agency or organization or MLA’s office go directly to the department and we need to keep track of those activities, those transactions. Those are just mere transactions that we need to be fully aware of. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Mahsi, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, the first five years of a child’s life are critical to creating a foundation for their healthy physical, emotional, social and cognitive development. Supporting child care programs is one of the priorities of this Legislative Assembly. The departments of Education, Culture and Employment and Health and Social Services worked in partnership and developed the Early Childhood Development Action Plan. It will provide accessible quality early childhood and parental programs and services for all Northwest Territories families.

We will implement about half of the...

Madam Speaker, as Legislative Assembly Members we’re obligated and also responsible for the people of the Northwest Territories. We’ve reached out to the people of the Northwest Territories, the 33 communities, the leadership, the parents, the grandparents, through the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative. This is building on that. The Early Childhood Development Framework, the action plan that has been brought forward will certainly highlight the importance. We have all these stats, through the renowned researchers across Canada and internationally. Those are some of the areas that we...

Mahsi, Madam Speaker. This is an area that we are embarking on, a new initiative. We’ve been talking about this junior kindergarten since the Aboriginal Student Achievement a few years back now, and it’s based on the engagement process that we’ve heard from the parents, the Aboriginal leadership, the community leadership, and the past and present MLAs that were part of the process. These are the discussions that we’ve been having for quite some time now.

It’s before us through the Early Childhood Development Framework. The action plan will be a tabled document today. It does capture an area...