Jackson Lafferty

Mahsi. Focusing on the communities and also the regions, again, we have to work closely with the district education authorities and the councils. They have given us positive feedback on the success stories, as the Member is referring to, and focusing on the small communities. One of the pillars is focusing on small communities, staff development and student assistance. As we roll out the action plan, it will be captured, focusing in certain areas that require attention.

The Member is asking about the broad sweep and the particular focus. Those are discussions that we’ve had throughout our...

The Social Work Program has been very successful to date in the Northwest Territories. We had some previous graduates, 24 grads in the last five years. So the numbers may not be as high, but those are just some of the key areas, the key findings, that we must invest into the students and into the programming. We also have partnerships with the University of Regina to continue with the degree programs, the master’s programs. There have been talks about having potentially a bachelor studies in social work. That is some of the exploration that we are conducting with the college, the three...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I don’t like the word consultation; I like the word engaging. We have engaged with our stakeholders and they are part of the educators, the principals, the program coordinators. The Member is referring to front-line workers. I totally agree with her that we need to get ideas from those individuals. If we have missed out on those individuals and their input, I would like to hear from them either through my office, through my department, through DEAs, DECS, various partners that we have in the field. We’d love to hear from them. So, Mr. Speaker, if we have missed out on those...

Mahsi, Madam Chair. I just want to highlight a couple of things. First and foremost, we’re talking about the motion brought forward on 18, 19 and 21. Of course, I agree with 21.

---Laughter

I just want to speak to the whole instruction. I am very puzzled. It says “Considerations” language and culture will be taken into consideration, public input will be taken into consideration, and so on, as well as land claims and treaty land entitlement agreement, self-government.

What it boils down to is that again reiterating that they’ve listened to the people of my riding, Behchoko. So they came up with...

Mahsi, Madam Chair. I will be speaking in the Tlicho language. It’s unfortunate that we don’t have an interpreter here. In fair process, if I do go over 10 minutes, if you would allow me to wrap up my statement. I think it’s crucial. The Tlicho elders are listening to us and my leaders as well.

[English translation not provided.]

Madam Chair, I just want to reiterate some of the key messages. Again, it’s unfortunate that an interpreter is not here to capture everything that I said, all the important messages, especially to elders and community members.

The 19 seats that have been proposed here...

Mahsi, Madam Chair. [Translation] I would also like to thank the commission for doing the report for us, and I know it was very difficult work for them and that’s one of the reasons that we’re sitting here to discuss it today. I know that they’ve travelled to all the communities to meet with the people and they also went in the Behchoko and Whati ridings and they’ve listened to a lot of people and their concerns. How can they get more representation in their area was one of the topics that they had. But today in the Dogrib region, there are a lot of people that are sitting here. They are also...

Mahsi. That’s the very reason why we have this competency-based training program. There is a Code of Conduct within our Education department, within the income support division, and at the same time we have to work with other departments as well. They do have their own disciplinary procedures, as well, the social envelope departments. We work with MACA, Housing, Social Services, Health and other departments. When we deal with the clientele, it’s not only income support. There are other departments that we have to work with. That’s the whole reason why we developed this competency-based, based...

Part of the plan is, again, a competency-based training program that is going to be broad across the Northwest Territories that the client service officers deal with, so we can develop a professional base dealing with the clientele. There’s also going to be a work-based training program that will be introduced, exchanging information and so forth. Also, there will be a conference for CSOs in January 2014, enhancing staff and knowledge so they’re aware of who is working, skills and abilities, and also on-line discussion and information sharing. These are just some of the key areas that we are...

Mahsi. My belief is that it is a combination. We need to satisfy both. We need to have individuals that are working, client service officers that are providing dignity and respect to our clientele and also having those individuals that we have to deal with clientele. So we are developing programs that will capture that, providing competency-based training and identifying caseloads. We have some of the communities that have a high number of caseloads, so we are currently reviewing those caseloads. That will capture the attention of client service officers, especially in the small, isolated...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Through the Office of the Auditor General, this has been earmarked to our attention. We need to deal with the personnel within our income support office, especially the client service officers. We have implemented some changes already. At this time, we are developing a competency-based training program for our staff and it’s going to be developed through initial discussions with CSOs and we are having a trainer come up. This is an area that has been earmarked by the Office of the Auditor General, so we are moving forward, along with the Hay River Reserve and other...