Mr. Speaker, bullying is a broad societal problem and a very serious issue in our schools that Education, Culture and Employment is dedicated to addressing.

On February 16, 2012, the Legislative Assembly passed an anti-bullying motion, calling on the department to establish a territory-wide campaign to denounce bullying, and review anti-bullying legislation in other jurisdictions and bring forward a bill for consideration by the Assembly within 18 months.

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to announce that later today I will move first reading of a bill to amend the Education Act that will include bullying...

Mr. Speaker, most definitely those are discussions that we need to have with the Deline leadership, the DEAs and DECs as well. Just offering some of the initiatives that have been undertaken by Beaufort-Delta, as an example, e-learning is a prime example that we will continue to invest. There have been discussions on fibre optics. Those are just some of the discussions that we will continue to have. Education renewal is another one that they have been part of and will continue to push this forward. It is a big piece of work for the Northwest Territories and the Legislative Assembly. We want to...

Those are exactly the types of discussions we are currently having. We’ve heard from the Deline leadership, also the DEA, and also the DECs for their regional perspective on expediting certain capital infrastructure from the communities on to our capital plans. As part of the educational renewal process that’s before us, we’ve involved the community members, and we’ve listened to the small community capital initiatives. Those are in the forefront of our discussion as we move forward.

One of the pillars on the educational renewal is to focus on the small communities, whether it be the funding...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize our 2013 Educational Hall of Fame award recipients in a ceremony we held this morning. They are Beverly Masuzumi of Fort Good Hope, Bill Gilday of Yellowknife, Andy Norwegian of Fort Simpson, Jill Taylor from Hay River, Anne-Mieke Cameron from Yellowknife. We have a couple more, they’re not here, but they will be presented. I’d like to also recognize Dolphus Nitsiza, who is here from my constituency in Behchoko. I’d just like to say congratulations to all the Education Hall of Fame inductees and welcome to our Assembly. Mahsi cho.

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Mr. Speaker, that is part of our overall plan to find a concrete solution. That is why we are involved in partners such as NWTTA and also into the departmental discussions that we are currently having to find the solution at the community level. We know that teachers’ housing is very, very critical, especially in the small, isolated communities, and adequate housing to stay in the community longer. So that is part of the vision that we’re currently discussing, and to develop a better relationship with their students as well. The longer the teachers are staying in the community, the more...

Mr. Speaker, this is an area that the NWTTA, again we are working closely with them. The NWT Housing Corporation, Robert C. McLeod is also partnering this. Of course, the NWTTA conducted a survey with its members just recently. Of course, I will be seeking their permission to provide the results of the survey to the Members. At this point in time, we do not collect information on the teachers sharing accommodation. That is information that will be shared between the NWTTA and our community departments. We all know the small communities; there is a shortage of housing. We need to deal with that...

Mr. Speaker, we do go through an annual basis before we distribute funding to the college so they can deliver programs, trying to get feedback from the Board of Governors on what is needed and to make changes.

As we know, there are a lot of community learning centres for the Northwest Territories that need to be fully taken advantage of. There are all of these different programs that should be delivered at the community level. I will take the Member’s suggestion seriously into consideration. I will be working with the Board of Governors, the chair and also the president to move this forward and...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. First of all I would just like to congratulate all those graduates, over 141 graduates between the three campuses. That’s a huge accomplishment for those individuals and I’d just like to applaud them for that.

The programs that have been distributed through the three campuses are based on the needs of the communities and through the venue of the Aurora College Board of Governors. As you know, the Board of Governors is meeting in the next two weeks, I believe in Inuvik, and those are the opportune times to ask those questions or give ideas and suggestions on various programs...

Mr. Speaker, I can definitely commit to meeting with the leadership. There has been discussion and also conducting a regular system of all facilities in the Northwest Territories. Deline will be part of that process along with my colleagues from Public Works and Services. We work diligently together on those educational infrastructure facilities and will continue to work with DEAs and DECs because they are the primary contacts. They give us excellent feedback on which capital we should be focusing on. We will be meeting with them and also the leadership that is here with us. We will continue...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. This project, along with others, will certainly be a part of the capital planning project. There are upgrades that will be happening within the ?ehtseo Ayha School in Deline. Those are just some of the upgrades that we are working towards. Then the long-term plans will be part of the capital project for the particular school along with other schools.

I will continue to commit to working with the DEA and DECs to make that happen, and also the leadership of Deline.