Jackson Lafferty

We are putting a lot of pressure on the federal government. We’ve met with the CEO of NCS. There’s another meeting on June 3rd to deal with that matter. There’s been a proposal submitted by NCS for upgrading equipment and so forth. Part of that discussion is the $6,000 maximum that we’ve been allowing to the communities.

Again, the Member has raised a point of possibly reviewing the program. That’s a commitment I’m making, that we’ll be re-evaluating our contribution. Mahsi.

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.

Mr. Speaker, the Northwest Territories Teachers’ Association, we value their survey that was conducted. They shared that information with us. It is to some degree evidence-based that the Member is referring to and has been referred to in the past. We need to use evidence-based when we come up with various investments into the communities dealing with the housing and other infrastructure as well. Information that was released in a recent survey, again, we are working closely with the NWTTA. We will continue to press that matter. The Housing Minister is also involved in this because we are...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Our government, obviously, supports the teachers that are out there, the value they bring to our schools and also our communities. We’ve also met with the Northwest Territories Teachers’ Association, between myself, Minister R.C. McLeod and also Minister Abernethy, to discuss what’s out there, their assessment, their survey that’s been conducted, and I would just like to say thank you to the NWTTA for releasing that information to our government. At least it’s a tool that we need to work with. I believe that as a partnership we can move forward. We are doing that in...

Mr. Speaker, yes I have. We will continue to pressure that at the Cabinet level. At the same time, I have a board chairs meeting that consists of the college and all the education board chairs, and we discuss the communities’ needs. If there are ideas generated or suggestions, then we will work with that. At the end of the day, the Board of Governors makes that decision based on the communities’ needs. They work with the community representatives what is required, whether they be the activities happening in the Beaufort-Delta, Sahtu region or Deh Cho region. It will be based on that. We get a...