Jackson Lafferty

Mahsi, Mr. Chairman. We can definitely provide the breakdown, how much, whether it be the regions or the schools, comparable from small communities to larger centres and the remoteness and so forth.

As it stands currently with enrolment and the price index and so forth, as part of the education renewal we are going to be looking at that. The formula funding is a big topic every time we go to the communities. Small communities feel left out. It will capture that as part of the systems and, also, accountability. That is part of the discussion that we’re going to be having with the stakeholders.

Mr. Chair, this was also addressed in this House. SFA is a basic supplementary grant to students that are entering post-secondary. It is directly for post-secondary. It’s not for upgrading, but there are access programs that individuals can access towards their… Whether it be a diploma or degree program, they would be eligible for funding partially. Those are just some of the areas. We do have other subsidies available as well.

Again, going back to our federal funding, Labour Market, areas where we funded students in the past, there is also funding available through Aboriginal governments, the...

Mr. Chair, I’m not sure how clear I can be. I’m the one who is responsible. I’m the one who is responsible to put initiatives into the capital planning process based on the advice I’m getting from whether it be the college or my staff and we move forward from there. The reporting mechanism from the board chair, the president on to my deputy, as you know, we have all of these different divisions, as well, within our shop. Mr. Devitt here is also responsible for a piece of that. Even though there are two or three lines from the president to my deputy, it connects through all the departmental...

Mahsi, Mr. Chairman. When we’re talking about capital planning projects, which we are, the planning process itself, we reach out to the college. We reach out to the school boards and identify what their needs are. In general terms, yes, we are getting feedback from them.

What I’m referring to was just recent because they know the capital planning project is coming up. In usual terms they show interest. So they showed interest in writing to us, and now we’re going to meet with them to discuss the capital planning project that will be before us with the college campus, stand-alone, and it has...

I realize that part of the review process was based on certain criteria, whether it be evaluating and so forth. This CanNor funding up to $9 million, I believe, over the two years to expand the programming in our territory and increase employment opportunities for the North. Of course, I’m happy that we received funding, as well, and any new funding that’s available to us, even though we’ve done our comprehensive review of our adult basic learning education. But at the same time, we have to keep in mind that there are a lot of opportunities out there where we need to utilize and expand our...

I think we’re talking along the same line, so I agree.

Mr. Speaker, Aboriginal languages are important pillars of our Northwest Territories society, they create a strong sense of identity and belonging, and we must actively work with our language communities to ensure our youth identify themselves as language and cultural ambassadors. March is Aboriginal Languages Month, and I urge all language groups to actively participate in the celebration of language and culture in their communities, not only during the month of March but at every opportunity throughout the year.

In our ongoing commitment to the preservation and revitalization of Aboriginal...

When we talk about the language nests, obviously the program would have to be delivered by a language spoken qualified teacher. That is an area that sometimes we’re challenged with. To date I have seen some real success in regions that are delivering the Language Nest programming. We’ll continue to invest in those areas because they are working. When I talk about the elders in school, I want them to be fully engaged in those areas. I have made a commitment that we want that to be delivered. It probably won’t be in all schools, but starting this school year in the fall time. We want to have...

Mr. Chair, I am trying to get more detailed information from my staff here. There has been some fluctuation in, of course, income support throughout the Northwest Territories, and we’re trying to reflect on that where if there’s an increase in funding. We realize that some of the regions are lacking, let’s say, job opportunities, so there’s been an increase in caseload in those areas. But at the same time, there are other regions that their caseload has decreased, so it balances each other. Obviously, we like to see caseloads go down.

In due time, where the economic booming is happening in the...

Mr. Chair, if the decision came down from the Board of Governors through their chair, through their president, it will go to my department, deputy minister or ADM, assistant deputy minister, and will be brought to my attention, and in due course we have to go through the process to identify funds, capital.

We are talking about capital infrastructure here. If there is a plan in place, then by all means, my department will work very closely with the college to identify the needs. There is a process that we follow. It is a process of this Legislative Assembly as well. That’s what we follow. Mahsi.