Jackson Lafferty

Again, Mr. Speaker, the Beaufort-Delta, the decision is made at the regional level in the communities. We, as a department, work closely with them as well. As you know, we are going through some changes. We are engaging the communities, stakeholders, on educational renewal and part of that is discussing accountability and the overall school system. So part of the discussion we are going to be having is capturing that line of discussion. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

We are going to be releasing the funding this week and the plan to implement their planning. Again, we are working closely with the Ndilo community. We want to have this be a successful project, as well, and other future projects. We are doing what we can to maximize our support and provide services to the communities. Releasing the funds expeditiously will be our top priority. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mahsi. We are fully aware of the time constraint on the funding allocation. The funding will be direct deposited this week. My department met with the organization last week to start planning. The Ndilo staff do have a plan and they assured us that they want to complete the project by the end of the fiscal year. The acting chief also emphasized to us that Ndilo will implement the initiative in the time remaining. So those are the confirmations that we’ve received from the community of Ndilo, but we’ll continue to assist them, work with them and provide support to the community, because we want...

Mr. Speaker, the jobs, training opportunities will be identified through a working group that we are going to establish. When I talk about the meeting tomorrow, that is a preliminary stage of planning. Out of that, we are hoping to get some more concrete figures, concrete numbers from ITI, from DOT, from my department and from regional representatives, because they have their own needs as well. So we need to respect that. We need to take those into consideration, compile all the information that I will be sharing that with the Members once we have that information. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Part of the ongoing discussions that we have had are in partnership with Inuvialuit and also with the Gwich’in to provide the training requirements. My department is working closely with the Beaufort-Delta on what kind of training is required. Not only that, but we provided training in the past on Source Road 177 in Tuk, combining with our Education and working with the college, Hamlet of Tuk, Tuk Community Corporation and contractors, just going through labour markets to build a database for local residents to plan and deliver training that maximizes the local employment...

Mahsi. When the first announcement came out, my department met with the representative of Ndilo with respect to the Child and Family Resource Centre in September and also following in October and November. We’ve attempted to meet with First Nations CEO, and in mid-November my department heard from the CEO to discuss the required documentation. So the draft proposal has been submitted thereafter November 15th and there’s been some discussions and dialogue between my department and Ndilo.

We’ve done what we can as a department to expedite the process but, unfortunately, through the process the...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. When we first initiated these family resource centres, we wanted to do a pilot project. Maybe for a short period of time at this point for Tulita and Ndilo, but part of the process is we want to listen to the general public, the stakeholders when we’re engaging the general public about the Early Childhood Development Framework. What’s going to come out of that? Would this still be their first priority and others, other initiatives that we’ve highlighted.

We want to see this as a long-term strategy, but we want to wait and see what the framework actually tells us, and based...

Mr. Speaker, if that is the wish of the communities, by all means, we have done that in the past where training has taken place in the Beaufort-Delta, whether it be safety training, substance abuse workshop, Class 1 driver exam, driver training. There is also heavy equipment Class 1 and Class 3 training that has been undertaken. We need to be prepared and also preparing those individuals from the communities so they can enter the workforce. Once the road has been constructed, we want the manpower to be ready. So that is an area that we are exploring.

My officials will be meeting with ITI and...

The quickest answer would be yes, we are, as my department, along with other departments, even with the Premier. It has been addressed with the Gwich’in, the IRC, the Beaufort-Delta leadership. We’ve met with them. We’ve addressed their concerns, their issues, their ideas. They are preparing for the exploration activity that will be happening in their region. We are continuing to work with them. We want to be prepared to deliver those highly skilled individuals at the community level with the kind of training programs that are required.

I must say and commend the Inuvik area and the Beaufort...

Again, creating partnerships in the regions in the Northwest Territories does have advantages and benefits. When it comes to providing incentives at the regional workforce development, we deal with the Mine Training Society, which deals with industries as well. We have industry representatives on there, ITI, ECE, and other Aboriginal organizations on the specific committee that delivers training in the regions. Not only that, there is also funding available through Aboriginal leadership, such as asset funding through the federal Minister. There is also, again, as highlighted earlier, labour...