Jackson Lafferty

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment is committed to strategic communications, coordinated program planning and delivery, and strong working relationships with its partners.

Aurora College is a key part of our educational system and plays a critical role in building a strong, sustainable future for our territory. The college recently reorganized its operational structure and we are reviewing the improvements, analyzing the functional structure and identifying any gaps. We are working with the college to examine, inspect and report on current operations and clarify...

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...

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...

It’s very important that we collaborate and form partnerships with interdepartmental discussion on this important matter because it will take more than just one department. We have to work with the Department of Health and Social Services and other departments. It has a ripple effect, as well, and we’re very positive that we want to deliver the key messages that we need to make some changes that reflect on these important areas.

This is an area that I need to work with closely with the Social Programs committee and also with my department and the other departments as well. My department and DM...

One of our focuses is the Early Childhood Development Framework that we’ve been working on for quite some time now. It’s been over a decade and it is now before us as a result of the research that we are seeing. Those are some of the focuses that we are currently working on. That is why we are engaging into our plan to renew the Early Childhood Development Framework that’s in the process.

Just having an elders gathering, I think we had roughly 80 to 100 elders from all regions gathered for two or three days to hear their input. The following week we had over 80 stakeholders to listen to their...