Jackson Lafferty

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. I will try to cover all questions and concerns that were addressed here today.

First of all, when we talk about the 1 percent increase over the year period from now, I’m just glad that we received an increase of 1 percent and not a decrease. Yes, we do have a greater opportunity for our ECE department to move forward. We have greater things on the go. I think we just have to be creative and innovative within our department. That’s the direction I gave to my department, that we need to think creatively how we can maneuver and tackle all these different opportunities out there...

Mahsi, Mr. Chairman. The peer passing has been brought up on numerous occasions. There are mixed feelings about this from the parents, even from the educators, due to research that has been done nationally and internationally that peer passing is benefitting those students and so forth. There are mixed reactions to this.

Within our department we’re doing what we can to assist those individuals so they can achieve or be prepared for a workforce environment. We know that post-secondary is not for everybody. Some students would prefer going straight to the workforce once they receive their...

Yes, Madam Chair.

Mahsi, Mr. Chairman. This particular area has been brought up even at the ASA forum and early childhood development discussions, having guidance counsellors. Using previous experience has been very successful, why don’t we have that anymore.

The funding that we contribute to the school boards, it’s at their discretion if they want to hire a guidance counsellor, per se. At the same time, we are in discussion or will be in discussion with the school board, as well, that there is a great need to enter into discussions with the school board on particular guidance counselling.

The Member alluded to...

Mr. Speaker, Nahanni and Trout Lake have been an earmark of our discussion here in the House and my department is fully aware. They are doing a review of those two schools and generate it for this capital planning process. If it makes it this time around or next year – we have to start planning for next year as well – we will see what we can do with that and the review process. I will take that Member’s notice into consideration as well. We will definitely be in discussion with that. Mahsi.

NACC has construction happening there. We did, as a department, commit towards this particular construction. So the Department of Education, Culture and Employment will be contributing towards this construction project. I’ve already committed to that. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Kam Lake, that Bill 1, An Act to Amend the Student Financial Assistance Act, be read for the second time.

Mr. Speaker, this bill amends the Student Financial Assistance Act to raise the maximum aggregate of the principal amount of all student loans that may be made by the Government of the Northwest Territories by $4 million for 2012-2013 and subsequent fiscal years. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Those are the types of discussions that we do have at the board chair level. The Safe Schools Policy of YK District No. 1, we can certainly utilize the policy that they currently have instead of reinventing the wheel.

What’s before us, if we can enhance that policy for other school systems then, by all means, we will definitely pursue that and have our discussions with my department and the YK No. 1 as well.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. This particular subject is very important to our school system and especially with the school boards across the Northwest Territories. We did address that with the school boards and they’re fully aware of it. There are, as the Member indicated, potential partners that are involved, RCMP, NGOs, and also parents getting involved in this. There’s also a question of an anti-bullying policy into the schools. Those are the areas that we are consistently working on, and I’m glad the Member raised that issue because this is an area that is broad to cover all schools so we are doing...

Again, it is a case-by-case basis. Some cases are very unique. It will take some time. But it is a standard rule of up to five days.