Jackson Lafferty

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Education, Culture and Employment is pleased to announce the launch of the Minister’s Cultural Circle.

This circle recognizes those who contribute to the preservation and promotion of cultures and heritage in the Northwest Territories. The circle aligns with this Assembly’s goal to strengthen awareness of our northern identity and uniqueness by promoting our successes, our culture, our arts and our languages with a proud and unified voice.

It highlights achievements and commitments of local cultural leaders, practitioners and groups. It also recognizes...

Mr. Speaker, this is an area that is always before us every fall time and the winter season. We prepare our client service officers to deal with this matter in advance. As I stated, whenever there is a challenge or issues that are being brought to our attention, we work on the policy and if we need to change the policy. If that’s the case, I will give the Members a heads-up. Mahsi.

That would include us looking at the whole issue about the seniors home heating subsidy. When we talk about the residents, these individuals where they sleep and eat. These individuals have been considered that they’re staying at their grandparents’ place. Those are areas that have been brought to our attention that they don’t actually live there. We need to look at the policy itself.

I think we have goals and objectives to deal with employment in small communities. That’s the very reason why we have these initiatives on the way since last year and moved into this year’s budget. We’ll continue to address that matter. It is important to us to deal with the high unemployment in the communities. We’ll have to work closely with the communities, the regional training centres and the regional committees as well. It has to be hand in hand. They’re linked in all capacities, whether it be the band council, the corporations, the municipality, NGOs and so forth. There are a lot of...

The other departments probably have their own plans to deal with employment in small communities. We deal with apprentices, local employment and various GNWT NGOs in the different areas. Within ECE I can speak specifically to that information we have, that we do have regional training centres in the communities. Committees are being established to deal with those matters at hand. We’re identifying the priorities on the hiring and training where it’s needed based on community needs. These are the coordinators at the community level and regional level that deal with those matters. We do have a...

Again, I commit in the House to provide that information, Mr. Speaker. The $20,000 the Member is referring to, the length of time the service was provided, we can provide that information to the Members. Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, that contract has been awarded to provide those clinical services within the corrections. Again, I would have to get back to the Member on that, but we do provide those services at the corrections to deal with those inmates that require those special services.

As I stated in this House, we do have an individual that is under training. The individual will be completed this summer. She will be a qualified psychologist within a facility. We are looking forward to that, but there is a contract being provided. The services are being provided to the inmates within the corrections. Mr...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I do have several people to recognize, so if you indulge me. First of all I’d like to recognize in the gallery the Northern Teachers’ Association who is here with us: Mr. David Reid, president of the NWT Association; Dave Roebuck, the executive director of the NWT Teachers’ Association; Emile Hatch, executive director of the Nunavut Teachers’ Association; and Katherine Mackwood, president of the Yukon Teachers’ Association.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to also recognize the Aboriginal Languages Revitalization Board and Official Languages Board here with us today. If I can read...

Mr. Speaker, with any request that comes forward to our attention, we do look at our policies and we make changes to the effect where it benefits the communities. This is an area respecting the seniors fuel subsidy. I made a commitment to look at that piece of work. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. This has been brought to our attention within my department and we did raise this issue in the House yesterday. I’ve committed in the House that I’d like my department to look at this area and how we get around it so that the elders are not penalized. We talked about the residence issues where individuals may be there for short periods of time. We also talked about other areas where elders are probably 90 years old and more, and how we can get around the system. I will follow through with this within my department.