Jackson Lafferty

This is an area that if issues arise or have been addressed to our Department of Justice, we seriously take them into consideration. We need to work with the federal government as well. It’s under their jurisdiction when it comes to dangerous offenders, that designation. Any issues or complaints that are being brought to our attention in detail, then we will definitely share them with the federal government.

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. The information that I have is 2009, 534 and then 2011-2012, 554. From 534 to 554. So there has been a slight increase and we continue to monitor these and other programs that we offer to the organizations. Mahsi.

That is an area that is sunsetting and I can do that, I can make a recommendation to the potentially coming up Minister, but that will be at their discretion if they want to move forward with it. Mahsi.

Of course we want those teachers back in our communities, back in the North, those students that are studying down south. We’ll do what we can to work with those individuals so they can be hired through DEAs and DECs. DEAs and DECs hire their own teachers. I have to respect that, as well, and I need to work with them. So I’ll continue to do my part to hire as many teachers that are coming out of the system, showing them where various areas they can go to or contacts. So, Mr. Chair, this is an area we can work with, with the department. Mahsi.

Mr. Chair, I’ve already written to the school boards that at this point in time we’re not considering grandfathering. However, we are providing funding after the fiscal year based on the students attending the programming. In addition, if there are additional expenditures that may occur, then there can be a substantiation. We can provide additional funding to offset the costs specifically for the students in the alternative programming. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. The review will be undertaken once we go through this budget, once it’s approved, and the terms of reference will be drafted up. Certainly, the Members should have some input into the system as with the students. I’ve stated in the House that we will be reaching out to the general public and the students, because we need to hear specifically from the students as well. By all means, if Members can contribute, that will be great. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Chairman. That motion was brought to this House. It was a direction to our department to provide funding for upgrading. We currently don’t provide funding for upgrading, but we are working closely with the communities and there are other funding sources out there. We provide SFA, student financial assistance, for college and university programming.

We can definitely explore what programs are available to us from the federal perspective. With the Aboriginal Rights Court Challenges Program there is money in place to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. It does exist. The Member is talking about additional, possibly from the federal level, that we’ll definitely explore.

We’re talking about the whole Northwest Territories, it’s not just one region. Especially further up north, it’s got its challenges as well. The funding that we provide to the education authorities, we need to work with that. We continue to work closely with the school boards because of our IT services, as well, and have the educational link to the Internet. We are exploring different avenues, as well, Mr. Chair, about our whole fibre optic and Web band and broadband connectivity. So this will be part of the discussion that we could have with other departments as well. Even at the federal...

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. The last time was 2007, I do believe. We made some changes to some of the subsidy programming. We may be up for a review as well. Like I said, our policy is always changing, so we clearly hear from the Members that there are certain areas. There is a poverty discussion that’s on the way that will definitely have a reflection on our income security framework as well. Mahsi.