Jackson Lafferty

Mahsi, Mr. Chairman. There has been a lot of discussion from the Members and I appreciate that, and a lot of good ideas, some concerns, so I will have to work with that. There has been talks that there shouldn’t be any cuts to the breakfast program and, as you know, the schools provide those programs and have been very successful, so we will continue to work with the educational authorities in that respect.

The teacher housing subsidy that was raised in the House earlier, in Tuktoyaktuk, this is an area that there has been agreement with the NWT Housing Corporation for a number of years...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. When I outlined the programs that were being offered at corrections, I did mention various different programs that are available. Also, the Member is referring to the domestic violence, I believe. I’m just looking up the information here.

Mr. Speaker, this is a program that’s going to be scheduled to be delivered as of March and we are looking forward to that. That’s the Domestic Violence Treatment Option through court. So I did mention that when I was highlighting all my programs, all of the programs that are being offered to those individuals. It is an option for low-risk...

Mr. Speaker, once we go through the process, definitely there will be a communication plan, a document that will be going out to the general public, the students, the communities, to the MLAs and the members-at-large. We’re going to have a dialogue with the general public. This is an area that has always been of interest to the general public, so, definitely, those are some of the key initiatives that will be undertaken. There will be thorough communication dialogue with the general public. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. We are in the process of conducting an overall review of our SFA program. It’s going to be happening this year and early next year. Mahsi.

Mahsi. The Member is asking for detailed information. I can definitely provide that to him. Mahsi.

Mahsi. From time to time we do offer different programming at the North Slave Correctional Centre. In 2010, in October, we also offered the National Sex Offender Program. This is a federal program. Also, different programs are being offered at corrections. I have the list here. We have programs that are being delivered and I can definitely share that with the Members around the room. This is an area of interest for us, how we can rehabilitate those individuals back into the communities. The Member is asking for a review of what’s out there. Again, we have done that review. We can look at those...

Mr. Speaker, this particular review, once it’s undertaken this year, will take some time because, as I stated, I want to reach out to the students. We have students across Canada and we have students in the Northwest Territories -- the vast Northwest Territories -- so it will take some time. I can’t guarantee that it’s going to be by this fall, but definitely we will push for late this fall and start working towards next year’s budget. Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, once the review has been undertaken, I guess this year, we want to look at all areas. I want to reach out to the students, to the parents, to the community members. I want to hear their views, because those are the people who are impacted, those are the students who are impacted. We, as the department, would like to hear directly from them. Those are just some of the work that will be within the frame of the review, but I will be keeping the Members posted on it as we move forward. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to report the release of the DVD documentary “Non-Violence: A Strength-Based Community Inquiry” which was developed as part of the GNWT Family Violence Action Plan, Phase 2. Implementing phase 2 of the plan was one of the activities that the Government of the Northwest Territories identified under the Building Our Future initiative of our strategic plan as a way to achieve this Assembly’s goal of sustainable, vibrant and safe communities.

Violence has a devastating effect on our people and communities and is compromising our collective future. Over...

Mahsi. I did already commit to the Member that I will have my department look at these programs that were offered. Those programs that the Member is referring to, if they’ve been successful in the past, definitely they can be brought back. I need to work with the Members on that and also with corrections. Those that are not on the list, we need to explore those areas as well. I know several Members have raised other programs in the past and those are programs that we’re also looking at possibly delivering in the correctional institution as well. Mahsi.