Jackson Lafferty

Mr. Chairman, the thing we are doing at $140,000 has been identified to do a study plan, because what we have identified here with the consultant was they did their report and the report identified related renovations to an existing building, a high school entrance, an addition to a stand free shop facility and provision for cold storage. We need to do more planning study within the school. I know the Member has raised this issue in the House. We want to have a solid case that we can bring forward as part of our capital plan projects for next year. That is our overall plan. That is part of the...

Yes, Mr. Speaker, yes. ECE is already in the process of, again, developing the Labour Market Development Framework. That is the comprehensive work that we’ve been engaged in, and I encourage the Member to provide feedback. We will also provide feedback to the Member on our consultations with the stakeholders.

I would like to thank the Member and also the Members for their valuable contributions towards this important document and will continue to have ongoing discussion with the stakeholders.

The way the process works is that usually the school boards provide us applications on their needs. If CTS is required, or for upgrade, then there is funding available for that. I believe it’s upwards of $400,000. Those are numbers that we work with. It’s all based on the application from the school boards on their needs.

Mr. Speaker, we currently provide, through ECE, a number of programs into the smaller communities, the isolated communities, so they can participate in the labour market in the Northwest Territories. We also are currently working on the Labour Market Development Framework that also involves consultation with the communities. This framework will help us to adapt to the new emergent economic and labour force challenges and opportunities. What the Member is referring to will be addressed in the framework itself, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi.

The current and existing daycares and child care facilities are run by not-for-profit organizations or private sectors. So we don’t own those buildings. That’s part of the reason why we haven’t gotten into capital projects for that specific area. We’ve made some changes to our programming. It does reflect on some of the mortgage payments. Just thinking or changing our policies to reflect on the cost of operating, we do have some or have made some changes at that level when it comes to O and M and try and be creative and innovative. There have been some changes on the mortgage payment for...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Education, Culture and Employment is pleased to share news about the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative that focuses on increasing accomplishments of aboriginal students across the Northwest Territories.

The success of all students is important for the Northwest Territories. However, aboriginal students have been lagging behind non-aboriginal students. While we are making progress on this challenge, we nonetheless want to enhance the improvement.

Mr. Speaker, the initiative’s long-term goal is to develop and implement a territorial plan to help...

You almost forgot me there. [English translation not provided]

Mr. Speaker, I would just like to say thank you to Mr. Whitford for being an ambassador of the Northwest Territories. You know, you can’t really say no to an elder when an elder asks you to include him in a journey we have with our portfolios. When I first became Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, visiting the schools and gradation dates and so forth, when I first met Tony and we sat down, of course he told so many stories at that time too, but he asked me if I could include him in my journey and I couldn’t say no to an...

Mr. Speaker, we did increase in 2007 for basic food, clothing and other expenses. We have a program that’s always changing the Income Security Framework. Definitely, those are areas that we continue to look at and we continue to make changes.

Mr. Speaker, the Member is alluding to the high cost of living. We include that into our programming as well. So we’re fully aware of the high cost of living in the communities and continuously we change our programming. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are currently, through income security and a variety of support to the communities to deal with basic food, shelter and clothing allowances. We also have other subsidies such as seniors’ home fuel subsidy, public housing rental subsidy, which will be transferred to the Housing Corporation soon, and a variety of supports that are available such as NWT child benefits, child care user subsidy, and senior citizen supplementary benefits, along with other benefits that we do provide. We’ve made some changes to our income security in 2007 to increase our funding as...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha that Bill 5, Apprenticeship, Trade and Occupations Certification Act, be read for the third time. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.