Jackson Lafferty

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Range Lake, that Bill 3, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2010, be read for the third time. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to advise this House that a ceremony was held today to celebrate the tremendous contributions that people across this Territory have made to education.

The Department of Education, Culture and Employment launched the Education Hall of Fame some months ago, requesting nominations be put forward for those Northerners who made lasting and selfless contributions to education. Nominations poured in, Mr. Speaker, and 15 people were chosen from across the Territory. The 2010 inductees embody the commitment, diligence, creativity and passion that we...

The minor renovations and major renovations that have been highlighted by our department on the capital planning process will continue as we move along. The Member is referring to certain facilities such as the Aurora College campus. The decision has to be made on options first, before we can proceed with the capital planning process. That is in the works and they are at the final stages.

That is one of the options that we are discussing with YK 1 as well. Alternatives on the options. The decision that needs to come down and the recommendation to me as well, then make a final decision before the capital planning process begins. That’s why we’ve initiated this consultation and we are now on the verge of a final decision by the board to give us a green light to say we’re fine with the option that they are favouring. We’re just waiting for that response from the board.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am glad to inform the Members today of the work underway towards a new strategy for supporting the nine official aboriginal languages of the Northwest Territories.

In the late 1990s, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment consulted with communities about developing a long-term plan supporting our Territory’s traditional languages. The strategy, Revitalizing, Enhancing and Promoting Aboriginal Languages: Strategies for Supporting Aboriginal Languages, outlines what the government was doing in support of healthy aboriginal languages in our...

Throughout the consultation and also the Yellowknife educational facilities review, there has been undertaking of renovations. The renovations that have been highlighted has already been undertaken by our department and identified as a capital planning project on a long-term basis. Those facilities that need upgrade and major retrofit have been highlighted through our consultation with the school boards. Yes, the majority of the schools that require upgrade will definitely be part of the capital planning process.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The study has been completed. We are in consultation with the YK 1 school board and the college. We just need to consult with them on possibly proposed changes. We need to keep in mind that the college campus, the expiry date of 2012 at Northern United Place is a pressing issue that we need to deal with. Overall, the Yellowknife education facilities have been reviewed and there have been some proposed options that we have presented to the board and also to Yellowknife MLAs for their consideration. We’re still waiting for feedback by one of the school boards and then we can...

Part of the discussion that we’ve had in the community was also... At times it is the wish of the community not to have running water, but at the same time we are pursuing with the school to put in a piping system for running water because we feel that we need to have students healthy in the school so the germs don’t spread around. So, Mr. Speaker, we are committing $225,000 to deal with that matter. At the same time we need to look forward at how we can work with the community on expansion down the road. So, Mr. Speaker, again, we need to work with the DEC and DEA at the community level. They...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I will be more than happy to present the current status of what has been happening to the standing committee. They can certainly share with the general public as well. We can certainly do that, too, and put it on our website. Just updating on where we have been, Mr. Speaker, this is all preliminary at this point. I am not sure how far we will be, but certainly what we have talked about is still in the preliminary stages. We need to develop a business case scenario between the three jurisdictional territorial governments. We will be meeting with the federal Minister as we...

Mr. Speaker, I do agree that education is the best gift that we can provide to the Northwest Territories. I did provide to the Member that one can look at it as not a university base, but we are delivering university core courses and we are graduating teachers with degree programs. A Member can look at it as not a base but we are expanding on our programs.

The three main campuses that we have, the goal is to expand further so it is recognized as a university of the north or the university of the Arctic. That is the vision that we have with Minister Strahl. The three jurisdictions, Territorial...