Jackson Lafferty

Mr. Speaker, the decision comes down from the DEA, district education council. The community level will be the authority to make those kinds of decisions as a priority to our department. That is why I stated that we will work with the DEA and the DEC and also the community leadership along with Mr. Menicoche on putting this forward. It could be part of our capital planning process either this fall or next fall, but it is not identified since last year for this particular year. Mr. Speaker, this is an area that we need to work with as we move forward. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The trip to the community of Fort Liard was my first visit to the community. It was a great visit just to see the students and also the leadership of the community and seeing the playground itself where the students usually play. We did talk about this particular case when we came back to Yellowknife, Mr. Speaker. This particular playground has been identified as part of the capital planning. We may have to expedite the process. It is in the works. It is just the playground is still there, but my understanding is PWS has gone through the community last week. The ground is...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to announce today the official launch of the Small Community Employment Supports Program made possible under the Reducing the Cost of Living Strategic Initiative.

Smaller communities face many employment challenges. Youth unemployment rates in smaller communities can be double those of regional centres. Through this program, youth gain valuable work experience and develop the essential skills they need for taking advantage of rewarding employment opportunities.

This program supports the goals of the Department of Education, Culture and Employment...

Mr. Speaker, I am in no position to dictate to the DEA, but they should be telling me that they want more. That is an area where we need to cooperate. We need to work together. We need to build a strong relationship that we have right now. This has been identified as a priority for the community. We recognize that, Mr. Speaker. I will commit to the Member that we will do what we can to push this further, expedite the process during our capital planning process. Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, it has been identified for this year but it is at the request of the DEA from the community that we need to work with the board to make this a priority for the community and for our department. As you know, there are other major capitals that are before us, the schools that we need to work with. But at the same time, this is an area that I would like to focus on as well, Fort Liard. I did make a commitment to the leadership that I would like to go back there at some point in time in the summer if it all works out.

Mr. Speaker, this particular playground that the...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I, too, would like to recognize Ms. Sarah Wright-Cardinal who is here with us in the gallery. She is the president of Aurora College and she is travelling through the communities, all 33 communities. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I’ll also throw in a twist to my Member’s statement on the hand games tournament.

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Mr. Speaker, this past weekend... [English translation not provided.]

...as far as northern Alberta. The community was full of excitement, fully energized. You can hear the drum beat. We as the Dene people call it the heartbeat. You can hear it from miles away.

The event brought families together, friends united, and new acquaintances. It was time to share, time to laugh, time to connect with old friends, time to respect, time to heal and, most importantly, a...

Mr. Speaker, I’d just like to highlight the results that there’s been a sixth place finishing, as I highlighted. I’d just like to congratulate all the teams and the community of Behchoko for having a most successful hand games tournament... [Microphone turned off.]

...from across the Northwest Territories to this community. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

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I was having a chat on the side with my colleague here. Definitely we are committed and I believe it was brought up some time ago that we need to look at the household income. We are committed to looking even further at expanding the role of the subsidy programs we deliver based on household income. So the Housing Corporation is also. We will look into this further.

Those are the areas that we are currently evaluating. We need to assess who those seniors are, how many individuals are living with them, and they are based on household income.

As I stated in the House on several occasions, some of those individuals are working at the mines. Some of those individuals take advantage of the system. We have to be very careful in the evaluation system. As long as it benefits the clientele, the seniors, we’ll do what we can to meet those needs of those individuals. We are looking into this even further within my department.