Jackson Lafferty

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. It gives me great pleasure to recognize members from the NWTTA: President Dave Reid and also Gayla Meredith, coordinator of member services.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled Government of the Northwest Territories Response to the Standing Committee on Government Operations Report 1-16(4), Review of the Information and Privacy Commissioner’s 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 Annual Reports. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, this has been brought forward at the national table, as well, where we had an incident in Hay River, a bad incident, and also a small community in Nunavut. So this has been brought forward and the discussion has been that we need those officers, new recruits, with a mentor that may have five to 10 years’ experience. So those are the discussions that we’ve had with the RCMP “G” Division, the importance and the relevance of it. So, yes, this is clearly a priority for us that we continue to recommend to the RCMP “G” Division. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that is part of the consultation. That’s why we hire a consultant to have an overall review with the school boards in Yellowknife. I’m not sure if I’m getting a clear message to the Member that we’re in the process of reviewing the schools in the Yellowknife area and, certainly, the consultant will be in touch with the school boards to identify what’s required, what’s needed. That’s why it’s called a school review. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in fact, my department met with YK No. 1 on November 26, 2009, to provide an overview of the updates on the Yellowknife Education District No. 1 facilities. So there has been a meeting and now, based out of that, there has been a request, not necessarily from them but the three school boards that we deal with, on a request for an educational overview for the Yellowknife riding.

So, Mr. Speaker, based on that, there is a review of the 10-year education facility plan that’s currently underway. It’s based on looking at the impact of the enrolment data from the past...

Mr. Speaker, we do what we can with what we have in resources in the regions, whether it be the Tuktoyaktuk client service officers and we do have regional representatives as well that go to the communities. Some communities may feel that the caseload is also increasing. Those are areas that we are looking at as ECE department where we can add resources if we need to based on the clientele, the caseload. Those are areas that we are looking at, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. We feel that we need to meet the needs of all clientele in the Northwest Territories. We do provide budgets and funding to each department and also to the respective regions. There has been an increase in the travel budget as it has been highlighted in previous budgets and also this year as well. We continue to go out to isolated communities. It does cost us extra. Mr. Speaker, yes, we do have a budget for that. Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, the modules that I’m talking about is we gave further funding in August 2009 to provide the Yamozha Kue Society to complete the development and product of the training modules for the community-based interpreter and the translator training modules that will be delivered as a pilot project.

Mr. Speaker, we need to reach out to the five regions that we have and it will take gradual steps, but this is an ongoing pilot project that we’re continuing to promote. Again, at the language symposium the experts around the table will give us more feedback on this particular program. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we do have a program in place through the Yamozha Kue Society through the Dene Cultural Institute. We deliver a module pilot training program. There have been different training programs in Yellowknife, Lutselk'e and other communities as well. It’s based on the modules. So, Mr. Speaker, once those six training modules are delivered… And a certificate of achievement is also awarded to those individuals. Once the six modules are completed, it’s going to be delivered in all language communities. Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, again, the consultant will gather all the facts from the school boards, so I’m sure there will be a consultation happening with the school board. Mr. Speaker, Yellowknife education facility is under review and it will be completed in the spring of 2010 and, yes, there is consultation happening with the school boards. Mahsi.