Jackson Lafferty

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Certainly, that will be a part of the discussions we’ll be having with our social envelope of the Ministers that we will be gathering this next couple of weeks. That has been part of our discussion when we’re dealing with homelessness, since we’re in a process of opening the new Bailey House. We did meet with the group on the female facility they proposed for years down the road. There have been some discussions in that area. Certainly, that will be one of the discussions we’ll be having as part of the program within our social envelope.

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. Ms. Shaner can elaborate after I make some remarks on that particular area. We have considered that as part of the EI, but what we’re proposing here is, of course, in the best interests of the child. There are individuals out there who may or may not be working, but there are individuals who are paying and some individuals who aren’t paying. This gives the tools to maintenance enforcement officers to go after those individuals who do not pay on a regular basis.

I think the main focus is the needs of those children. That’s one of the reasons we need to go after certain...

[English translation not provided.]

Mr. Speaker, spring is a very exciting time in education. Graduation ceremonies have started and will continue to be taking place at high schools, post-secondary institutions and various technical training programs throughout the Northwest Territories.

These ceremonies acknowledge the hard work and dedication of each individual who has reached his or her goal of completion. Individuals will be acknowledged for excellence in academics, athletics, fine arts, leadership and community involvement.

Whether or not they have won tangible awards, each and every...

Yes, Mr. Chair.

The letters have gone out to the Hay River MLA and to the schools. They are made aware that this is a directive that has been proposed. In return they can certainly write to the department — to me — identifying their concerns or issues or providing any feedback. which will certainly be taken into consideration. We’re expecting some response from the community members.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The directive went out to the Members and the communities requesting their input by the 20th of this month. One of the directives is to have the right-holders only allowed in those particular schools: the French schools. Right now it is an open door policy, where any individuals from the community can access their school and take pre-schooling and then a French immersion program. From there they are considered right-holders at that facility.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The Drug Abuse Resistance Education program has been very successful in the North. In fact, we do have approximately 20 RCMP members who deliver the program in the communities. They are situated in Inuvik, Aklavik, Whati, Yellowknife, and Fort Smith.

There have been some programs undertaken in the Member’s riding. This was for a short period. Certainly, it’s one of the areas that we can talk about with the Member —it is a G Division area — if the community is interested.

When the officers are in the community, they get trained. It’s a specialized training area. If an...

Mr. Speaker, one of the options that we did work with was PWS having another inspection done on the actual building itself. The building is an old building, so it was a safety factor. The foundation is rotting away. At the same time, that was one of the options we were working on.

The next option, in the medium term, will be to do a lease agreement with the college campus, because we know that the students need to enter the fall school year. That’s one of the short-term solutions that we are working on. After July 30 I do believe there will be space available for them. That’s one of the areas...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Ever since there was a petition from the students of Inuvik that came in late last year, my department has been working with the community of Inuvik and the different departments of ENR to try to find a solution, because we know that in August of 2008 there will be the closure of the facility. We’re doing what we can as a department to come up with a solution.

We’re working on some options, and we’re also working with the Beaufort-Delta Divisional Education Council, possibly using some classrooms in the interim. Also, we’ve identified an ENR building that’s going to be...

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. As Ms. Shaner already elaborated, where individuals are on EI, there are set standards of payments. Another avenue is, of course, to go back to court and revise payments if they’re not working. Those are avenues that they can certainly turn to. Mahsi.