Jackson Lafferty

Mr. Speaker, right now we still do offer, for this year, up to $5,000 per student to continue for another year. At that point in time the student will have the opportunity to explore other bursaries. There’s a whole bunch of scholarships out there. When you attend a university or a college, there are all these bulletin boards that have opportunities for students to apply. Based on their academics, they can easily access up to ten, 15 different scholarships.

So certainly our department will continue to support these students for this year financially and also support them in any way we possibly...

Mahsi. Mr. Speaker, this particular program was introduced in 1999–2000. We have had limited success with this program. That’s one area we looked at as a department as part of how we can improve in these areas. That was an area we looked at as part of the reduction that has been brought forward. Due to the fact that we haven’t had much success in this area.... Part of that introduction was to increase lawyers in the Northwest Territories, specifically aboriginal lawyers. But there had been a limited intake in the program. Mahsi.

As the Members are aware, this legislation was brought forward in the 15th Assembly. There was some consultation that took place. Our plan as a department is to continue with the process of dialoguing with our colleagues, the Regular Members. We were hoping to sit down this fall and start talking on this particular proposal. That’s our initial discussion.

Mahsi, Mr.  Speaker. The quality of life and the safety of the Northwest Territories as a whole is a top priority not only for the Department of Justice but also for the Government of the Northwest Territories. Yes, I will be introducing the legislation to this Assembly during the life of this Assembly. Mahsi.

It is true that we need to move forward on this. We certainly don’t want to lose professionals to the south. We certainly want to attract them and retain them here in the North. The draft legislation proposal will be forwarded for our review within the next month, so it is coming in a progression period.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Just to address the question on the Medical Profession Act and what the Member is alluding to — the changes — yes, there is a draft comprehensive professional corporation legislative proposal coming forward. So we are working on that with the Department of Health and Social Services and our department — working closely together on the particular statement.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Safety is one of our top priorities as a department — safety of the inmates, also safety of the correctional officers and, as the Member alluded to, safety of the public. We’ll certainly do what we can. We do have a psychologist on hand to assist us with program delivery at this facility, and also the two individuals that are in there currently and also the third individual that does deliver the program. So we will continue to deliver the programs that have been delivered for a number of years, and we’ll certainly monitor that as well on a continuing basis. Mahsi.

We do have the expertise from within. We have one continuing staff member who has taken on the role of delivery officer. Also, the two current members whose positions are proposed for reduction do have the opportunity to become the case officers, or case managers. So they will continue to deliver the programs at the centre.

Mr. Speaker, we’ll do what we can as a department to fast-track this particular piece of our proposal.

We will, as a department, continue to work with the Department of Health and Social Services and the other parties that are involved with drafting of the proposal. We’ll do what we can as a department to move it expeditiously. Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, this has been an ongoing issue for a number of years, highlighting the doctors and the lawyers. I believe Mrs. Groenewegen raised that issue on numerous occasions in the past. It has triggered our department and also Health and Social Services to draft up legislation on this particular issue. We are currently establishing a draft proposal to be submitted, and then we will be discussing that further. It is one of the priorities that our department is also working on with the department.