Jackson Lafferty

I move, seconded by the Hon. Member for Range Lake, that Bill 3, An Act to Amend the Employment Standards Act, be read for the third time.

Mr. Speaker, there have been some changes to our program. We have increased 30 per cent in the child care program area. We are listening to our Members who raise an issue. Certainly, we will take that into consideration.

With various programs there is always room for improvement, so certainly, we will work with that and how we can expedite the application process.

We have our resource department staff who are more than willing to assist with the clients and parents as well. We will do our part as well. Mahsi.

Some of the money is based on the enrolment at the centres and facilities. Also, the Member is referring to…. If the money is held back or if there is a surplus, then we have to extend the money to different programs as well, where it is needed in the community. As I said, we serve 33 communities. We open up for communities that are in need of funding to offset their costs.

Mr. Speaker, we realize the urgency. The Deh Cho Hall will be coming down, and these three organizations are desperately seeking office space. Certainly that’s part of the plan, to have our staff visit the community and work with the Member and also work with the organizations that I’ve highlighted earlier, and also work with the community. So we’re anxious to move forward on this with potential solutions to these issues that we’re faced with. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I made a commitment that my department will be working with the community of Fort Simpson, specifically with those three organizations. I will make a commitment here again today that my department, my deputy and also the Director of Education Operations and Development, as a person, will be going to the community of Fort Simpson sometime next March — probably early March — to deal with that particular issue.

So we are making progress, Mr. Speaker. Like I said, we will continue to work hard with the community to identify a solution with their help and with their input.

Mr. Speaker, certainly I am more than willing to visit the communities in the Member’s riding. We did make some arrangements to go to the communities sometime after session. I am committed to that.

The issue that he has highlighted — the recruitment process — is another area that we are focussing on as a department, working along with the NWT Housing Corporation, whether it be housing issues or the recruitment area. We are fully aware of it. In our department, one of our goals is to develop plans to deal with it. Mahsi.

Mahsi. Mr. Speaker, our department works closely with the authorities and the school boards and has frequent contact with the superintendent of school operations. If issues arise, then there are protocols that they follow, a process, according to the policies that we have in place.

Yes, there is a system in place, with open communication and dialogue between our department and the communities. Mahsi.

Mahsi. Mr. Speaker, we can certainly take that into consideration, working with the development corporation at the community level, along with the Housing Corporation and our department. Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, that is what we’re doing with the communities. We are having the Housing Corporation assist with the development corporations to build units in the communities. With us, there are no ties, as we are the third party. We are assisting the communities in pursuing the building of these units for professionals in the communities, specifically for teachers, social workers and nurses in the communities as well. That’s what we’re doing as a department — our department, working with another department — to identify a solution in a community.

Yes, our department will continue to work closely with the communities. Specifically dealing with the housing issues, we have to continue hiring teachers in the communities, and we will continue working with the communities on that issue.