Jackson Lafferty

We as a government do not get involved with staff housing. We do what we can as a department to work with the development corporations at the community level and also the bands in the community — municipalities, if that’s the case — to have suitable housing or a unit in the community for professional staff that are coming in. That’s what we do as a department. We work with the Housing Corporation and other departments to identify those needs at the community level.

Yes, I will, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Hon. Member for Range Lake, that Bill 7, Securities Act, be read for the second time.

Mr. Speaker, this bill modernizes our framework for regulating trading in securities in the Northwest Territories and enables full implementation of the “passport system” for the regulation of the securities industry in Canada. Established by an inter-provincial/territorial agreement, the passport system has been designed to give market participants access to capital markets across Canada based on consistent laws and the decision of the securities regulator in the...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the Hon. Member from Yellowknife South, that Bill 5, An Act to Amend the Maintenance Orders Enforcement Act, be read for a second time.

Mr. Speaker, this bill amends the Maintenance Orders Enforcement Act to provide additional enforcement measures that may be taken by a Maintenance Enforcement Administrator for the purpose of enforcing a maintenance order so that it is filed with the Maintenance Enforcement Office.

The new enforcement measures:

expand the types of information that the administrator may, for the purposes of enforcing a maintenance order...

Mr. Speaker, I’d like to thank the Members for sharing their concerns and issues pertaining to this particular motion. These issues and concerns were addressed by the social program that we met with earlier last week. And we made a commitment to go back to the House and also to the committee in six months’ time to identify where the progress is at with the short-term/long-term action plan that’s been developed by the people from the community.

Mr. Speaker, just to highlight what’s been taking place pertaining to this motion, September ’07 is when it all started with identifying concerns and...

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.

Mahsi, Mr. Chairman. I have Blair Barbour, Administrative Policy Advisor, Department of Education, Culture and Employment; and Lana Birch, Legislative Counsel, Department of Justice.