Jackson Lafferty

Again, yes, I will be looking into it. We have to be very mindful. Our northern students go south and they get sponsorship and they come back north to go to school. We have to be careful that we don’t double-dip. They get compensation, say, from Alberta government. At the same time, we sponsor them within the three months residency as is suggested here. Those are areas we are exploring, pros and cons, the benefits to our students. Whatever we do, provincial and territorial jurisdictions are watching us. Any changes we make, obviously we will need to work with them. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. Over the years we’ve been following the process when it comes to capital infrastructure, but just recently there’s been some interest from community, whether it be the business arm wanting to provide some opportunity for us. Those are just the recent discussions that we are currently having and potential prospects of either building new schools or the college and so forth. Those are discussions that, as a Cabinet, we need to have. Anything we do goes against our borrowing limit so we have to be mindful of that.

My department is working very closely with PWS as well. Anything...

If it was that easy, I would have made that change yesterday. We are, as my department, working diligently on the particular policy that we have in place. It’s been in since 2000, so 15 years.

Obviously, we are supporting our Northerners coming back to the North. When a Northerner lives in the South, whether it be Alberta or a provincial jurisdiction, they are sponsored with 12 months’ residency. They have the same residency as we do across Canada. So once they live in southern Alberta, as such, they will qualify for financial compensation to go to school. So, we need to be very careful how we...

We have more detailed information here if I can get my deputy to just elaborate more.

Any changes we make to our policies, obviously there’s a cost factor, as I stated, and this is an area that we are looking at.

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. Tsiigehtchic, we have to keep in mind the utilization of the space. There are 49 schools that we’re responsible for, but we are working closely with the Beaufort-Delta District Education Council and we identify the capacity as 27 percent versus a 90 percent capacity in other schools, it becomes a priority for this Assembly. But we’re mindful of that and at every opportunity, if I visit a community, I like to visit the schools to see the capacity itself, to see what the real issues are. So that’s what we’ll continue to do.

The Moose Kerr School that the Member highlighted...

That policy has been in existence since 2000, for 15 years. We’ve heard from students about the particular policies we have in place. There are certain areas where 12 months’ residency versus what Members suggested, three months. If an individual moves south after high school, whether it is for work or school, and they come back for three months and go back to school again to further their schooling down south, they would qualify based on what the Member is suggesting, three months. There is no guarantee that these students will be coming back. We just have to be mindful and monitor those...

Mr. Chair, I did commit that we want to meet with the DEA for Detah to start the discussion. So we’re more than open to have that type of discussion. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. There were several issues brought to our attention by the school principal. My department has been working with the principal to resolve those issues, whether it be a site investigation. PWS has obviously been working with them as well. They have contracted the PSAV architect as late as this month, September. So that work is ongoing.

The sprinkler system obviously is part of the discussion, I believe. It’s also, from the principal’s perspective, brought to my department’s attention and PWS is aware of that as well. My department is doing what we can to work with the school and...

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. With respect to the Trout Lake school, the last time we visited, I went there with my staff and also Mr. Menicoche and the school representatives. I wanted to see with my own eyes what’s been referred to as a community gathering. The school is also attached to the community hall. We took that into perspective as well. The community obviously wanted us to address the school because the student population is increasing. Obviously, it was the wish of the community to move forward on that addition. Mr. Menicoche obviously stated concerns, as well, about the community hall and how...