Jackson Lafferty

Mr. Speaker, obviously we’re at the end of our budget session. In order for this to happen, we have to deal with the stakeholders. It’s not only Dechinta, it’s Aurora College and other organizations that need to have their input as well. So, more than likely it won’t happen during the life of this Assembly. But in the transition period for the next Assembly, this is a discussion that more than likely will happen. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Aurora College and Dechinta have been working very closely together. Both institutions, both facilities deliver degree programming through southern institutions. So they’re not recognized as a degree-granting institution, but they are involved in a partnership with southern institutions. So they allow that through our campuses with a partnership for another two years in a southern institution.

So, in order to change that, we have to change our legislation in order to recognize the institution to be granting degree programming into our facilities. Those are the processes that...

These two boards exist so they can provide advice to the Minister responsible for Official Languages – in that case the Minister responsible is myself – and seeking their advice throughout the Northwest Territories. Due to the fact we’ve devolved various changes to our overall official languages, one of them is the Francophone Language Secretariat, the Aboriginal Languages Secretariat is another one, and we’ve increased our contribution agreements to the Aboriginal governments. Those are changes based on their recommendation.

As I stated earlier, the next meeting of the boards will be at the...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Since 2009 the Standing Committee on Government Operations released a final report on the Review of the Official Languages of the Northwest Territories. There have been several meetings since then with key stakeholders, such as FFTs, Aboriginal language groups and even as far as reaching out to both the Revitalization and Official Languages boards, talking about the amalgamation. Those are discussions that we will be having. This year I will be meeting with the board, seeking their input about the amalgamation prospects.

This has been a long time in the making. We made a lot...

As you know, this is very preliminary. We need to do an analysis of the small communities as well. So far the transferring of the administration of the funding through the NWT Housing Corporation will give us an indication if it’s meeting the needs of our clientele. If it’s working successfully, then, by all means, we’ll be open to having discussions and possibly working with the Housing Corporation in other small communities as well. Those are just some of the discussions that we need to have down the road. Mahsi.

It is a combination. We’re dealing with the cost of living in the Northwest Territories and the high costs in especially the small, isolated communities. We felt that there’s a need for increase in our overall subsidy program with income assistance. It is based on a combination of a percentage of CPI within the Northwest Territories, and this is the feedback that we received from the general public and organizations, that it’s time for an increase. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

We will be having a meeting with the board at the end of this month to seek their input, and then we’ll move forward on that. Mahsi.

When it comes to Aboriginal languages, this is an area that’s obviously dear to my heart. I speak the language. I speak fluently in my language. I feel that we need to do more in this area.

When it comes to the Official Languages Act for the Northwest Territories, we have to deal with Aboriginal language groups. Sometimes it can be a very complex situation where Aboriginal language… There is a five-year strategic plan that’s been developed by Aboriginal language and we have to work with that. I am of the view that we need to have an integrated approach, coordinated approach with Aboriginal...

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment provides a better quality of life for some of the most vulnerable residents of the Northwest Territories through its Income Security Program. I’d like to speak today about a significant improvement that is being made to the Income Assistance program as well as two very important initiatives that are underway.

Starting in April 2015, income assistance clients will receive more money for food and incidental expenses. These benefits will continue to increase each year for the next four years. The increases to these benefits will...

The funding that has been allocated is to subsidize the rentals in the Northwest Territories. There are some units that are high costs to manage. We’ve had some challenges with having a public unit available. So, we are partnering and transferring our funding to the NWT Housing Corporation so we can have a coordinated approach to have these market housing units available in Yellowknife and surrounding communities, as well, for income support clientele. So, those are some of the discussions that we’ve been having, and we’ve joined forces and now we’re moving forward and delivering 75 public...