Jackson Lafferty

Mahsi. These are the very reasons why we transferred to NWT Housing Corporation to identify those 75 housing units throughout the Northwest Territories, and Yellowknife is a big factor in that. I believe there were 55 slated for Yellowknife.

These are just some of the areas that we’ve identified as core need and we need to work with it, with the various parties involved.

We’re doing what we can to the best of our ability as income security, along with our partners such as the NWT Housing Corporation and NGOs as well. Mahsi.

Through our Income Security Program, the Income Assistance program directs all individuals who are considered transient directly to an emergency shelter. That’s why we work very closely with the NWT Housing Corporation and NGOs to deal with these matters. Depending on the person’s circumstances, an individual’s family may become eligible for income assistance after their stay in an emergency shelter. There is food and shelter available through that venue.

But we, again, work with those NGOs and the Housing Corporation to assist those individual clientele as best as we can as a department...

Mr. Speaker, I have often talked about the Education Renewal Initiative in this House and have updated Members a number of times as to its progress. In our discussions last year, Members said that unless children actually go to school it does not matter what programs and supports are provided. Members encouraged us to create a school attendance advertising campaign and, Mr. Speaker, we have acted upon that advice.

Mr. Speaker, our school attendance rates are not where we want them to be. Students must strive for 100 percent in order to give themselves the best chance to learn. A student who has...

There’s a variety of stakeholders involved with these types of discussion. One of the areas that the Member is alluding to, mandatory counselling, has been brought up. We’re fully aware of that, and even the superintendents of school boards are aware of it, as well, and how can we mitigate that into our current code of conduct measures.

So, these are ongoing discussions that we are currently having with the school boards. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. When we first talked about the safe and caring school legislation, there was discussion about a territorial school code of conduct being established in all schools. So those are just some of the discussions and engagements we’ve had with the school boards. They are moving forward to developing their own code of conduct within the school establishment. That has been in place.

There has been a lot of discussion happening at the school level. We are hoping in the beginning of the 2015-16 school year an overall code of conduct will be established. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate Ms. Lea Lamoureux, principal of Kaw Tay Whee School in Detah, on being recognized as one of Canada’s outstanding principals for 2015.

She is the most recent in a long list of Northwest Territories recipients who have been recognized for their dedication and passion for teaching our students in the Northwest Territories.

The Learning Partnership recently announced Ms. Lamoureux as one of 40 exceptional educators from across Canada. Through her leadership, Kaw Tay Whee School is now a vibrant learning environment, connecting families and the community of Detah....

There are all kinds of websites that have been established within my department. We’re working with the school boards. There are some websites that may not be suitable for various reasons and it’s been highlighted. What the Member is referring to is gearing towards that as well.

So, we are, again, working with the DECs and DEAs to capture that, and if it’s a concern, then we need to address it. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Each school is provided with the tools and supports to develop and implement the most effective and relevant safe school plan for their school and also the community, and there’s also an evaluation monitoring mechanism. With every program that we’ve established, we’ve initiated, there’s a MEA, monitoring evaluating accountability aspect to it because it’s very important that we evaluate how our program is operating. So, this is one area that we continue to push forward with the school boards on an annual basis. Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise Members that the Honourable Bob McLeod and the Honourable David Ramsay will be absent from the House today to attend the Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women National Round Table in Ottawa. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We’re always looking for opportunities and ideas and suggestions. What the Member is referring to is a document that, if we can get our hands on – I’m assuming that he’ll be tabling the document at a later time – we can access and work with it. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.