Jackson Lafferty

Obviously, there are all kinds of extracurricular activities that are happening within our school systems throughout the Northwest Territories. There are 49 schools. Some may not offer full-fledged sports programs, but we continue to work with Municipal and Community Affairs dealing with sports and also the youth and how we can best deliver programs. We have been dealing with some of the community leadership. They take on the task, my department, of working with DECs and also MACA to deliver some of the fundamental sports programs that youth can be engaged in, especially youth who don’t have...

The review will be due in March, so that’s within the next couple of weeks. During the review the department obviously engaged the licenced daycare operators and also the staff, licenced family day home operators. Also, part of the process is Education, Culture and Employment regional early childhood consults. Those are the parties that have been involved along the process.

We are doing a three-year action plan on education renewal. Part of that process will capture attendance and the challenge we are faced with. The peer passing has been brought to our attention on numerous occasions and how we can deal with the matter. There are mixed feelings about that particular subject. It depends on who you talk to. We need to have all the stakeholders have a discussion on the best approach to deal with this particular matter. This is part of the discussion we are currently having as part of the action plan on ERI. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. There’s been a review that’s been undertaken and I believe my department, since October, has been finalizing their input as well. So, I’ll have to get the latest status on that. I don’t have that detailed information in front of me as we speak. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Part of the forum we are having in these communities, more specifically Hay River, Fort Smith, Fort Simpson, Inuvik, Norman Wells, Yellowknife and Behchoko in February and March, is to gather all the information, the data that we require that will lead to the development of a strategic framework that will set out a new direction for adults and post-secondary and skills training in the Northwest Territories. That will be followed by an action plan, monitoring and evaluation and also an accountability plan. So there is a great deal of work ahead of us, but we want to compile...

Any information that the Members can contribute to our decision-making will be valuable. Also, my department, obviously, has done some research, as well, so we can compile all that information, and if changes are necessary then we have to seriously look at those areas.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Within our policy there are amendments every now and then, and this is an area that I spoke to last week I believe it was. Making some changes to a policy obviously comes from the general public’s feedback and also the MLAs. If there is an area that we need to make some changes, then there is an opportunity to do so.

The symposium, obviously, is geared towards I believe it’s the second week in March, March 11th to 12th I believe. This has been a long time in the works, and those individuals, obviously, will cover the small communities as well. Any input such as what the Member is sharing with us and others from the general public will be shared at that forum. Based on the report, obviously, they will create a framework that deals with the labour market in the whole Northwest Territories. So, we’ll do what we can to work with the stakeholders and have an action plan to move forwards with. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker...

The Member is raising this profile because there is still a lot of work that needs to be done, information that we’re compiling. The fibre optic was in discussion in 2009. Now it’s here, 2015-2016, and it’s going to be happening. We need to have the resources and we need to have the information on how many are required, positions that are required, the talented individuals, the skillsets required and also the Sahtu training institute that’s been brought up in this House. We’re compiling all of that information. We’re getting the people ready for all this work that is out there, whether it be...

That’s exactly what is going to be happening. Today and tomorrow in Hay River there’s a visitation that’s happening, and in the following regions, as well, up to March 2nd. Once there have been visitations and forums that have taken place, then there will be a follow-up with an action plan and also monitoring, evaluation and accountability. That needs to be established. Once the action plan has been developed in the business planning process, then we will be moving forward to implementation. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.