Michael Nadli

Mr. Speaker, my question is the Aboriginal Head Start Program surely has amassed a lot of experience and expertise in terms of running program directly benefitting children in small communities. What lessons can be learned from the Aboriginal Head Start Program as Education, Culture and Employment moves forward with the implementation of the junior kindergarten?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier I made my statement on profiling the Aboriginal Head Start Program so I wanted to follow up with questions to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. As I stated, the Aboriginal Head Start Program has been in operation for the past 20 years, and it's a federally funded initiative, so I wanted to ask the Minister: what is the status of the Aboriginal Head Start Program within the Department of Education, Culture and Employment? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I speak in favour of Bill 5, the Vital Statistics Act, more particularly for the Aboriginal languages, an opportunity for people that make a choice to formally register their Aboriginal names. I applaud the department for taking those steps. Particularly so for the young individual person that took the steps to ensure that this legislation was amended. I'd like to draw her name, Shene Catholique-Valpy that took the steps to try to, you know, have her children's traditional name recognized in vital statistics, and she couldn't do it. So this is her effort in terms of...

Mr. Speaker, the other question is: Why are certain contractors being used to complete remediation work in Fort Providence when it could be done by local people instead of bringing people from the south? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier I made the statement on the mould in houses and elders moving out of their homes, so my questions are to the Minister of the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation. Elders have moved out about two months ago, so when will the remediation of elders' homes in Fort Providence be complete? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister reassure elders that they will be back in their homes by Christmastime? Mahsi.

I'd like to thank the Minister for her reply. The larger question is: what is the Housing Corporation's policy to address identified health risks in housing stock? These are homes that were built in the 70s. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Nasal stuffiness, eye irritation, wheezing, skin irritation, coughing, fever, shortness of breath, night asthma, and even respiratory infections, all of these can be caused by one thing: mould in the house. As Health Canada tells us, mould is the word used to describe the fungus that grows on food or damp materials, like windowsills, carpets or walls of kitchens, bathrooms or other areas where moisture is in the air. When mould grows, it releases spores into the air, and when people breathe in these spores, their health can be affected. Infants, children, and the elderly...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to take a moment to recognize Nick Sibbeston, senator, lawyer, MLA and former Premier of the GNWT Legislative Assembly, and also a former member of the Sacred Heart Residential School, a survivor from Fort Providence. I would like to welcome him to the House. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this motion as well. In August 2016 I was honoured to be present to see students graduate from Deh Gah Elementary and Secondary High School and the Minister was there too and witnessed three students that began their lifelong education quests at the start of the Aboriginal Head Start program, and I wanted to emphasize that.

The Aboriginal Head Start program has been in existence for a long time; it is community-based and it involves the community, parents and elders who incorporate the knowledge, at the same time prepare kids that are...