Norman Yakeleya

I mentioned the Ministers of PWS and DOT because he talked a little bit on this issue here. For example, the Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority is going to hire four, but in any other regions, none of their health boards are hiring any summer students. This is an agency of something like the Sahtu Health Board. I want to ask if this opportunity can be given the same as the Fort Smith Health and Social Services Authority, which has hired six people.

The fairness and equality is not there. Can the Minister ensure that our regions will also have the same opportunity as the boards in...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We will have a homeless problem in the Sahtu very soon if we don’t deal with the ever-increasing eviction notices in our communities. We must, as a basic human right, house our people. It’s the only right thing to do, Mr. Speaker, to keep our children and people from being thrown out and then wait for a year to see if they are welcome back into a house, a government house.

Now, the Minister states that the Housing Corporation is not intent on evicting. However, it is the last resort to collect money from people for staying in housing in the Northwest Territories.

Mr...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister inform the House how many of these summer students have come on board with the Department of Transportation or PWS such as engineering or bridge construction or any other fields that the department is working in?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just a few comments to my support. Anytime we look at something that would support the elders in whatever fashion, I like to lend my support. I would like to thank the Member from Yellowknife here for bringing this forward to recognize the date of June 15th to 18th, I believe it’s Elder Abuse Week, and also to bring awareness to the elders.

When you read the report that the Member has made reference to, it’s fairly frightening. A lot of the issues that the elders are dealing with, sometimes they think it’s the normal way of how things are done in the community, or they...

Mr. Speaker, last year the Department of Transportation hired 31 students. Certainly, then, we want to see that number matched or even to increase. I want to ask for clarification, because the Minister is also responsible for DPW. When he said 34, was that the combination of both departments? I just want to ask about the Transportation numbers. Can the Minister clarify those numbers for me?

WHEREAS people with post-secondary education are six times more likely to have employment, and completing post-secondary education dramatically increases the lifetime prospects of having well-paid, stable employment;

AND WHEREAS the Department of Education’s Student Financial Assistance Program is designed to support full-time students pursuing a post-secondary education;

AND WHEREAS the living allowance for these students has not increased for 11 years, since the year 2000;

AND WHEREAS the Consumer Price Index in Canada has increased 27 percent since 2000, which indicates that the value of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I certainly hope that the LHO board clearly hears what the Minister has said. The board is the boss, and their comment that we have to take instructions from the district office is wiped out.

I want to ask the Minister, when he looks within solutions, can the Minister look at the concept of a community rental, community tenant/community liaison person for the housing that could help the tenants and the Housing Corporation so they can work together daily, monthly, weekly, biweekly, so they can help them with the arrears? Certainly that’s what we want to do and we need to...

I mentioned the Ministers of PWS and DOT because he talked a little bit on this issue here. For example, the Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority is going to hire four, but in any other regions, none of their health boards are hiring any summer students. This is an agency of something like the Sahtu Health Board. I want to ask if this opportunity can be given the same as the Fort Smith Health and Social Services Authority, which has hired six people.

The fairness and equality is not there. Can the Minister ensure that our regions will also have the same opportunity as the boards in...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice on Thursday, May 19, 2011, I will move the following motion: now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, that this Legislative Assembly strongly recommends that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment increases the living allowances set out in Schedule B of the Regulations to the Student Financial Assistance Act by 27 percent.

I look forward to that. It’s good news that the Minister has noted that the Minister of infrastructure along with the honourable Minister to look at how they can support communities. I want to ask the Minister if he’s going to involve the other municipalities in the North to look at how they can get their message to the Minister of infrastructure once the meeting is held with this government to look at dollars that could be supported in the communities for infrastructure such as the potholes or if we want to somehow initiate some partnership on chipsealing some of the communities.