Statements in Debates
Thank you. A short comment, Mr. Chair. I certainly want to encourage this strong protocol, folks, in terms of implementing this legislation here and the situation we, in the Northwest Territories, have to deal with in terms of the shortage of lawyers and the court issue and making this legislation sensitive to people in the smaller communities to deal with and having a strong procedure in place that would ensure that they are getting the services they require to handle sensitive and difficult issues in the court proceedings.
I just want to urge the Minister, Mr. Chairman. I also note the...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Can the Minister provide to me as to how the funding formula for small high schools ensures that core courses that our students take can and will get them into universities and/or colleges?
Can the Minister explain to me how students in these small high schools who want to take courses such as biology, chemistry or trades in their community?
Who is responsible for paying the cost of sending students to other high schools to take courses that are not offered in our small high schools?
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think Imperial Oil’s model, their way of thinking, is profit over people. That’s been there since 1920. Shame on them. It’s a crying shame that in this day and age Imperial Oil can do this to the people of the Northwest Territories. You know, Norman Wells is a prime example of Imperial Oil going in there, taking out what it has to do to benefit its company and leave the community. So I’m really, really angry that this could happen in this day and age. I’m asking the Government of the Northwest Territories in terms of how do we help the community of Norman Wells...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. I would like to recognize a constituent of mine from Fort Good Hope. Jerry Lennie is in the gallery. He’s in Yellowknife and visiting the House to see how we do business for our people.
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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I recently had a conversation with a teacher in one of my communities. Mr. Speaker, that teacher was culture shocked having to come into a classroom in the Sahtu and being faced with three or four grades to teach in the same room. So it’s a little bit different in the small communities than in the larger centres.
Mr. Speaker, my question to the Minister is, on measuring success by having the students enrolled in SFA, it doesn’t show if the students are entering university or taking upgrading prior to entering university or college, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister give a...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister what steps he is taking so that in the future high school diplomas in the small communities will be the same quality as the diploma from a larger centre such as Yellowknife, Hay River or Inuvik. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to send congratulations to all the Sahtu students who will be graduating from Grade 12 this spring and to the parents who have worked hard for many years to see their children to this point. Finishing high school is an achievement all students should be proud of, Mr. Speaker. A high school diploma should be a direct ticket to other opportunities, like universities and technical schools. Unfortunately, this is not the case for many of our students in small communities. Although they work just as hard as students in the larger centres to get...
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to go back to item 5 on the orders of the day.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In our small communities such as Colville Lake or our larger centres like Norman Wells and Deline, some of these centres don’t have chemistry labs, biology labs and physics and qualified teachers to teach it or they are overburdened by the number of students. That’s what I am asking. For these students who are graduating from our smaller communities, they are only geared to go into certain trades or careers. If they wanted to be a doctor or a biologist, they have to take extra courses. In Yellowknife or Hay River, they have these facilities available. In smaller...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question today is to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Mr. Speaker. I would like to, at this time, just take a few minutes just to offer my condolences to my honourable colleague in the Nunakput riding to some of the students I went to school with that the Member mentioned earlier in this statement here.
My question is to the Education Minister, Mr. Speaker, is that in the sessional statement by the Premier, he quoted saying the education of our youth remains one of our most pressing challenges facing our territory and is a continued...