Norman Yakeleya

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, because of the number of students we have in the gallery, I want to make a quick reference. Of these 60 students, if we took only 20 out, and we put all those students in one building, from kindergarten to Grade 12, that's what the children in Colville Lake are faced with. In this time and age, Mr. Speaker, that's just totally unacceptable. So I would like to ask the Minister, can he state, for the people of Colville Lake, that their school, where they send their children each school day of the year, does the school in Colville Lake meet the current...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. A portable classroom may have a lifespan of 20 years. It makes more sense to renovate and put an addition onto the existing structure. I will have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment at the appropriate time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

A crying shame that we have to put our students in this type of building.

In examining the history of an addition for the Colville Lake School, I know the project has been delayed, and reduced in scope, since 2000-2001. That’s five years, Mr. Speaker. It went from a $1.5 million addition to be concluded in 2005-2006 in the 2000-2001 Main Estimates, to a modular classroom, at the cost of $448,000, to be delivered in 2007-2008 in this year’s main estimates. In fact, Mr. Speaker, at one point in the 2003-2004 Main Estimates, the project did not even appear in the books for the Department of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the commitment from the Minister. Within these 30 days, the people in Colville Lake will still have the same situation. What can we tell the people of Colville Lake that have the overcrowding, the honey bucket, the boot room, that they can have some other facilities to have proper educational training? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to continue with my questions to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, regarding the Colville Lake school. As you are well aware, kindergarten to Grade 12 are all taught in one room. In desperation for quiet time, one teacher now teaches in the boot room, which is adjacent to the honey bucket and equipment room. Mr. Speaker, building codes may be violated in terms of the limited capacity and having 41 people in the school. I am not sure if the fire marshal has given any kind of indication to the Department of Education on a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that's totally unacceptable from the Minister of Education to have that type of response to the people of Colville Lake who send their children to school each day, that has a honey bucket that they're using in their school -- the kids are overflowing in that building -- to say he's not sure of the standards that are set out by his department. So, Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister if he can tell this Assembly whether or not his department considers the use of honey buckets in the GNWT educational facilities meets the capital standard that his...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my statement, I talked about the Colville Lake school and the situation that is happening there now. Mr. Speaker, last year Colville Lake historically graduated one student from that school, and they are expecting to graduate another student this year. Over the next three years, Colville Lake is expecting to graduate three students, and will have about 15 new students coming into that school. Mr. Speaker, the project has slipped many times in the Department of Education, in reducing its scope. I want to ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, what...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to table a letter to the House from the Colville Lake school. It’s quite disturbing, and I would like to table it.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is the issue here in terms of the price increase in the smaller communities that the Minister has indicated. I hope he sees some communication in advance going out to the small communities of what they are to expect in terms of proper planning, in terms of looking at different options, in terms of paying for the high cost of fuel. Mr. Speaker, in light of the amount of gas we have in the Northwest Territories, it is really hard to see that this type of increase can come down in the Northwest Territories. Can the Minister advise the House that this type of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The full cost recovery…I am having a hard time here, Mr. Speaker in terms of the prices that are going to be charged in these small, isolated communities. Wekweeti is $1.56; Nahanni Butte is $1.33; Colville Lake is $1.50; and Paulatuk is $1.50. In terms of helping out the small communities in their traditional lifestyle, it is going to be pretty tough for these people who live in this type of a situation. Can the Minister help me out here by explaining full cost recovery, and what type of support assistance would these people with low income receive in terms of...