Norman Yakeleya

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This Minister is looking and blaming the people. The people have spoken to him. I went to the workshop in the Sahtu; we had some dynamite discussions. We were hoping that in 2010 with this discussion, this will push… This issue has been long standing in the Sahtu and also for the people of the Northwest Territories. We are saying our education system in the North is broken. Fix it. Our students need to be well educated, our schools need to be well functioned. We know the system and why it’s not producing what we want it to produce. Let’s get on with it. Let’s not stall...

Mr. Speaker, Members on this side of the House are telling the Minister right now that they represent the grassroots people, the people in their communities. They are saying they need new gyms and they are saying fix old schools, build new schools, get gymnasiums. We heard it. Social passing, we don’t have good directors. We’ve heard all that. The Minister has gone out. The Minister stated in this report that there is going to be an assessment, there’s going to be an ER Action Plan. The development of this plan was supposed to be out in February 2014. I am waiting for this action plan. We know...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This morning I received some sad news from the Sahtu. I stand here with a heavy heart with my people in the Sahtu.

I guess I’m trying to say something that’s in my heart that’s so sad it’s hard to be written down. We have lost two people in the Sahtu who are very good people, two men, one from Colville Lake and one from Norman Wells. These two men were very loved by their people. They did a lot of good things in their communities.

One fellow is from Colville Lake and he grew up on the land, he knew the land, he came from the land and now he has returned back to the land...

It’s true, Mr. Chairman, every day you learn something new. Thank you, Mr. Deputy Minister.

I wanted to say that hopefully this bill here, then, will certainly help us in the Sahtu. There’s willingness and some flexibility, say, in like Colville Lake. There are people there that drive vehicles that are pretty fit and they are over the age of 75, 80, and are still driving. We need to have some flexibility in our smaller communities. The age of 75, so I don’t really have to worry because I have a long way to go yet, so I’m okay. Those are my closing comments. Thank you.

I like that answer there, so I will see how we could work on that provision. Also, the provision will ensure accuracy and fairness in determining drivers’ fitness. I guess the mechanism… How do you determine a driver’s fitness, I guess, especially in the small communities? He may not look fit, but once you get an old-timer out in the bush, boy, they are fitter than us. So, how do you determine the fitness? You know, some of our elders are 75 or 80 but they are more fit than us sitting around this table here. You go in the bush with them and they will put us to shame. So, I guess I am taking...

Mr. Speaker, I concur with Mrs. Groenewegen and Mr. Menicoche to this amendment to the amendment. We do have qualified teachers, they are called mothers, grandmothers. They may not have their qualifications as an institution, but they are special people in our communities.

These are four-year-olds. Think back on your child or grandchild as a four-year-old. This is about teaching some social development skills, language, play, respect and values. So these are small children that some of the qualified people that are not recognized in our education system may be recognized in our communities in...

Mr. Speaker, I have a motion.

WHEREAS our children are our future and the way we treat them will have impacts that will be felt for generations;

AND WHEREAS the literature on early childhood education demonstrates that the success of junior kindergarten depends upon the requirement that high quality programs be delivered by fully trained early childhood education workers;

AND WHEREAS Kerry McCuaig of the Atkinson Institute and junior kindergarten implementation consultant to the Department of Education, Culture and Employment has written that the requirement for high quality programming through...

Mr. Speaker, the Minister, through the ASA educational workshop in the Sahtu, certainly heard from our people. I think this Minister needs to get on the books, put the action plan before us. It’s stated here August 2013 to February 2014, development of an ER Action Plan implementation schedule. Now the Minister is moving it down.

We need to get on this right away, so I will ask the Minister, why the delay, why we are taking so long? We have told you numerous times through the educational renewal, our education system is not working in the Northwest Territories. There are many factors that the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. The Minister undertook an educational renewal and innovation engagement process with our people in the Northwest Territories. The comprehensive review of the education, we looked at operating in the Northwest Territories. We know things need to be changed and improved. We’ve got to think differently. There is a multi-year plan how to make these changes in the North.

I want to ask the Minister in regards to the Education Renewal and Innovation Action Plan that was scheduled to be coming out at the end of...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I was very pleased to hear the opening remarks by the Premier, the Minister of this department. I’d like to first of all say congratulations, because we now have government service officers in our communities, and I’ve been hearing some very good reports back from people in the Sahtu, and I’m very pleased to see that Fort McPherson, Deline and Behchoko will be getting these government service officers. It’s a good thing for us and it’s a good thing that the Department of Executive is listening to the small communities. With our unique challenges and our languages, it...