Robert Villeneuve

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yesterday I spoke about some of the successful achievements of some of my constituents in the education field. Today I would just like to mention one of the shortfalls on this government’s education system.

I am well aware, as all Members are I am sure in this House, that our government resources are stretched very thin in order to accommodate the broad range of needs northerners require every day. I do acknowledge the fact that this government spends approximately 25 percent of the $1.2 billion budget on educating northerners, which is amongst the highest...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What is going to stop people from filling their cans with gravel, dirt and everything just to add a little more weight on them when they bring them into the recycling centres? That is what it’s going to come to and then the larger centres will say you are 50 pounds overweight, according to 1,000 cans. Then there will be another discrepancy on the other side of the coin. So it’s just more confusion than is warranted. If you want to pay a summer student to count cans, then do that. I don’t think it’s too expensive and it alleviates a lot of questions that will arise in...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources again with respect to the recycling program that I asked him about yesterday and I think we had some clarification on it today. I just want to let the public know that there isn’t just a trash for cash on a per container basis. This method only applies to the smaller depots, Mr. Speaker, and that the larger centres that the smaller depots bring all their recyclable materials to is based on a weight basis, Mr. Speaker. So just for the public record, I just want to ask the Minister what...

I know the Minister just raised another real concerning issue for me. Northern residents schooled in the NWT 12 years, you live here in the NWT, you go to school here in the NWT, and you are only eligible for 12 semesters of funding. What’s the rationale on that? I just don’t see how they come up with some kind of an eligibility requirement like that. I think if you go to school 12 years here in the NWT, you should be eligible to any unlimited amount of funding for Student Financial Assistance to carry on and go ahead, over and above the scholarships and loans available. That’s one of these...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What is going to stop people from filling their cans with gravel, dirt and everything just to add a little more weight on them when they bring them into the recycling centres? That is what it’s going to come to and then the larger centres will say you are 50 pounds overweight, according to 1,000 cans. Then there will be another discrepancy on the other side of the coin. So it’s just more confusion than is warranted. If you want to pay a summer student to count cans, then do that. I don’t think it’s too expensive and it alleviates a lot of questions that will arise in...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know we are kind of stretched thin on education funding. I know the Minister has said typically we use all the funding. I know that, right off the top of my head, I know three students who are carrying on with law degrees, over and above the BAs they have and they can’t ask the government for any money because they have used their 12-semester limit. Can’t the government make the exception to the small number of students that we do have as it is at the university level to provide them with some sort of basic government grant, so that they don’t have all these...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is just for the Minister’s information. I am sure he is well aware that a lot of these small centres don’t have Renewable Resource officers. They don’t have ENR officers. When they do phone the ENR office in Yellowknife, Hay River, the South Slave, North Slave, or the Inuvik office from these remote communities, these calls usually go unanswered, then these people just give up. I know of a few small community depots that are just shutting down because they are not getting any feedback from the government. They are not getting any support in trying to mitigate...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If the cash for your trash is based on the per unit, what is the government doing to ensure that when there is a discrepancy between the large centres and the smaller centres that are transporting all of these materials to their depot, that they are communicated that the government policy is on a per unit basis and not on a per weight? Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Today I’d just like to commend and publicly congratulate some successful individuals from my constituency of Tu Nedhe on their recent academic achievements. I attended the Aurora College convocation ceremonies in Fort Smith on April 29th, 2006, to congratulate two individuals who graduated from college diploma programs and two that graduated from college certificate programs.

I’d like to send my congratulations out to Melanie McCallum of Deninu Kue, who received a management studies diploma, and congratulations to Lisa Beaulieu, also of Deninu Kue, who received her social...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is good to know that the Minister will be sending out some kind of a memo to all of the main operators. Is there any avenue in our appeal mechanism that the government would have? Is there an office that these small depot operators can call when there is a dispute and that they can get some mitigation to resolve it? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.