Steve Norn

Mahsi cho, Madam Speaker. I have a question for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, going back to my Member's statement on language. Can the Minister share with us what work is being done to having more official languages on NWT signs and landmarks? Mahsi cho.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that this committee defer further consideration of the estimates for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment at this time. Mahsi cho, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you to the Minister for that response, as well. I guess I had a quick comment. I was just doing some research here, just earlier, on the NWT statistics on some age demographics, and it looks like we're going to start to see an influx of people retiring. I'm just wondering: are we going to expect to see an increase with these two line items that I just mentioned, moving forward? I have a feeling that we're going to be seeing an increase in applications for these programs. Mahsi cho, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have nothing further.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just going to add some questions to carry on from what my colleague from Yellowknife North mentioned about Jordan's Principle. I think there are two or three some of the schools already that are affected by this. I think it is really important. It kind of runs in parallel with a lot of the DEA work that is going on. My question I had for this was: how is this federal program going to affect the overall budget going forward? I know it's a pretty broad question, but is this going to be one of those programs that is going to run alongside it? Is it going to be for the better...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you for the response from the Minister. That's good that that's the case. Just moving along here, I'm looking at one other line here that kind of caught my eye. There's also a variance here from the 2018-2019 actuals, and the mains for this year for fees and payments, and 2018-2019 was $795,000, and now, this year, it's $371,000. Can the Minister explain the difference in that line is about? Mahsi cho.

Mahsi cho, Madam Chair. I move that this committee defer further consideration of the estimates for the Department of Justice at this time. Mahsi cho, Madam Chair.

Mahsi cho, Madam Speaker. I have some written questions on educational facilities directed toward the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment:

What standards or methods do the Department of Education, Culture and Employment have or use to assess whether educational facilities meet the physical requirements for existing educational priorities and teaching methods?

Has the Department of Education, Culture and Employment conducted an audit of the existing learning space at Kalemi Dene School to determine whether the present-day educational priorities and teaching methods are being met for...

Thank you for the response from the Minister. That's encouraging. I think, if our ancestors are watching, I think they would be very, very happy to hear that. My next question is: would the Minister be open to having an interactive "welcome" and "good-bye," so to speak, in all our official languages at our points of entry? What I mean by that, our visitors' centres and our border at the NWT-Alberta border as well?

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that the chair rise and report progress. Mahsi cho.