Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thanks to Mr. Schauerte for the explanation. I understand, I think it was in the Minister’s opening remarks that the formula for funding community governments is being evaluated. There have been a couple of apparently very productive meetings and I’m very glad to hear that there’s an in-depth look at the formula funding for communities. On this page we have contributions for a number of things. There’s community government funding, there’s then additional funding and then water and sewer funding and recreation funding. So, as the formula for communities is being...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Minister. I’d like to ask the Minister, when he does go back to the department, will he please consider the supports that are required in our small communities without an RCMP detachment? I think he’s well aware that without RCMP, things are a little less safe than they are in communities where there is RCMP. Will he look specifically at the safety of women in our small communities without RCMP presence?

Thanks to Mr. Schauerte. That’s great. That’s all I have.

Thanks to the Minister. I am well aware of those programs, and I don’t believe that they come from the 19 recommendations that came from the last Coalition Against Family Violence Action Plan. There were 19 recommendations in that plan. I’d like to know from the Minister if there is any intent on the part of this government to address any of those 19 recommendations in this upcoming budget?

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thanks to the Minister. So, do communities apply or is this a fixed percentage of forced growth that goes to every community across the board? Thanks.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Family violence in the NWT is recognized as a problem, but do we really do enough to address it? Violence against women in the NWT is nine times greater than the national average. Several years ago the local YWCA developed and ran a project to look at ways to develop approaches and programs for addressing violence against women. It was a three-year project “to develop and pilot safety options for women fleeing violence in NWT communities without a local RCMP detachment.” That project proved very successful and it provided great insight into the environment in the NWT...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Member has no comment. Thank you.

Thanks to the Minister. That is what I was going to suggest, is that I don’t think there’s much point in leaving this money here and having it lapse every year. So I have a suggestion for the Minister and I think it probably would apply under public safety, but I think that this $168,000, or maybe at least part of it, should be available to communities to assist them in buying defibrillators for their public buildings. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have a question here with regards to the Minimum Wage Adjustment Committee. My understanding is that we should be getting a report fairly soon. Could I hear from the Minister? I gather this committee has met. When can we expect to see their recommendations? Thank you.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. So I guess now that I know there is $600,000 that the college is using for early childhood, and I don’t disagree with that, but we’ve got a reserve for the college but is it not okay for a school board to have a reserve and I’m having difficulty with equating those two philosophies.

I wanted to ask the question of the department. I think it was over a year ago now, the federal government made an announcement and there was a large amount of money that was given from the federal government to the college for, I believe, adult education. I would like to know if I could get a bit...