Wendy Bisaro
Statements in Debates
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have a number of questions in this section. I’d like to start with culture and heritage. I spoke last week about a request from a number of heritage groups in the NWT to the Minister to provide a bit more of a focus on heritage. The Minister, I think, sort of suggested that we do stuff for culture, and I’m not saying that we don’t. Or for heritage, I should say. There is a portion under this section of Education… Oh, sorry. We’re not on that page yet, are we? We’re on page 13. Right, Mr. Chair?
I wasn’t asking for the Auditor General’s recommendations. Normally, when somebody is looking at things and you are looking at what they are looking at, oftentimes things jump out at you. I just wondered whether or not the department had, at this point, recognized that they have some deficiencies on their own without the Auditor General having to tell them that.
I wanted to ask a question with regard to the amount of money at the bottom of page 10-27 that talks to program delivery details. The amount of money for income assistance programs actually is going down this year, ’13-14, as compared...
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just one question here. Mr. Bromley brought my eyes to the line that says other. I complained bitterly in the 16th that we had amounts in other that weren’t explained anywhere, and I just wondered. I thought we’d gotten rid of all of those. I’d like to know from the department what the $258,000 under other is for and why we don’t have an explanation for it on this page.
Thank you, committee. We’ll take a short break.
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Thank you, Mr. Chair. I want to, at the outset, say that I echo Mr. Bromley’s comments. I think the Minister has heard me say a number of times that I’ve encountered constituents who have had great difficulties with income support. It is an area that is difficult, and I appreciate that it’s a difficult area for the department to staff and to keep trained up.
But it’s such an important area, and I give credit to Mr. Bromley’s request for dignity for everybody who has to go there. I think lots of times that’s not what comes first when people are going to income support. It’s not what they feel...
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I wanted to ask a question on a bit of a different topic. In his opening remarks, he talked about a statement: The department will implement and provide supports for a territorial safe schools plan along with anti-bullying legislation. The Minister has talked about safe schools. He’s talked about anti-bullying legislation and they are kind of referenced in the same breath sometimes. I would like to know from the Minister what is the difference between the safe schools plan and the anti-bullying legislation which is presumably on its way. Thank you.
All right. We’ll call Committee of the Whole to order. We have before us Tabled Document 9-17(4), NWT Main Estimates, 2013-2014; and Bill 1, Tlicho Statutes Amendment Act. What is the wish of committee? Mr. Dolynny.
Thanks for the information. So this Small Community Employment Fund, my understanding is that was established by one of the special committees during the 16th Assembly and I think this committee was revived in the 17th. Was this re-profiling of this $400,000 something that the Rural and Remote committee was aware of? Were they consulted before the decision was made to re-profile the money?
Thanks to the Minister. I appreciate that it’s difficult, but if this one section of the review can be removed and sped up, I think that would certainly be well appreciated, I think, by all education authorities, and I think by the schools and by the teachers as well.
I do have a motion, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Minister. I appreciate that we’re going to have all these various and sundry factors looked at. I think it is high time.
This formula hasn’t been working for quite a while. I’d like to know from the Minister if he can give us any kind of idea when the formula will be revised and when we can see an implementation of a new revised formula. Will it be at the start of the school year for 2013-2014?