Wendy Bisaro

Mr. Chair, thanks to the director. That’s helpful.

In terms of culture and heritage, I know I suggested to the Minister, in my statement last week, that we could give a higher profile to heritage than we do. We have a Minister’s Cultural Circle, but I’d like to ask the Minister specifically whether or not he would entertain a name change to those awards, if he would call it the Minister’s Cultural and Heritage Circle, just adding the word “heritage” in there. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The current GNWT directive on inclusive schooling states the following: “Inclusive schooling is intended to ensure equal access for all students to educational programs offered in regular classroom settings.” This very statement is symbolic of what is wrong with how inclusive schooling in the NWT is currently being funded and addressed at the department level.

It is time to revisit and redefine the directive and the funding formula for inclusive schooling. We must consider this, also from the ECE directive, “What inclusion is not:

It does not mean having all students...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I wanted to ask a couple of questions about ALBE as well. I noted from the Minister’s opening remarks that he said the department will action recommendations from the Adult Literacy and Basic Education review. I wondered if the Minister could elaborate on what recommendations will be acted on and what programs will be changed. Thank you.

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...

Mr. Chair, okay, I think it’s as clear as mud. So really the $1.4 million more in this year’s estimates is a bit of smoke and mirrors. Really the addition is whatever number Mr. Devitt just gave me, which has gone out of my head already.

I’d like to know from the Minister, with looking at this $1.4 million that the Minister says is like new money, how are we using the $1 million that has been carried over from the 2012-13 revised mains. The money that the committee added to the budget last year, the $1 million or $1.25 million, how is that being used in this budget? Is it being used in the same...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just have to go back to my issue with heritage and projects. Maybe it’s just the way that it’s written, but if I look on page 10-20, the NWT Arts Council gives contributions to artists and cultural groups – okay, that might include heritage – but then it goes on to say to encourage creative artistic projects in visual literary performing and new media arts in the NWT. I would think that a heritage organization is not likely to want to do a creative artistic project.

I again would have to stress to the Minister that I don’t see much opportunity in here for a heritage...

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?

Mr. Chair, I don’t think I quite understood that. If we are comparing mains to mains, we had the mains for 2012-13 that were a dollar, say. We have the mains for 2013-14 that are $1.4 million plus one dollar more, so we added after the revised mains from 2012-13 were $1.25 million bigger, from what I understand. Can I get that clarified? Are the revised mains numbers from 2012-13 $1.25 million at least higher in terms of education than the 2012-13 mains for education? Thank you.

I guess I should ask why there’s no TSC chargebacks.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I’m done.