Wendy Bisaro

Mr. Chair, I appreciate the commitment from the Minister and I look forward to that information. That’s all I have. Thanks.

Sorry, I’m laughing, Mr. Minister, because you say it’s going to take a little more time. Everything seems to take a little more time.

You said the end of this year and I hope you meant not calendar year but fiscal year, then I heard the word spring, so the Minister is nodding. That is the spring of 2013. Thanks for that confirmation.

I guess I’m a little frustrated with the fact that I don’t see, hear or get a sense that we have a long-term plan for our hydro. To get ourselves off of diesel, we’re going to have to get ourselves onto hydro. I’m talking about not just communities in and around...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have a general question. It is referenced in the Minister’s opening remarks, the declining CMHC funding. The Minister and Members are well aware that this money is going down. Every year we’re having to put more and more of our own money into housing in order to maintain our stock, and continue to operate and maintain it.

I appreciate that the corporation has done a number of things in the last year to two years to try and bring costs down, to try and maintain as much stock as we have without it costing us too much more money. But I have yet to get from the Minister...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I wanted to ask a few questions with regard to energy and the Energy Plan, and funding within the budget. Mr. Vician advised that we have $700,000 out of the $1.1 million in grants and contributions that’s going to NT Energy Corporation. I’d like to know, first off, what the other $400,000 is for, what initiatives or activities it’s funding.

Whose capital? Maybe the Minister could be a little more specific and tell me where the money is in the budget. Thank you.

I do have another question about staffing. I’ll ask the question and the Minister can refer me to the board, I guess, if that’s what he needs to do.

I struggle with the Community Futures program and the BDIC program. They are different, I agree, but they are also somewhat similar. If you look on this page, Community Futures is about $1.3 million, BDIC is about $3.7 million. The staffing complements are similar. The number of organizations within each is similar. Yet in terms of jobs that are produced or jobs that are developed through lending and through the support of organizations, I think...

Thanks to the Minister. I appreciate there is an awful lot of research going on and that the Minister indicates that they’re reaching out. It’s one thing to do research and to look at policy. One thing I’m asking for is an external evaluation of our current situation in all our schools within the NWT system. We need to know what students currently exist with what special needs and how much support each is requiring. I would like to know from the Minister if the renewal initiative includes an evaluation of the current special needs requirements in our system.

That’s great. Thanks to the Minister. That’s all I have, Mr. Chair. Thank you.

I accept the Minister’s offer of a meeting. I think it’s probably something that should be discussed. We’ll have to see if committee agrees to that.

In looking at the corporate plan for BDIC for ’13-14, I don’t know exactly where the right piece of paper is but I think it was something like almost $2.2 million for administration for salaries and benefits for this organization. It seems to me that that’s a lot of money for 14 people, $2.2 million.

My other question has to do with a program that is run through BDIC and a program that’s run through ITI. I know that the organization and the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up on the theme of education and Education Week, and I’d like to address my questions to the Minister of Education. He’s had lots of questions today about inclusive schooling and I also have some with regard to inclusive schooling and students.

I know the Minister recognizes, and I think all Members recognize, that we have some special needs students in our classrooms who require more attention and more support than others. Some of them require, in some cases, two special needs aides as opposed to just one or, in some cases, none. I’d like to ask the...