R.J. Simpson

I think that, for those of us who reside in the southern part of the territory, this is a more live debate than maybe some of or northern colleagues, where it's either always dark or it's always sunny. I take the Member's comments, and I take all the comments here seriously. I do appreciate the feedback that we are getting. That's why we have these debates. Thank you.

Their wages will drop because currently there is a Wage Top-Up program in place, and that runs until August 31st. The next day, the Wage Top-Up program will no longer be operational, and people who are making minimum wage will start receiving $15.20 an hour from their employer without that additional top-up. I just want to point out that the minimum wage is just that. It's a minimum wage. I think less than a thousand people in the territory make minimum wage. Most of them are between 15 and 24. Most of them are living at home, and perhaps a higher wage will help them get out of that house...

Thank you. This was something put forward by committee. In my mind, it's something quite limited, given that it would make very little sense for us to go off on our own and have a different time than Alberta. It wouldn't make sense, and I don't think the public would be appreciative if we did that. It would cause havoc for flights. It would cause havoc for all sorts of things.

I am serious that we would have some sort of website, an email address, a place where comments can be submitted. I don't plan to travel around the territory seeking engagement. Of course, there are going to be...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will have to give the same answer I gave last time with this question, that this report was prepared as advice for Cabinet, and it was prepared by people who were assured that it would be kept confidential. I am not prepared to go back on that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'd like to welcome back Mr. Mike Reddy, director of legislation. Thank you.

We have to partner with another jurisdiction just for that fact that it is too expensive. That is not to say that we do not have a lot of our own curriculum. We have a junior kindergarten curriculum that is really world class, and other jurisdictions in Canada have approached us about it. We have specific courses developed in the Northwest Territories, things like Northern Studies 10. We are working on Northern Studies 20. We have science courses developed in the territory, the Our Languages curriculum. We do do a lot. However, to develop an entire curriculum, the assessments that go along...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am here today to present Bill 13, An Act to Amend the Interpretation Act. I would like to thank the Standing Committee on Social Development for their thorough review of this bill. A motion was made in committee to ensure there is an opportunity for public engagement prior to this bill coming into force, and I believe the bill has improved as a result.

Bill 13 will amend the Interpretation Act to allow for the elimination of seasonal time changes in favour of a permanent, year-round time standard. Specifically, the bill establishes a permanent time standard and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Member for asking me this and giving me a chance to clarify. There has been a lot of chatter about this lately. For those of you who pay attention to what is said in this House, it's been almost one year to the day that I've been talking about renewing the curriculum in the Northwest Territories. This discussion has been ongoing.

After our report from the Office of the Auditor General of Canada saying that we need to do something with our education system, we started looking at every single aspect of what we do, and renewing our curriculum was one of...

Yes, I would.

Thank you. Perhaps I can ask Mr. Saturnino to discuss how exactly this would roll out and what types of courses and when those courses would have had to have been taken, if it's looking in the past or future-looking. That should give Members an idea of what this would look like rolling out. Thank you.