R.J. Simpson

Mr. Speaker, I have to rise on a point of order. We are not to be discussing individuals who are not in the Chamber to defend themselves. It is clear in the rule. I appreciate the Member is trying to get information and that what he is doing he thinks is for the public good, but we can't discuss people not in the Chamber who are not here to defend themselves. It's fairly clear. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Upon release, former inmates work with their case managers and they identify what is available to them in their community and work with them to do everything they can to ensure that they do not come back. It does not always work, obviously, and there are differences across the territory. It often depends on who you are working with and in what community you are, but, again, I can provide this information to the Member.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Minister of Holidays, I give the Member the rest of the day off.

---Laughter

I do not have that number, but that is something we can find and provide to the Member. Thank you.

The last thing we want to do is move toward more distance learning. Our goal is to fully staff all the schools with all the teachers and have in-person instruction. We've been lucky, more so than the rest of Canada, more so than many places in the world, that we've been able to have so much face-to-face learning, and we want to keep that going. Staffing has already started for the upcoming year, and so hopefully we're making these moves early so that we can attract more teachers. There is a lot of planning that has to be done. Everyone who is involved in education, the teachers' association...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The plan for spring break is going to be very similar to the plan for Christmas. Thank you.

COVID has really changed a lot of things, but there are few who have been upended as much as teachers and students. There are things like the tourist industry, but schools across the world have been feeling this. I understand and I appreciate the sacrifice that teachers are making because not everyone is from here. I'm lucky that my family is in the territory. I don't have to go outside of the territory to see them, but that's not the case for everyone. Most of our teachers are from outside of the territory. A lot of them are young, and this could be their first time really away from their...

Mr. Speaker, the Northwest Territories is home to a diverse group of people who live in a vibrant landscape shaped by rich culture and heritage. Our nine official Indigenous languages and our cultures bear sacred values and traditional knowledge that have been passed on through generations, shaping our identity and defining what makes the North truly unique. As leaders and residents of the Northwest Territories, we share the responsibility of revitalizing our Indigenous languages through celebration and practice to preserve our traditional ways of life. As Minister of Education, Culture and...

The Member is sort of jumping around with her questions, topic to topic, but that's okay. I get where she's coming from; it all ties together in the end. Right now, the government has a mandate to advance universal childcare, and that's what we are working on. We are going to be making some advances in determining just how we are going to do that, and we are going to be making those advances in the coming months.

As for right now, standing up here and saying universal childcare at Aurora College, I can't say that. I would love to be able to say it, but we're not there yet. The fact is, there...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to recognize and congratulate Max and Julia Trennert, who are celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary today. Max and Julia first met 61 years ago in Inuvik. He was working as a surveyor and also managing the Mackenzie Hotel. She was a student at the time. They say it was love at first sight.

Max and Julia were married on February 5, 1960, in Inuvik. That's also where their first three children were born. From Inuvik, they moved to Fort Simpson, where their fourth child, Brendalynn, who most of us know, was born. Max and Julia then relocated close to...

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document, "Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 457-19(2): Interpreters." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.