Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I too wish to recognize both Rami and Fadil of Javaroma. They are great community partners. Their heart and soul is into the city of Yellowknife as well as its people, and I've seen them on so many occasions be so generous both with their time and money. They're wonderful people, and we're a richer community because we have the two of them. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, would the Minister be willing to investigate and report back on how many people have to come to Yellowknife from our regions and smaller communities for these types of support services specific to diabetes? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I won't be singing my questions by the way.

So, Mr. Speaker, diabetes in the Northwest Territories are certainly, you know, well above the national average. As a matter of fact, groups like the Metis have some of the highest diabetes affected in the context of ethnicity. NWT Indigenous women are certainly well above the Canadian average. And, Mr. Speaker, our regional centres suffer enormously with the high levels of diabetes and the lack of care.

My question for the Minister of Health and Social Services is how is she planning to change this narrative by...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker; I was fine either way. There's another housing motion and I would have picked up on that one but that said, maybe I'll have less to say on the next motion. Mr. Speaker, as unlikely as it is, I'll try.

Mr. Speaker, we all know housing adequacy is a challenge in every single riding. I've been to Wrigley and I see families struggling with their opportunities. I've been to Aklavik, and I've seen people look for places to live. And they have to come to the larger centres struggling asking themselves where are you know, where can they live? The dignity of an individual's...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don't expect the waitlist to be like the DMV where you go pull a little tag and you wait until they ring your number or whatever on the overhead board that says now serving A52, you know, Mr. Speaker. But that said, what type of communication is given to people who have, for example, chronic conditions who are sitting there waiting for that important relationship to build in order to buttress their health care journey? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I might not have had a third question but I just want to clarify on the record, in my case I'm not worried about board; I'm worried about boards as a territorial MLA and hence the issue to me is if it's reflective in Yellowknife, it could be reflective in every riding. So will she ensure that all ridings are  sorry, all education districts receive the same type of question and support? Thank you.

So exciting. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can't contain my excitement. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, my next set of questions is targeted to the  I shouldn't say targeted, but being offered ever so kindly to the Minister of education. And so during the campaign, a lot of the teachers complained about the BC curriculum coming in because the lack of foresighted training for  and prep for them. So in other words, they're being handed these packages of saying hey, now good luck, and they had to implement it. Mr. Speaker, what can the Minister of education do to help support these teachers who still haven't...

Mr. Speaker, we're not really talking about a lot of students here. We're literally talking anywhere from 10 to 50 students who need to go beyond that $60,000 cap, Mr. Speaker. What's the Minister's apprehension, really, at the end of the day for expanding the cap? Because we know it's not a lot of students, and she would have the numbers of how many exact students would be attending. So what's her apprehension? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm excited to ask the next batch of questions to the Minister of education.

Under the Student Financial Assistance Act, section 10(3)(a), so that doesn't mean much to the public, but what it is is it specifically points out to the cap of SFA provided to Northerners attending postsecondary school, Mr. Speaker, which happens to be $60,000 in total. That's your total cap of what you can take.

So, Mr. Speaker, recognizing the costs and ever changing needs of Northerners seeking education and recognizing the fact that we want to support Northerners to get education and even...

So, Mr. Speaker, what is the department doing in the sense of selling this as an opportunity other than saying pick us? Thank you.