Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to ask questions of the Minister of ECE today. A motion was passed in the Assembly, a previous Assembly, calling on the Minister of ECE to reinstate the policy of sponsoring a placement in the University of Saskatchewan’s Western College of Veterinary Medicine. As I explained at that time, we have an ideal NWT-born, trained and committed candidate coming forward for application to that program. The Minister said he would ensure consideration of reinstatement of this sponsorship in the current review of the Student Financial Assistance Program. I’d just like to start by confirming the Minister has so directed his staff to make that inclusion in their considerations. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. This particular area, the budget obviously had been cut in 2008 and for the one seat that we’re talking about, the $25,000 seat with the University of Saskatchewan, we do have currently an NWT student that’s studying at the University of Saskatchewan and the funding is not provided to the individual, but that individual will be completing academic year 2013-2014 and we’re very proud of that. There are students out there exploring those areas. So with that, I’d just like to highlight that this program was cut in 2008 as it stands. Mahsi.
Thank you. Of course, that was well known. The motion passed in the House was well after 2008, so the Minister will be aware of that. I’m talking about a veterinarian seat here, not a veterinarian’s assistant. So whilst this student assistance review is underway and will be considered in next year’s budget, this candidate has given us three years’ advanced notice to come up with this support, and there’s obviously a desperate need for a veterinarian across the NWT and it’s been well established. So I guess I’d like to just start by asking the Minister if he does agree that there is a desperate need for veterinarians, full veterinarians in the NWT, not just assistants, and that he’s aware of that information or has seen correspondence on that. Thank you.
Mahsi. This particular program at the University of Saskatchewan is a veterinary program. As I stated, there is a student that’s attending. We sponsor 1,400 students and we’re talking about one seat that’s $25,000, and just imagine – we have huge numbers – the cost of that, and on top of that there’s additional costs as well. But it is needed. We’ve seen some articles in the newspaper, as well, in the Northwest Territories and other parts of the country and we do have veterinarians coming out, as well, to work in the Northwest Territories and other parts of the provinces. So we’ll continue supporting those areas. Mahsi.
I appreciate those perspectives from the Minister. I’ve repeatedly asked whether there have been other veterinarian students and the only information I’ve ever been given by the department was on veterinarian assistants. So I’d be happy to have that information confirmed, but of course we’re not talking about many seats. It’s rare that we have students come forward with the qualifications for going after a veterinarian degree, and recognizing the need and the interest from the Sahtu for example, recently, I think we need to get this done. So I’d ask the Minister, will he go after this so that we have this seat established within a year. Thank you.
Mahsi. We have to keep in mind that there are other professions, as well, doctors degrees and other professions. It wouldn’t be fair to just highlight one profession, sponsoring the $25,000 seat, where other students are exploring and pursuing, whether it be the nursing degree, master’s program, doctors program, lawyers and so forth. So all of those professions do come back in the Northwest Territories and they contribute back to the Northwest Territories. So it’s very difficult for me as the Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, to support this one specific profession on a going forward basis. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Of course, this is a very different situation than the Minister has portrayed here. All those careers don’t require a seat at a university. Anybody with basic education can get in for lawyers and so on. This is a veterinarian seat. There are extremely huge schools in Canada and you need an established seat to get into that program. Obviously, we have a desperate need for veterinarians. Does the Minister agree that this is a bit of an exception compared to the normal professions that we’d like to see our students go into as well?
There are six universities in Canada that provide doctor of veterinary medicine programs. After consultation with the University of Saskatchewan in September 2009, after the cut in the programming budget, my department was advised by the University of Saskatchewan that they do not have the policy that would charge NWT students the out-of-province tuition and that they would look at each NWT student’s application on a case-by-case basis. So there is an opportunity there for those students.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
QUESTION 101-17(2):
ARCTIC WINTER GAMES PARTICIPATION
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t want to deviate from today’s theme of bullying, but I don’t believe bullying should be tolerated and I think there should be efforts by this government to try to stamp it out and make it stop so that kids enjoy the best years of their lives just experiencing life in general and not having the burden of responsibilities that we adults have.
My question today is to the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. Seeing that it’s only about three weeks or so left before our team travels all the way to Whitehorse to participate in the Arctic Winter Games, can the Minister give us an update as to the progress of organizing the Northwest Territories team as we head to the Arctic Winter Games in Whitehorse?
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The honourable Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Robert McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The team is pretty well finalized. We have over 350 players, coaches and chaperones that will be going to Whitehorse from March 4th to 10th. We were quite pleased this year that we had over 970 athletes participating in the territorial trials, and out of those 970 there were about 680 from outside Yellowknife. I think that’s reflective of the good work that all the sporting partner organizations are doing in getting sports out into the communities. Everything is on schedule. Our team is set to go. They will be in Whitehorse from March 4th to 10th bringing back straight gold ulus.
I’d like to thank the Minister for his reply. My question is just to follow up on the first. Seeing that we have a theme and we need to muster up our athletes and get them prepared, what is the theme this year for the Arctic Winter Games, seeing that it’s been a common practice for the Northern Territories to come together and share in culture, spirit, and sports?
I’m not quite sure what the theme is. I’d have to check on that. I know, I know, I should know what the theme is. There are people over at… If I talk long enough then they might get it over from MACA. I’ll just keep going for the next 10 or 15 minutes. Anyway, I’ll find out what it is and I’ll come in here and let the Member know.
My question is in terms of what would be maybe a friendly projection in terms of how much gold our athletes might bring back to Yellowknife.
Well, first and foremost our goal is to have our young people out participating in the games. We’ve been very fortunate in the past. We’ve always sent strong teams to the Arctic Winter Games and they’ve always been able to do us proud. Whether they win gold, silver, bronze or just the fact that they participate, they’ve done us very proud. I think one of the most important awards in the Arctic Winter Games is probably the Stuart Hodgson Trophy which is presented to the team that combines the best sportsmanship. I think that’s a very important award. The fact that our young people have an opportunity to get out there and participate, I think it says a lot about our young people and the people in the communities, it says a lot about the support that this government has given them. We just want them to go over, do their best, and if they happen to come back with medals, that would be a bonus.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
