Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. Mr. Speaker, my first question is: through the Take a Kid Trapping program we have seen project as diverse as canoe building and caribou hunts. My question is how broadly is the Take a Kid program applied? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.
This is a great program and I do know from experience that schools all across the NWT take advantage of this program. It was designed to introduce NWT youth to traditional lifestyle practices for hunting and trapping, fishing, outdoor survival and canoe-making as the Member has alluded to. It's also very good for their instructors or their teachers as well, because that introduces them to some of the traditional lifestyle that we practice up here, so it's a valuable program and it has tremendous uptake across the Northwest Territories.
I appreciate the response, and I see it working very well in my region. Mr. Speaker, my second question to the Minister is how are participants required to demonstrate the funding that is used for its intended purpose and report on the results of programming?
Each Take a Kid Trapping project, they're required to submit a report with financial statement included. All of the individual project reports are then rolled into the annual Take a Kid Trapping Report.
I appreciate the response. Mr. Speaker, my third question is: how does the government ensure that this program continues to be delivered in schools throughout the Northwest Territories?
Mr. Speaker, through our partnership between ENR, MACA, Health and Social Services and through the work of our HR field staff, we work with schools and harvesters throughout the region. I think one of the things we do is to ensure that this program continues to run and that they continue to receive the funding that they do from the different departments in this government. So it is a valuable program and I think it's one that has been funded very well and well taken advantage of by schools across the Northwest Territories.
Masi. Member for Nunakput.
Thanks for the response; it was exactly what I was looking for. It's good to see cooperation and coordination at work in our programs, especially with elders and youth.
Mr. Speaker, I just have more of a comment, but more of a question, my last question to the Minister: can the Minister share some examples of projects undertaken in the most recent fiscal year. Quyanainni, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, in the last year we've had over 40 schools across the Northwest Territories take advantage of this program. We've had about 1,500 northern youth who were educated in some type of aspect of trapping and traditional way of life. One of the examples would be the JBK Elementary School in Fort Smith. They've been participating in this program since it started in 2002 and they had a winter camp in Thebacha and exposed students from K to 6 and staff over the course of eight days to trapping and other harvesting techniques.
Also, Colville Lake is another good example. They have a fully integrated approach to their program and they have Living on the Land as part of the everyday school life with the program running as a main feature of education over the past 12 years, so there's a couple of examples. Again, the Take a Kid Trapping Report that is usually tabled would have more specific examples across the Northwest Territories, but I think that's a good example of how it's utilized across the NWT.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
