R.J. Simpson

Madam Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to waive Rule 73(2) to have Bill 18 moved directly into Committee of the Whole for consideration. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Primarily, most students are able to attend school full-time, and that is especially true for most students between junior kindergarten and grade nine. There are a few students in grade 10, 11, and some in grade 12 who do have to, at this point, attend school part-time, whether it's every second day, whether it's in the mornings and not the afternoons. Those are the students who are being targeted. There are also students who are over 19 who aren't allowed back in the schools by order of the Chief Public Health Officer, and so they have to participate remotely.

ECE...

Madam Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to waive Rule 73(2) to have Bill 17 moved directly into Committee of the Whole for consideration. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

I would like to introduce Mr. Michael Saturnino, the assistant deputy minister of Labour and Income Security, and Ms. Mikaela Robertson, legislative counsel with the Department of Justice.

Madam Speaker, I move, seconded by the Honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that Bill 20, an Act to Amend the Employment Standards Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am here today to present Bill 19, An Act to Amend the Student Financial Assistance Act. This bill seeks to amend the act to prohibit the disclosure of personal information of individuals who have successfully applied for remission of student loans. The proposed amendment, by forbidding the publication of personal information, will protect the privacy of successful applicants to the student loan remission program. This will allow residents to take advantage of the remission program without having their names published in the public accounts or any other public documents...

There are programs under development, such as the diploma program. I want to make sure that we focus our efforts where they are needed. I take the Member's point that we do need interpreters. I will go back to the department. I will find out what the plans are in terms of the diploma and other efforts that are happening and to see how we can ensure that we do have people capable of performing translation and interpretation services. Perhaps it's not a certificate program at this point. We do need those people in place, and I will have those conversations. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you. Perhaps we could have the witnesses introduce themselves.

The efforts of the department right now are focusing on revitalization because we realize that there is a need to revitalize languages so that they can be in wider use and then so that we can start utilizing interpreters more. Currently, there is no training program in the territory, but under the Indigenous Languages Action Plan, one of the deliverables in the next two years, less than that now, about a year and a half, is to create the partnerships with translating programs -- there are some in Alberta and BC -- and be able to make those connections so that we can encourage and facilitate...

Yes, please.