Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Once again, would the Minister commit to re-evaluating the support levels at the nominee office to see if they could offer the types of services I talked about and in turn what they would do is help support the transition and development of the credentials of the skills I talked about? For a fact, Mr. Speaker, a lot of people bring great training to Canada and to the North and I would hate to see it slip by and someone’s intended cherished career never gets utilized. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. Well, one of the problems that they’ve highlighted is that there’s no real service centre. Where once we’ve got them here, it’s, like, what do they do or where do they seek further training and education about getting jobs? I mean, it’s great to attract the immigrant community or even the new Canadian community to Yellowknife in the North, but many of them are finding it difficult to get jobs. So the challenges of training, education, support and even drawing family here to the North becomes a significant problem continually for them. Does the Nominee Program have a service centre...

Mr. Speaker, thank you. To be clear then, the Minister is saying in this House that she won’t support a multi-year agreement to the NWT Seniors’ Society which has an excellent proven track record and are able to fulfill all requirements spelled out in the agreements with the Department of Health and Social Services. Is that what the Minister is saying or is she intending to review the possibility of them having a multi-year agreement?

Any multi-year agreement does not put any funding situation into stone. It certainly recognizes there are changes in government and, therefore, there would be a need to change the agreement to reflect the circumstances, perhaps even the fiscal circumstances the government is under on that day. What stops the Minister specifically from funding a multi-year agreement with the NWT Seniors’ Society, recognizing there may be special clauses to recognize fiscal circumstances the territorial government is in and they may have to re-evaluate? At the end of the day, you could still sign a multi-year...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The NWT Seniors’ Society has worked with the Department of Health and Social Services for over 15 years to ensure dignity, independence, participation, security and fairness for seniors across the NWT. As the population of the Northwest Territories ages, the NWT Seniors’ Society is an increasingly important resource for elders across the NWT. It is the only volunteer agency representing the individual and collective interest of all seniors in the NWT.

Its first multi-year funding agreement with Health and Social Services was in 2006 to 2010 and helped the NWT Seniors’...

Thank you. Many good people come to the North to help contribute and what we’re finding is we’ve got engineers, teachers, even veterinarians who are stuck in these entry jobs and not getting the access to tap into their potential of what they could provide and contribute to the North, and I think they’d add to the fabric of who we are. Would the Minister commit to working with the nominee office to ensure that they expand both public education and service support to this type of community? That way when we do get them here, they can work and ensure that they’re being productive in the way many...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In listening to Mr. Bromley’s question, it ironically was quite close to a matter I dealt with this morning. I had a constituent who came to my office from I would define an African community, and they talked about how difficult it is and challenging here in Yellowknife when we have a Nominee Program and broader, larger efforts to attract new immigrants to the North, but they find that the service levels are quite low. Many of them have said that they’ve got approximately in the range of 200 people here from the African community, but many of them have left their...

Thank you, Mr. Minister. As it’s been my understanding, they’ve been advocating some time about expanding the college programming here in Yellowknife and they’ve found that, you know, they haven’t found that -- if I may say it gently and, of course, correctly -- this report in my perspective seems to be not quite there from the department. I’m just trying to get a sense of whether the department is behind this initiative.

Furthermore, to emphasize the urgency of this particular issue, the Minister is well aware that the lease is coming to termination within two years. If I understand it...

What work is being planned to go forward for capital expenditures in this budget year that we see before us? What’s the planning from the departmental point of view? As I know that an independent campus is on the wish list of Aurora College, where does the deputy minister see their efforts panning out with some real developments?

Mr. Chairman, I wouldn’t want to impress on the Minister that we should become the sole funding source of every one of those organizations. When you wrap it up that way, you get day homes and everything, which probably isn’t quite reasonable and which is way beyond our means. My focus, really, is ensuring that early childhood development programs are established from a contextual circumstance of not somebody who just turns the light on on their doorstep and all of a sudden they call it a learning centre. But, I mean, we have some real organized, dedicated people and committees and core groups...