Robert Hawkins

On one hand the Minister says she supports this, but then on the other and she says she doesn’t. Mr. Speaker, administratively, would the Minister agree that it makes a lot more sense to have multi-year agreements in place rather than doing the same work year after year? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today I talked about multi-year agreements and I highlighted the one between the NWT Seniors’ Society and the Department of Health and Social Services. Mr. Speaker, multi-year agreements certainly outline and develop a stabilized funding source and it takes significant stress off NGOs, which should be doing the work that they always intend to rather than filling out long, protracted agreements year after year.

Under Minister Miltenberger, at the time, it was a great step forward for NGOs, and I had hoped that it would have been the hallmark...

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’...

Is the Minister able to provide a definition of what “in due time” means?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In reading the line under the directorate, and of course having the operations expenditure in front of us, I’m just wondering exactly when there’s a line that states the directorate does the capital planning for the department and Aurora College and other educational authorities. What type of capital planning has the Department of Education, Culture and Employment done for Aurora College in the last two years? Furthermore, what is budgeted for this particular budget year for capital planning for Aurora College?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. One of the particular issues I’d like to continue on the early childhood education matter, and Ms. Bisaro was wading into the particular area of concern that I share as well, which is the stabilized funding. Has the department put a lot of resources in the sense of attention and identification as to why certain early childhood centres or, certainly, programming doesn’t succeed?

One of the constant complaints I hear, of course, is stabilized funding. I often wonder has the department taken an initiative to analyze the actual cost of what some of these centres would cost...