Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Recently the City of Yellowknife launched a public news release to inform the public that they have now taken on the Certificate of Recognition program that they have been awarded with that accreditation. Asking for the COR program to be implemented in the Government of the Northwest Territories through the leadership of Public Works and Services here, I’ve been asking them for some time about when they will be bringing this program forward and implementing it when it comes to our contracting of services.
My question to the Minister of Public Works and Services is, quite simply, this: Does the Minister see the rolling out of the COR process, that’s the Certificate of Recognition, happening any time soon and, if anything, can he point to a particular date when we can start seeing that program implemented?
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister responsible for Public Works and Services, Mr. Jackson Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. This area of COR competence, the safety factor has been discussed for numerous occasions now. It has been recognized through the Northwest Territories, as well, through various companies. These are discussions that we continue to have within Public Works and Services along within the GNWT as a whole. There are various partners involved, as well, whether it be WSCC and Public Works and Services and other companies as well. The safety factor plays a key role in all company businesses, so we will continue to have the dialogue with the organization.
Many businesspeople are taking the initiative to join the Certificate of Recognition program, the COR program, from across our territory from big communities to small communities. It’s becoming a territorial initiative. To add one more, it’s actually becoming a national trend where many jurisdictions, whether it’s the provinces or even the federal government, are leaning towards this is the type of recognition that you need to have in order to apply for service contracts, construction works, et cetera. Recognizing that there’s been a commitment from many small businesses here in the Northwest Territories working towards this, does the Minister see the GNWT implementing COR as a requirement in government programming when we go to tenders?
We deal with, as I stated, various companies. One of them is of course the Northern Safety Association, which we have a GNWT representative on there as ex-officio. As PWS we work in collaboration with the Department of Transportation and NWT Housing Corporation on developing a position as encouraging contractors to utilize these services. It is a northern-wide safety factor, COR competence.
As I stated, these are ongoing discussions that we are having. We recognize through all the organizations that have been highlighted as recipients of COR. We’ll continue to work with them.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.
QUESTION 39-17(1):
STUDENT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE REVIEW
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Education. It’s concerning the financial assistance program. One of the concerns I’ve heard of during the campaign was that we are fully funding a lot of the students, which I recommend is a good idea, but we have no agreements to see any of those benefits. Some of the fully funded students get jobs in the South and there’s no agreement for us to see any of their benefit in the North. Will the Minister see if that will be part of the review?
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. That is the very reason why we’re doing the overall review of the Student Financial Assistance. We want to hear from the students and community members, such as Hay River North and the general public. If there are issues or concerns or ideas or suggestions that can be brought forward, and this particular area of concern that has been brought by the Member will be highlighted as part of our discussion as we review the overall SFA.
Just one other question. My other question was an issue from one of the students in my constituency, who indicated that the core of the review for residency is fairly lengthy. Would the department look to streamline that process as well?
It’s not the first time we’ve heard that from a community member. That is part of the process that we need to discuss under the review. I hope that the general public and the particular individuals who may have some concerns, that they can raise that issue during the review process and that will be taken into consideration. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
