Thanks, Mr. Speaker. I want to, first of all, thank the seconder, Mr. Nadli, for seconding the motion so we could bring it forward. I would like to thank all of my colleagues who made comments for your support. To Mr. Hawkins, the arsenic trioxide fits in a rather larger building. It’s the Bellanca Building, not the courthouse, unfortunately. So fill up the Bellanca Building and that’s our 237,000 tons of arsenic trioxide.
I appreciate Mr. Miltenberger’s comments that he recognizes the amount of work that’s been done. This motion asks that Mr. Miltenberger, and hopefully the federal Ministers as well, represent us properly by recognizing the work that’s been done is the right work. The report is thorough, the report is just, the report is valid. I exhort the Ministers to recognize the concerns of residents and that the concerns of residents have been addressed through the recommendations and suggestions in the report and ask again that they endorse the report and start putting the recommendations in place.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask for a recorded vote, and thank you again to my colleagues.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The Member has requested a recorded vote. All Members in favour, please stand.
RECORDED VOTE
Thank you. I would first like to give credit to Mr. Bromley, who has brought this issue up here today. This isn’t his first occasion, nor should I miss the point of people like yourself, Mr. Chairman, Ms. Bisaro and there are many other MLAs of course who have brought up the need for J.H. Sissons to be brought up to date. When it comes to the quality of school, the facility needs desperate attention. It’s been brought up in committee many, many times. It’s been brought up for many years. I think we could speak at length to types of renovations that are necessary, but really it’s gone beyond speaking about it. It’s now to the point that we must commit actions for it and I know there are many schools out there and in ways that we all find on this side of the House to support. I know I’ve heard that Mr. Menicoche needs support for his school and I understand that, and J.H. Sissons is just one more school in a long list of schools that need help.
I think all of our schools deserve help. I know Mr. Yakeleya’s schools need help and he knows I’m there for him when it comes to these initiatives, as well, and I think no children should be, like they say, no children left behind, but no school left behind in desperate, despicable state, and the school is the oldest school I think in our inventory and certainly here in Yellowknife that has not had any facelift or serious renovation. It’s beyond desperate attention required at this point.
So rather than spending too much time, I just wanted to emphasize a few issues here while we were handing out the motion to all Members. I think this Assembly is well versed in the need for this school to be addressed. That said, I will ask for a recorded vote on this particular motion. Thank you.
Mr. Hawkins, Ms. Bisaro, Mr. Moses, Mr. Bromley, Mr. Yakeleya, Mr. Menicoche, Mr. Nadli.
All those opposed, please stand.
Mr. Beaulieu, Mr. Abernethy, Mr. Miltenberger, Mr. McLeod - Yellowknife South, Mr. Lafferty, Mr. Ramsay, Mr. McLeod – Inuvik Twin Lakes.
Sorry about that, committee, just had to make sure we had the math right. All those in favor of the motion, we have seven. All those opposed, we have seven. Unfortunately, the Chairman has to vote in this case to prolong debate. The Chairman will be voting not in favor of the motion. Motion defeated.
---Defeated
Committee, we are on section 8-7, Education, Culture and Employment, activity summary, education and culture, infrastructure investment summary. Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Of course, my colleague will remain nameless on this next point, but I will really point out about the thin opportunities for Yellowknife in this capital budget, and I will let the people figure out from the record which MLA said that.
The reality here is that we are not asking for a college to be built. What it is, is a planning study. I think what happens here is that in order to see vision as to where this college should be going, it gives a chance to re-evaluate what’s being done now.
Not all college programming is created equal, not all campuses are created equal and certainly not all communities are created equal, and I understand that. We spend a lot of money supporting the other two campuses and I would say that they are two beautiful campuses, the one in Fort Smith and certainly the one in Inuvik. But yet again it can’t be seen as coming at a cost, and I don’t support projects that come at a cost in the communities, nor would I. I would hope that colleagues would reconsider and realize that I am asking for a planning study.
We have a very interested and active partner, who could be the City of Yellowknife, to help support this initiative. There are other partners out there that do exist. The Department of Education, Culture and Employment know exactly who those are.
This is not, when we talk about modest capital project additions, a significant expenditure, but to treat it as a walk-on, that it’s a surprise at the last minute, I have to admit that I am going to say I disagree with that point.
The motion is here today, yes, that I will concede to, but this is not a new issue by any means. So for anyone to say this has just snuck up on them out of the blue, I think misses it.
The thing here that is the key or the underpin of the whole scenario is about getting the Department of Education, Culture and Employment to actively work with partners that exist to help make this initiative successful, to help look at the long term.
Let the college itself drive its programming. Let the college itself drive the programming it needs where it needs these things. The Legislature itself doesn’t do that, nor should it. We already know that the college does not come and report to standing committee or the Legislature to talk about their details. We all know that it falls under the Education Minister. The reality here is, let the college continue its work.
As I said earlier, there are two beautiful campuses outside of Yellowknife, but we should allow the campus itself, the college itself to dictate its own individual programming, but we need to help foster that opportunity and that is what I am talking about here today. The planning study itself will allow them to help predict their future.
The college has been squeezed, if not shoe-horned into a situation that could be better described more as a very uncomfortable situation in Northern United Place. I don’t say that easily, because the owners of that building are constituents of mine and they often talk about how important the college is. I hear about that often and I agree that the college is an important tenant in that building. But at the same time, by thinking that that is the best place for it, is missing out on the opportunity of education that can happen here.
I think by voting against this, really you are voting against, by way of simple example, whether it is a $75,000 contribution, you are actually voting against every one of the students there who wants to take programming, it’s not the money. The people who want to continue the programming. It’s true. The instructors there will say that they continue the style of programming, they could attract more students if they had better residences. If they had better facilities, they could do more programming, they could do more. All you have to do is talk to the students there, talk to the administrators, talk to the instructors. There are so many reasons about yes for this. But really, at the end of the day, people will want to vote no, and I will respect that. But I won’t give up. I will be back on this issue. The fact is, who we are really hurting here is not the capital budget that Minister Miltenberger keeps an eye on, we are hurting the students of the Northwest Territories. Let it be no mistake that they are the ones impeded by not even allowing us to have a study to say, what could the college look like, what could we do for them, what could we do for education in the Northwest Territories.
Although I know how the vote is already going to go, and I will save my colleagues the grief of standing up to show that they are not going to vote for it, I will not ask for a recorded vote. But that said, Members have already clearly said how they are voting and that is all I have to say at this time.
