Alfred Moses

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Before I begin, I'd just like to thank all the parents and families who have written letters to the department in regards to concerns with the French first language education programs and enrolment of students. The ministerial directive has been in place since 2008, and I have communicated with the Commission scolaire that I have directed the department to do a review and look to see if any changes should be considered. Hopefully those will be done before the next school year begins. Thank you.

As I mentioned earlier, in 2015 we had consultants go into the community, meet with community members, and give them the options in terms of how to start up a licensed daycare, the funding that is available to the community. Unfortunately, community members after the consultations decided not to go ahead with the daycare. However, as the Member asked, there is start-up funding as well as program contributions should the community want to move ahead with the project that could total in the amount of, through our programs within the Department of Education, Culture, and Employment, about $89,000...

I mentioned for the Skills 4 Success 10-year Strategic Framework, we are going to be developing some concrete actions. We are going to be consulting with our stakeholders across the Northwest Territories, and that includes Aboriginal governments, industry, business, and education, as well as other training programs. We will get out there and we will be consulting with our stakeholders to develop an action plan that is for Northerners and for Northern businesses.

Most recently, the department had developed a comprehensive labour and market information report and it got consultation from people across the Northwest Territories, so that's what we looked at where we needed to address those issues. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes, the department does consider that Ecole Boreale is viable in the long-term as a French language school. As mentioned, we do want to serve the francophone population in the community of Hay River. Earlier I talked about the review of the ministerial directive, which hopefully should address a lot of these issues. I do thank both Members from Hay River for bringing these concerns forward to the office and to the department.

As the Member had mentioned in his opening remarks around the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, as the government, we need to ensure that we meet our obligations under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms when providing French first-language education programs throughout the Northwest Territories, as well as having facilities open for all children. Those are some of the roadblocks that we're seeing that might prevent this, but we are looking at other jurisdictions, seeing what they're doing that can help loosen up some of these restrictions.

I would like to take the opportunity to welcome Mr. William Greenland, a man of many talents and also my cousin.

---Laughter

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to report to the Assembly Committee Report 27-17(5), Standing Committee on Social Programs Report on Transition Matters.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d also like to recognize Ms. Judy McLeod and thank her for supporting my colleague here, Mr. McLeod, over the eight years. You’re doing a great job, and also for all the work you do, again, for the region, in the health area.

It is Fire Prevention Week and I’d like to recognize Mr. John Moore from Inuvik, who is a volunteer firefighter for the community. I’d also like to recognize my constituency assistant, Ms. Weronika Murray. When my previous assistant decided to take a year off, there were some big shoes to fill and I was wondering how that was going to happen with...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A team is a group of people linked in a common purpose. Teams normally have members with complementary skills and generate synergy through a coordinated effort, which allows each member to maximize their strengths. Each member helps other members realize their true potential and create an environment that allows everyone to go beyond his or her limits. Nothing could be more true of a team than the members and the staff of the Standing Committee on Social Programs.

I’d like to use my last Member’s statement to acknowledge such a good group, a strong group, a compassionate...