Alfred Moses

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to table the news release, entitled NWT Student Uses Modern Technology to Study Historic Aboriginal Land Claim - Video to Debut in Ottawa. It highlights Julienne Chipesia, a student at East Three School who did some work in the Gwich’in land claim treaty and was one of four nationally recognized videos that will be recognized later this month. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, we already have a high cost of living. We are adding more costs to our long-term residents of the Northwest Territories and we’re asking them to front costs on medical travel for their children and family members that are non-status.

Can the Minister give me a timeline on the revision of this Medical Travel Policy that can come before committee so we can start working on that? Does he have a timeline so we will see the revision of this Medical Travel Policy? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I understand that the Minister’s department had been engaging residents of the Northwest Territories since 2007. I was asking specifically to the Directions for Change document that committee saw and only had about a month to reply on that. However, I’ll move on to my third question here.

With a lot of the monumental changes that are going to be happening within this education action plan, I would ask the Minister, will there be new dollars going into this action plan and is the action plan going to be implemented within the schools across the Northwest Territories in the 2014-15 school year.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment regarding his Directions for Change document that was tabled in the House yesterday. In the opening message in the document, the Minister talks about the coming action plan will breathe life into this framework. I’m just wondering what the time frame is for this government and people of the Northwest Territories, specifically the educators.

What is the timeline for that action plan? When are we going to be able to see that action plan in a document that we can go by and our educators and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment tabled a document in the House, entitled Education Renewal and Innovation Framework: Directions for Change for our education system here in the North. I appreciate and recognize the hard work and efforts that went into this document by the Minister’s office, also by the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. I also acknowledge the hard work that the Standing Committee on Social Programs put into this document by providing their input and recommendations, as well as any other Members that came to those...

The reallocation of these internal funds also brings to light a concern. Which programs are they going to be taking the dollars from and which programs may be hindered by taking on these new initiatives? However, with the Aboriginal Student Achievement, before I got in this position, I did do some work with some of the committees in Inuvik in the elementary and in the high school in my previous position. I want to ask the Minister what is the role of these Aboriginal student achievement committees moving forward in this Directions for Change. Also, he mentions in his document that there was an...

Mr. Speaker, the standing committee had a short timeline to give their feedback and input into this document moving forward. It is a 10-year action plan, so it’s very important that we do it right the first time and that all the recommendations and input are addressed with moving forward with this.

I just want to ask the Minister, was proper consultation with the district education authorities, the Aboriginal student achievement committees, the NWT Teachers’ Association, did they have a bigger time frame, because obviously these guys are the ones that are going to be working on this education...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d also like to recognize and welcome to the House former Premier and current mayor of Inuvik, Mr. Floyd Roland, as well as Ms. Angela Young, who is one of our hardworking educators at the East Three School.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I did take a look at those discussion papers going forward on this Mental Health Act. I know Members on this side of the House have asked for a wellness court to be brought forth in this government.

Would the Minister be looking at possibly incorporating some type of wellness court provision within this legislation? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We’ve got about six weeks, I’d say, less than six weeks to get feedback on these discussion papers on a very important act that’s going to affect all residents of the Northwest Territories.

If the Minister and his department don’t receive sufficient feedback in that amount of time, December 10th, would the Minister be willing to extend the deadline to access feedback on the discussion papers? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.