Caroline Cochrane

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We were hoping that all the renovations, et cetera, would be done for the last fiscal year, but we had to carry over some. For the Fort Liard one, the money was carried over to finish the JK sink in the washroom, which I hear is done, I'm not sure, and to construct a fence for the outdoor play area and the equipment. All of the schools will need specialized play equipment for that age group. We are in the process for doing that for most of the schools. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that Bill 17, An Act to Amend the Student Financial Assistance Act, be read for the second time. The bill amends the Student Financial Assistance Act to extend the term of appeal board members from two years to up to four years and to amend the qualifications for the post-secondary student representative on the appeal board to include individuals who have been a post-secondary student within the five years preceding the appointment. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I should clarify that at no point during the campaign schools do we tell people, "This is what you need to do when you become a politician." That isn't the purpose of it. It is actually just to give them the tools to be able to campaign, to give them the tools so that they can actually build the confidence that they need to get in there. Once they get into those governments, then those are their own choices to make on where they want to go with that.

Why is it good to have it internally at this point? Because we have the resources internally. We have the electoral. We have Municipal and...

I am hoping that the Status of Women Council actually will, and I do know that they are trying to do some issues, working with women in getting them into leadership as well.

When I was first elected in this position, my budget wasn't as generous as it is now, although I am not saying it is that generous, but the Status of Women Council put forward a proposal, and they asked for $15,000 just to do one workshop. I believe, at that point, I may be wrong, I think my budget was only $20,000 to do two, which meant I was in a deficit. We had to look at it and see if there was a more cost-effective way...

As a Minister, my responsibility is to represent all communities and all residents of the Northwest Territories. I would be more than honoured to actually go with the Member to the community to actually work with the community and see what we can do to support them. As the Member stated, my schedule is very busy over the summer with all of the graduations that are taking place, but as soon as we can find a mutually agreeable time, I am more than willing to go in. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Quality and safe education in the community; I am guessing you are meaning facilities in the community. Student safety is a primary focus within all education systems in the Northwest Territories. Every school has a safety plan. We make sure that we take care of the children as best as possible. Incidents will occasionally happen. As soon as incidents happen, we go in. We do an investigation. We make sure that that issue hopefully wouldn't happen again. We look for solutions for that. I know that, if there are issues with gyms, et cetera, if we don't have that support, then we look at other...

As stated, I did phone the president and was asking where the direction came from, recognizing that she does have the authority to direct the council and to direct the staffing, as the speaker for the whole board. Where did the direction come from? That is something that they are looking at.

I did take note that the MLA did state within her opening statement that it is arm's length, and it needs to be arm's length. Our act says that they can advise the Minister on issues, and I can refer them back to the council for consideration. It says that they can provide assistance to the Minister in...

What is the council doing wrong? I have no idea, Mr. Speaker, what the council is doing wrong. In fact, for the last two years, I have been asking the council to meet with them. The council has only met during session, and I have gone to them when I can meet with them. It is during session, and I have only been able to go in for a lunch hour and say hi and leave to come running right back to session.

I have asked them over the last two years that I want to meet with them. I have given no direction, period, to the Status of Women Council. I know that I have been accused of giving directions, but...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The portables that are coming in actually will be retained by the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. In previous years, we bought portables and we gave them to the school authorities, and then it was hard to transfer them.

They will be used for the school that will be replaced. It will be a couple of years, and then, at that time, we will be determining the best usage for them. At this point, we are not handing them over to Infrastructure. They will stay as assets for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment to be used where needed. Thank you, Mr...

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that Bill 16, An Act to Amend the Social Assistance Act, be read for the second time. The bill amends the Social Assistance Act to extend the term of appeal board members from two years to up to four years and to extend the list of public bodies with which information shared under the act may be shared to include Indigenous governments. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.