Charles Dent

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As part of the Income Security Program, we are, in fact, trying to streamline all of our processes for delivering subsidy services to our citizens. I have committed to reporting to the Standing Committee on Social Programs as we work through that process. I'd be happy to commit to delivering the same information in this House.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will certainly challenge my department with that suggestion. If it would speed up the process, then I think it’s something we should take a look at.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think that we're talking about two different things here. Right now, the LHOs are responsible for delivering the housing to clients, almost like a landlord. So they set the rents. The rents are not related to the income of the family or the occupants of the house. Each house has a rent that is established by the LHO. People then come to ECE, as they would in Yellowknife or any other market community, to get a subsidy so that they can afford to pay whatever rent is set by the LHOs. At ECE, it's not a question of how much the rents are; it's a question of how you...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll put that on the agenda for our next meeting for discussion. But I want to assure the Members that the membership on this committee right now is at the most senior level. We're talking about deputy ministers and assistant deputy ministers who are actually involved in this now. I think that tells the Members the importance that this government puts on this sort of work, and I want to make sure that we're keeping it at the most senior level. So we will have the discussion, but I'm quite satisfied that right now this issue is being given the level of importance...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm not positive, but I do believe that the issue of residential schools is dealt with in our curriculum in the Northwest Territories. I'll have to undertake to provide the Member with more details in writing as soon as I can. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize Brianne Christison from Aurora College, YK Campus. Brianne is in her fourth year of nursing and is visiting the House as part of the Professional Growth V course on nurses influencing change. One component of this class is to learn about how politics shapes and influences health care and health care policy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We do, in fact, provide some core funding to the Literacy Council right now. I have committed to them that we will look and see if there is an area that we can find and reallocate funds. But, as the Member knows, when we vote the money in this House, that money is parceled out. That is how it is designed to be spent. The millions of dollars that we have put into literacy funding, we have made commitments. There are commitments to the Literacy Council, to the college, to community groups, to all sorts of different areas where this money is being spent already. We...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I told the House yesterday, the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada will be arranging a meeting with the Hon. Diane Finley, the federal Minister responsible for the literacy funding that was cut, next Tuesday. Our intention is to seek from the Minister some understanding of where the Minister is going. We've heard from the federal government that their intention is to fund federal programs, programs across the territorial and provincial boundaries across Canada. But I am hoping to make sure that she hears this, that is that if she is looking at expanding...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, good afternoon. Mr. Speaker, I would like to share some good news with you about education results from the 2005-2006 year and enrolment for this school year.

We have our high school graduation numbers for this past year and, Mr. Speaker, the results are excellent. Overall, our graduation numbers are up from 343 in 2005 to 359 this year. This includes an increase in the number of both aboriginal and non-aboriginal graduates. For the first time, Mr. Speaker, the number of aboriginal graduates is higher than the number of non-aboriginal graduates, moving...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We do, in fact, provide some core funding to the Literacy Council right now. I have committed to them that we will look and see if there is an area that we can find and reallocate funds. But, as the Member knows, when we vote the money in this House, that money is parceled out. That is how it is designed to be spent. The millions of dollars that we have put into literacy funding, we have made commitments. There are commitments to the Literacy Council, to the college, to community groups, to all sorts of different areas where this money is being spent already. We...