Charles Dent

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I believe that, in terms of literacy funding, the only difference is the $300,000 that I mentioned earlier that has been cut from literacy funding. That funding was in a program called Workplace Literacy. It was a program that was application-based for employers to make application to provide literacy training in the workplace. It was not being accessed, so we have cut the program by the amount of funds that were being lapsed.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It is an issue, I know, in some regions. For instance in the Sahtu, the caseload there only requires having one worker in the whole region. So that means that they have to go the communities. They're based in Norman Wells, and they have to get to Tulita, Deline and Colville. But given the numbers who are collecting income support in that region, that's all we can justify, because there isn't enough to keep more than that person busy. That's the situation we find in the Tlicho region, as well. If there are people who aren't being served, maybe we need to work...

Yes, please.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So far, we haven’t added any staff. I think we need to give the new management a chance to take a look at the situation and we will work with the current staff to assess the level of difficulty, if you will, and if there is a problem, we will have to deal with it. At this point, there has been no change.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At this point, we haven’t done anything to plan for how this money would be spent because we don’t know if we are talking about less than $1 million or $6 million. That’s the range we are talking about. It could be a very small amount of money or it could be $6 million. If we are successful in getting the larger amount of money, obviously we will have to have some process for setting out the expenditure. If we are only going to be offered a few hundred thousand dollars, we are going to have to question if we will even bother to participate because of the reporting...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department would be willing to consult with people in Inuvik. That’s one of the purposes why the steering committee was set up -- the one that includes the town, the DEA, the DEC and so on -- was to make sure that the structure that is built is reflective of what the community wants. There may need to be some partnerships developed though in order to pay for some spaces that wouldn’t normally qualify for government support, but we’re always willing to look for those partnerships and find ways to accommodate community needs. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on Monday, February 21st, we will celebrate

Heritage Day. This is an opportunity to recognize and celebrate the diversity of heritage and culture that all Canadians enjoy. In the NWT, we are especially blessed with an exciting history and a strong sense of heritage.

While our communities and residents have many opportunities every year to celebrate culture and heritage, today I would like to recognize a number of community-based projects in the Northwest Territories that are part of a national program called the Historical Places Initiative. Under this...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am hoping we are going to get enough money that we are going to be able to make sure we can make a difference in communities like Jean Marie River. I am confident that the other jurisdictions across Canada will recognize the problems we face in the North in delivering programs equitable with what other Canadians receive. I am confident the federal Minister and provincial Ministers will say Canada doesn’t stop at the 60th parallel and we will see enough money to make a difference, but, until we actually do in the federal budget next week, we haven’t set up a process...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At our meeting last Friday, I spent a considerable amount of time trying to demonstrate to other Ministers around the table some of the problems that we face in the Northwest Territories trying to deliver equitable services in the smaller communities, particularly the higher cost of infrastructure, the higher cost of trained staff and the difficulty of finding a way to do it in very small communities. I used that as justification for why the Northwest Territories and the other territories needed to have base funding as part of this transfer because if we only get...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last fall a process was started that included the DEA, the DEC, the town, the Gwich’in and the Inuvialuit in Inuvik, to work with consultants from Education, Culture and Employment to examine the options. We also brought in the experts from Public Works and Services and we have decided that it would not be economically feasible to renovate SAM School and that has been passed on in writing to the DEA. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.