Charles Dent

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if we look at all of the young offenders facilities that we have or the spaces that we have for young offenders right now, we’re not anywhere near 50 percent occupancy. It will take some time before we get up to a level where we expect that we would need these facilities again. Whether it’s two years, five years or 10 years, I can’t predict how long it’s going to be before we need more facilities. I would hope that we never need more facilities, but, if we do, then we can deal with that through either the provision of homes for young offenders, which is one...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, for young offenders who are sentenced to custody through the courts, there has always been a range of options. One is if they’re sentenced to the secure custody facility here in Yellowknife; it’s available to house them. Typically what happens to offenders who are sentenced to secure custody, they go through that facility into an open custody facility and then move on into either a camp or a residential home. The goal is to try and integrate young offenders back into the community and move them as quickly as possible into a residential setting. What has...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good afternoon. February 14th to the 18th is Aurora College Week, and this year there is a lot to celebrate. Throughout the week, the college will continue to hold events to celebrate its vital role in post-secondary and adult education and training in the Northwest Territories.

This year there are 412 full-time students attending a variety of programs through Aurora College, including adult basic education, trades and technology programs, and career and professional programs. Graduates of these programs have the opportunity to further their studies at universities...

Yes, Madam Chairperson. I have with me Mr. Mark Aitken, director of legislation division.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would hope that if there is another opportunity for the staff of that facility to get a job with the government, they could find it. That is one of the reasons that we have the staff retention policy; is to take advantage, or try and make sure that the government takes advantage, of the experience that we have within our staff. I would hope that we will find jobs for them in the not-too-distant future and not necessarily that we would have to wait some time.

In terms of the facility, if there is some department that comes forward with a proposal for...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in early days when we knew that we were going to propose the closure of Dene K’onia, I did, in fact, approach other Ministers in the government to ask whether or not there was some way that that facility could be used. I would certainly welcome any opportunity to keep the staff employed as long as they are employed in a program that makes sense for this government to embark on.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am aware of the issue and have been aware of it for some time now. There is the process that has been launched. I am going to respect that process so far and watch how it turns out. When you have a grievance that is possibly laid, you have to respect that we have that process set out and have to follow it, so I will be watching how things unfold. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can’t speak for the Premier personally, but I can speak for the government’s position, and, therefore, that of the Premier and of all the Members of this government, that people are and should be encouraged to use their first language whenever possible.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this government already puts millions of dollars into early childhood programs and we will continue to invest in early childhood. Whether or not we would increase our funding is something we would have to take a look at. Without knowing what the amount of money is that we’re looking at, it’s difficult to advance any plans. We are quite ready to move forward and we had hoped that we would get some signals from the federal government on Friday that would help us advance our plans so that we would be prepared to move things forward. The federal Minister...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there was a good deal of progress made at the meetings on Friday. My provincial and territorial colleagues and the federal Minister went quite a ways towards finalizing what we think will be the wording in a draft agreement. What remains as the biggest stumbling block right now is the money, and without knowing what sort of commitment we’re going to see in the federal budget, there was unwillingness for Ministers around the table to move the process any further. So really the stumbling block right now is money and its allocation. Thank you.