David Krutko

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Minister of Education.

Thank you. Next on the list is Mr. Yakeleya.

Mr. Speaker, I believe last week the Minister of Education made a statement in the House in regard to student absences and the problem that we’re seeing across the Territories. Mr. Speaker, it amazes me that Sport North, who are going to be hosting the dog mushing trials in Fort Smith, that people from the Mackenzie Delta who are going to take part in these trials have to drive from Mackenzie Delta to Fort Smith. Mr. Speaker, the students that are taking part in these trials will have to take three weeks of school off because of the way the trials have been set up.

Mr. Speaker, it’s...

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Next on the list I have Mr. Bromley and then Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Bromley.

Thank you Mr. Minister. Welcome witnesses, General comments, Mr. Jacobson.

Do we agree that the Minister brings in his witnesses?

Does the Minister have any opening comments? Minister of Education, Mr. Lafferty.

I’ll call Committee of the Whole to order. We have Bills 2, 4, 7, Tabled Document 62-14(6) and Minister’s Statement 47-16(4). What is the wish of the committee? Mrs. Groenewegen.

Mr. Speaker, I believe the organization that he should be talking to is Sport North. They are the ones that are basically responsible for the trials for the Arctic Winter Games. I would like to ask the Minister if he can try to resolve this problem as soon as possible, because a lot of the parents are concerned that their children are going to be missing a lot of school and that they don’t want to see them pulled out of schools because of the amount of time that they are going to be away. Again, I ask the Minister to sit down with Sport North to find a solution to this problem so that the...

Mr. Speaker, I understand if you miss four days of school you are basically not allowed back into the school. I think this government has to, if someone is missing three weeks of school and is a high school student, basically it will affect their grades and possibly have them rejected from that class. As a Minister who is responsible for ensuring that attendance there and working with other government agencies to ensure that we do not see students out of the classroom for more than a couple of days and to find out it is three weeks, I would be concerned too. Would the Minister consider talking...