Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in follow-up to my earlier questions on the crusher for Aklavik, it's quite clear there's a lack of representation of small communities on the Cabinet side. Otherwise, they would know the challenges we have in our small communities. Just to say, “Oh, just go to the private sector.” It's not that easy for these communities. From what I understand these crushers are in the department for communities such as this, so I'd like to ask the Minister: Will the Minister be willing to work with the community, which is trying to come up with a training plan for...

That’s what I wanted to get at. Will the Minister be willing to work with the community of Aklavik to start the process, and to ship the unit to Aklavik hopefully over the summer, not too late because the water usually drops quite a bit by the second barge, from what I understand, and start preparations for the next year, next budget, so the community could build up the roads, as I mentioned earlier. A lot of challenges with the roads in our community.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in follow-up to my Member’s statement, I have a few questions for the Minister of Transportation. I'd like to ask the Minister: can the Minister confirm the number of crushers available in the Northwest Territories through his department at this time?

That leads me up to my next question. Is this decision made by the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, or by the District Education Council, and are the parents consulted?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as parents, the greatest gift we can give our children is a good education. Getting a good education sets our children up for success as adults. In the Northwest Territories, the 2014 employment rate for people with high school or post-secondary education is 76 per cent. For people who do not finish high school, that employment rate is cut exactly in half. If you successfully finish high school, you are twice as likely to find employment in the NWT than if you don't. Finishing high school is a bigger challenge for teens and young adults living in...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just a couple of brief comments. I'd like to thank the mover for bringing this motion forward. We have a lot of challenges in our small communities as I have said for the last four years now. In Tsiigehtchic, for example, we haven't had a daycare there for over nine years now. You know, that's pretty challenging, whether it's single mothers or parents that want to go to work, but they can't, because there's no daycare. It's pretty difficult to find a babysitter in the community, too. Those are the challenges we face. A lot of the Ministers may not understand that, not...

I'd also like to ask the Minister what options exist for students who want to stay in their home communities while finishing high school -- for example, Moodle, the program a previous Minister spoke about.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Follow-up to my Member’s statement, I have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. I'd like to ask the Minister: what are the criteria to decide whether or not senior high school is offered to students in their home communities such as Tsiigehtchic? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just a few comments. You know, the motion speaks to establishing legislation within the next two years for the ombudsman and you know I hope we're not setting ourselves up for failure with a lot of the changes we're making to the mandate. A lot of the intention means well, but we have to realize a lot of this is going to cost money and in our current situation here, you know, it's going to be challenging for us to fulfill our mandate. A lot of it we won't be able to fulfill because of our current situation unless things turn around.

It's just something I've been thinking...

It sounds promising. Will the department or the Minister commit to providing funds to do busing of our students to either Fort McPherson or Inuvik?

---Laughter