Jackson Lafferty

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. First and foremost, I’d like to recognize all the Pages that are here today working for us, and it has been a long session as well. I’d like to thank them for their services. More specifically, for two Pages from Wekweeti, they are Autumn Football and Laylu Judas who are with us today. I’d like to say mahsi for your services.

I’d also like to recognize my former constituents, but they’re still from Behchoko in my view. That’s Debbie Lemouelle and also Stephanie Lafferty who are here with us. Welcome.

Mr. Speaker, healthy, educated people are a priority for this Assembly and our government continues to investigate ways to support our children’s development and give them the right start in life.

We have many strategies across the GNWT that work together to provide supports for northern children, families, residents and communities. One of these is Building on the Strengths of Northerners: A Strategic Framework toward the Elimination of Poverty in the NWT. This framework addresses five priority areas: children and families, healthy living, safe and affordable housing, sustainable communities...

I can provide that detailed information at an appropriate time. We must keep in mind that we’re re-profiling the $7.4 million that the Member alluded to earlier. We are still under the PTR as we have been legislated to. I believe, over a 10-year period, there has been an influx of funding that came in to increase the PTR due to the fact of a surplus of funds within the GNWT, which we don’t have right now. Those are just some of the areas we’ve talked about. We’ve been working with the school boards to make that a reality and that’s where we are at today. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. This projected information that I tabled in the house, the fact sheets, it lays out every detail of information that is the most accurate between ourselves and the school boards in Yellowknife. Part of the plan, obviously, is the funding that the Member alluded to for 2016-17 will be happening at that time because they will be rolling out their program. The money will be provided to them as is stated in the fact sheets. As well, I believe above and beyond the 16 to 1, we are also contributing additional funding towards that. Mahsi.

This is an area that we’ve been working very close with NCS, identifying the capital projects, and they’ve submitted proposals to our shop, the GNWT, through ECE, and we’ve been working very closely with Heritage Canada, as well, because they provide the capital expenditures. Those are some of the discussions that we are currently having with the federal government on behalf of NCS. At the same time, NCS, the CEO is also advocating with the federal government, as well, so at both angles we’re pushing the federal government. We’ll do what we can to push that even further.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. As this House knows, I am a true supporter of anything that contributes to the health and strength of our Aboriginal languages. NCS, the Native Communications Society, is valuable and also contributes towards this.

Again, there is no doubt that those talented individuals have worked for the society, as well, and learned from NCS over the years. We fully support that as government, for their contributions over the years.

The Member does put in a very interesting idea about how we can move forward on providing the training to these northern broadcasters. I have instructed my...

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. The tablets that we’re talking about are not only for the children, it’s for the parents as well. Mostly for the parents where the families can keep track of their children’s developmental milestones providing immunization and nutrition information. There is all this different programming that’s on these tablets that are going out. There’s First Aid, as well, and language apps and different apps for children’s songs, books, learning, fun activities to enjoy as a family. The tablets also encourage the relationship between community-based health care and our education providers...

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. When we first initiated these tablets for new mothers, we figured that we wouldn’t have enough funding to go out to all the new moms and 300 tablets that we’re talking about, it could go beyond that. So we were seeking an alternative source of funding. We’ve had that in the past with other projects that have been very successful, accessing other sources of funding. Those are some of the areas that we have reached out to.

As Minister Miltenberger stated, these tablets are before us. They are still being tested. We have all of these different programs that need to be installed...

I will commit to working with the Department of Human Resources to establish that. Not only there, but there’s also the Housing Corporation when it comes to plumbing and different trade areas and industry as well. So we do have connections within our department and other departments as well. We need to develop a plan of action towards this so we can focus on those individuals who are in the gold, silver and bronze areas, so they can hopefully achieve their dream as well. Mahsi.

MR. SPEAKER: Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.

Mahsi. First I’d just like to congratulate those individuals in the past that have obtained gold medal level, a silver medal and also bronze at the national or international level and for the Northwest Territories as well. So we have to congratulate those individuals for their hard work and continue to support them. This is an area that, federally, Canada’s Job Grant is coming and Labour Market Agreement and Labour Market Development Agreement, there are changes coming. What the Member is referring to, if we can integrate that into our discussions with the federal, how we can achieve those...