Jackson Lafferty

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the Member for asking that question. I had an opportunity this morning to speak to that labour force symposium that’s happening over the next two days. We have over 80 delegates. What we talked about at that level was partnership across the Northwest Territories, across the national stage. That’s what it comes down to with five regional training committees that have been established in partnership with ECE, ITI, and also Aboriginal organizations, industry, the Mine Training Society and also the college.

They work on a regular basis to address regional...

It’s very important that we collaborate and form partnerships with interdepartmental discussion on this important matter because it will take more than just one department. We have to work with the Department of Health and Social Services and other departments. It has a ripple effect, as well, and we’re very positive that we want to deliver the key messages that we need to make some changes that reflect on these important areas.

This is an area that I need to work with closely with the Social Programs committee and also with my department and the other departments as well. My department and DM...

One of our focuses is the Early Childhood Development Framework that we’ve been working on for quite some time now. It’s been over a decade and it is now before us as a result of the research that we are seeing. Those are some of the focuses that we are currently working on. That is why we are engaging into our plan to renew the Early Childhood Development Framework that’s in the process.

Just having an elders gathering, I think we had roughly 80 to 100 elders from all regions gathered for two or three days to hear their input. The following week we had over 80 stakeholders to listen to their...

The quickest answer would be yes, we are, as my department, along with other departments, even with the Premier. It has been addressed with the Gwich’in, the IRC, the Beaufort-Delta leadership. We’ve met with them. We’ve addressed their concerns, their issues, their ideas. They are preparing for the exploration activity that will be happening in their region. We are continuing to work with them. We want to be prepared to deliver those highly skilled individuals at the community level with the kind of training programs that are required.

I must say and commend the Inuvik area and the Beaufort...

Again, creating partnerships in the regions in the Northwest Territories does have advantages and benefits. When it comes to providing incentives at the regional workforce development, we deal with the Mine Training Society, which deals with industries as well. We have industry representatives on there, ITI, ECE, and other Aboriginal organizations on the specific committee that delivers training in the regions. Not only that, there is also funding available through Aboriginal leadership, such as asset funding through the federal Minister. There is also, again, as highlighted earlier, labour...

This is a very interesting idea and suggestion. We have done some research in this area, too, and the Member provided some information on this particular subject. This is information that will be shared through engagement on the NWT educational renewal. I’m looking forward to that input from the general public and stakeholders as we move forward.

Accountability is one of the key issues that the Auditor General report specifically highlighted in her 2010 report. As we know, we need to hold students accountable for their learning and we measure through the Alberta Achievement Tests and other...

Mr. Speaker, currently we have the school in Trout Lake. We have students learning in Trout Lake; 20 students that are registered in school. We do have a facility. It may not be a fancy facility, but this is an area that we are closely monitoring. At the same time, this is an area that I’ve been pushing my department, especially for small schools, how we can expedite this process.

When it comes to capital infrastructure, every year we go through that. We push through various schools to be included in the capital planning process. Unfortunately, there are other pressing needs, other pressing...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The Trout Lake school, Charles Tetcho School, has a capacity of 20 students at this point. It does have up to 33 students that we have a capacity for at that size. Right now it’s at 61 percent for 2011-2012 enrolment figures. Based on that, from the information I have there’s not much need for additional space requirement. However, I have committed to the Member and will be visiting his constituency, and I want to look at the actual facility itself and discuss further how we can move that along expeditiously. As the Member indicated, 2018 is far away, but that’s an area we...

Those are the discussions that we need to have within my department and with the school board as well. What it comes down to is the needs of the community, the number of students.

I did commit to the Member that I will be visiting the community, and highlighting the Trout Lake School and how we can take that matter forward. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Again, it’s based on the capacity of the students in the schools for the Northwest Territories. We deal with 49 schools and the Charles Tetcho School was constructed in 1993, so it is almost 20 years now and that’s an area that we need to re-evaluate, the number of students in a school and also the population in a community.

Again, I will be visiting the community and looking at the school, and we can discuss further what the next steps should be. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.