Jackson Lafferty

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My department has been working on this particular file on the reservists. Under the current act and other legislation that may be before us, individuals serving as reservists may be protected by other legislation or collective agreements providing greater benefits than our act. Those are the areas we are currently exploring.

Not only that but we haven’t to date received any inquiries on this particular matter. There are, from the information that we have, approximately 26 current members of the Yellowknife reservists. We’re fully aware of that and we want to work with that...

Mahsi. That review has been undertaken, as the Member indicated, in 2008, and that information is within my department. If it hasn’t been shared with the standing committee, then I need to find out what we can share with the Members; what we’ve done to date since the review was undertaken, what work is ongoing and the future amendments that need to take effect. So, Mr. Speaker, I can provide that information to the Members and I’ll find out more about the specifics of the program. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. In this particular area, recidivism is a complex issue and there are currently no national rates or indicators as it stands. Also, it has other complicated issues such as family violence. We also, as the NWT, work with the Canadian Centre for Justice stats and other provinces and territories to develop nationally accepted recidivism indicators. This work has been discontinued because of the funding cutbacks. So we are exploring different areas on how we can highlight these key indicators for our Justice department in the Northwest Territories, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, as I stated, this is an area that we need to work together. There are federal laws that we need to work with. They are case by case on an individual basis. Some individuals are federal inmates as well. As I stated, there are at times challenging times trying to find inmates to go out on the land. It is their choice. We can’t force them to go out on the land so we have to follow the judicial system as well. But I am willing to work with the on-the-land program that we internally have and building on the programming that is in place already.

Mr. Speaker, I committed to the Members...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. We are always on the lookout for any opportunities that can improve the well-being of our people of the Northwest Territories; that includes the inmates as well. We have initiated the on-the-land program in the Sahtu region. It has been successful to date, but at times it has been difficult finding those inmates within the institution because it would have to be on a volunteer basis. We can’t force them to attend these camps. So those are the areas that we continue to struggle with. It is a real challenging task, but we continue to push with other regions, as well, if they...

Those are the discussions that we’ve had with the Members as well, also the organizations: what needs to be amended, depending on what kind of program dollars are being expended to daycare operators and other operators and services that are being provided. Those are the discussions that we’ve had and part of the report that has been referred to has been highlighted as well.

Mr. Speaker, I believe in due time that will happen, whether it be the end of this government or early next government, but we do have that information that we need to share with the standing committee and providing that and possibly delivering a legislative proposal as the next step. I have committed that to the Member already. Mahsi.

I look forward to the Member’s information that he’ll be sharing with us with my department so we can move this file forward. As I’ve stated, we’ve gathered most of the information, but any information that the Member can provide that would be available to us to proceed with this file so we can deal with this matter that’s been before us within our department. I’ll commit to this House that we’ll continue to work on this file with that information.

That will be the discussion we need to have. In the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative, that’s been highlighted as well, that it be mandatory for the students to take those specific courses whether they be Aboriginal students or non-Aboriginal students. So those are discussions that we’re having, ongoing discussions. We still have two forums to attend and then the final package will reflect on that as well. Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, in respect to the boarding, it is at the board level, the education board level. We provide funding for the students, the enrolment, and they provide funding to the various organizations to establish such as a boarding home. So if there’s a surplus, it goes back to the school board and it is at their discretion to allocate the funding to various programming or other areas as well.

As the Minister, I need to work with that with the school board and I can’t give them the direction to say you should spend that money in that area. I have to respect their decision, as well, but I will...