Jackson Lafferty

Mr. Speaker, the question has been asked in the House. I did commit to it, so we’ll follow through as soon as possible with the federal counterparts. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Chairman. I guess this is also my passion. I’d love to have those elders in the school. We have to work with it with the school boards. We have asked for different options on how we can work around the system where their pensions are not clawed back. I don’t have control over the federal pension. We have to pay these elders if they want to work or else they’re not going to work. Of course, they’re penalized for that. We’ve been trying to work around the system of how we can work with them so they’re not penalized. We talk about possibly a gift to them at the end of the school year...

Mr. Chair, as I stated, these are areas that we continue to look into. To some degree, we have to be cautious of how we approach different areas of policy changes where if we allow adults to live in their parent’s or grandparent’s place, the individual could be earning a good wealth of income and others will follow. I’m just afraid of elders’ abuse, directly or indirectly, in the household, because it will be rent free for them. I can imagine in all the communities elders living in a household, they might have grandchildren living with them for a number of years and, to some degree, it may be...

The NWTTA has had funding in their budget to cover the orientation. Whether it be final for the fact that teachers in the Tlicho TCSA have been to the barren land almost every year, actually every year to introduce those new teachers and returning teachers to the land and the people of the land. They have done that over the years. This is nothing new.

We felt that as a department that we want to make this mandatory. The professional development available for teachers through NWTTA can be used to go to conferences and whatnot, but our vision, our goal was to establish an initiative such as the...

With the current funding that we provide, not funding but the in-kind services to the Mine Training Society, that’s our partnership towards that organization. The overall funding that they receive is from the federal government and there are certain criteria that they do follow, the Mine Training Society, but this is an area that we can definitely discuss with the Mine Training Society.

As you know, their program is also sunsetting next year at the end of March 2012. So that’s an area that we are also voicing our concern about, as well, with the federal government, to possibly expand or extend...

Mahsi, Mr. Chairman. I think there was a commitment in the House to collaborate with health and education departments working together to identify what our options will be at that time.

Yes, we will consult with our colleagues at the federal level and see what the status is on the situation. We need to rectify the problem. If there’s an issue, then we need to follow through with it. So I will follow up with our federal counterparts. Mahsi.

I can definitely give you a good response, Mr. Chair. This is part of the plan for the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative. There is also the Aboriginal Languages Strategy that has been before this House. Implementing those is part of the discussions we are having, and elders in schools. This money that has been allocated, $148 million, that’s for the school boards. They have to set their priorities, but there are other initiatives on the way and it does highlight the elders that the Member is referring to. Mahsi.

We do factor in those costs that the Member is alluding to. Part of the assessment.

Mr. Speaker, daycare is a service that has been provided in the community. We provide funding and resources and also operation costs, as well, to make it operational at the community level. Those individuals that may drop their children off at the centre, they will be well looked after. That’s one of our mandates as the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, to provide funding and resources to those establishments that provide those services. Mahsi.