Jackson Lafferty

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, with this particular area, it has been our intention that we need to have a thorough review of the community justice programming. We do have coordinators in place, not in every community. Some communities don’t have it, but at the same time there are some communities that are performing really well with the Justice department with the court services. I think there are nine without coordinators. Mr. Chair, we continuously have discussions with… Shirley Kemeys-Jones is the one in charge as the director and in constant contact and dialogue with the community to make...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Through the new initiative, we’ve had several meetings on the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative and they’ve made some recommendations to our department and we’ve implemented those particular initiatives. Although it may be small, it’s a start. We provide funding to each of the school education councils, so they can deal with enrolment issues, enrolment challenges. Not only that, Mr. Speaker, we’ve provided a laptop to the grade 12 students and now we’re looking towards next year of providing possibly to grade 11 students and other initiatives along the way that will...

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. When this was brought up at the standing committee, we did share with them that we are working on a children’s lawyer. So it would be like an advocate for children in the Northwest Territories. So those are the areas that we’ve been talking about. I guess the children’s lawyer will give the children a voice in legal proceedings that certainly affects them and by also protecting their rights. So I think it’s similar to what Ms. Bisaro is referring to, maybe a different title, but that piece of work we’ve been focusing on and we’re making progress in this area. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, according to the Education Act there are so many days that students have to attend in a year. But at the same time, we continue working with educational councils and also the education authorities. On-the-Land Program is very important to us as a department and also to the communities. They’ve worked into part of their curriculum development where it could be classified as taking an On-the-Land Program. The Tlicho community is a prime example that we’ve used as a model in other jurisdictions. Other regions are taking on the initiative as well. Mr. Speaker...

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. I totally agree. This First Nations policing, it’s a different agreement than the police contract we have with the RCMP “G” Division. We currently have a 70/30 shared agreement, 52/48 agreement. So it is a big difference. As I stated, we’re currently in negotiations with the federal at that level and Mrs. Schofield is part of that and the ADM is also part of that. So those are the ongoing discussions that we’re currently having with the federal government and, of course, we’re pushing for whether it be more funding or resources that we desperately need here in the Northwest...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I’m glad the Member raised a good point there. That is one of the areas that are part of the discussions that we’re having with the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative. Ongoing plans are to have a package ready by this summer. We haven’t really talked specifically about the semester itself, and the Member alluding to maybe a particular program or courses could be in line with maybe a shorter version or difference factor. Those are the areas we need to explore. We are always open to ideas, as I stated in the House on previous occasions. I think this is an area that we...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, tomorrow is a very special day for our Territory as we celebrate Northwest Territories Day at the Vancouver Winter Olympics.

Throughout the day there will be events and activities at venues like Canada’s Northern House to promote the people and culture of our Territory. In the evening our northern performers will take centre stages at B.C. Place in the heart of downtown Vancouver. This will be the main event of the Northwest Territories Day Victory Celebration. During this event, the Northwest Territories Performing Collective will reveal, through traditional...

Mr. Speaker, this has been brought forward at the national table, as well, where we had an incident in Hay River, a bad incident, and also a small community in Nunavut. So this has been brought forward and the discussion has been that we need those officers, new recruits, with a mentor that may have five to 10 years’ experience. So those are the discussions that we’ve had with the RCMP “G” Division, the importance and the relevance of it. So, yes, this is clearly a priority for us that we continue to recommend to the RCMP “G” Division. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. It is possible for a posting to be extended within the RCMP “G” Division, but there are certain factors taken into consideration. Whether it be the needs of the community, the needs of the force overall in the particular community and the overall force, and also the timing of the request. They have to give advance notice if there’s going to be a staffing plan for “G” Division and it is done well in advance. But it is possible for an extension at the community level. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, indeed, I will advise the Member of our progress to date on this particular piece of work that’s important to all communities. So I will keep the Members informed of our progress to date on my meetings with the new commanding officer that’s coming on stream February 23rd, and we will definitely discuss this going forward. Mahsi.