Jackson Lafferty

Mr. Speaker, the Member is referring to a generic area of challenges. We need to find out the root cause. What is the real issue? Like I said, it could be the lack of information being provided. That is always the case, Mr. Speaker, dealing with client service officers. Concerns come in. It is almost always, 80 to 90 percent of the time, that not enough information has been provided. I think that we need to strengthen that area. Certainly that would be our clear message to the communities when we visit the community. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with respect to the issuance of monthly cheques, it could vary in various circumstances where individuals may not have provided enough information such as a tax return or a tax refund, whether it be a source of income has changed or there has been a deposit into their bank account without informing the client service officers. So there are all these areas attached to the information providing.

Certainly we can have our staff do an informal or formal presentation to community government if that needs to happen. We certainly want community members to be aware of...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I rise to provide an update to my colleagues in the House about the Ministers of Justice meeting in New Brunswick last week, especially on aboriginal justice issues.

I have been working with my counterparts in Nunavut and Yukon to provide a unified northern perspective to the federal government. We have common issues, common needs. It makes sense to work together and support each other, especially on policing and aboriginal justice.

For many years, Mr. Speaker, we have been frustrated at the federal government’s inadequate funding for aboriginal policing in the North. The...

Mahsi. We are willing to support the students that are entering college or university, but if they’re at, say, a Grade 9 level, then there’s an education factor in the Northwest Territories. They are more than willing to assist these students enter into our school system. We have beautiful schools in the regions, we have a new school in Tulita. Those are the areas that we continue to improve on. So we continue to strive for that, Mr. Speaker. We have to make clear that the SFA funding is specifically for post-secondary college or university students, but I’m willing to work with the Member on...

Mahsi. We are currently supporting those students that are willing to upgrade in the regions, Mr. Speaker. We have to support our students in our home communities. We can’t ship the students down south to get upgraded. Yes, we fully encourage students to go to college and university with the appropriate courses, and those courses are delivered here in the Northwest Territories. We continue to support those individuals that are willing to upgrade or get educated on our home turf in the Northwest Territories. Not only that, Mr. Speaker, but when we talk about the policies in place, we certainly...

Mahsi. The program that has been offered by Aurora College is recognized, probably not all courses, but most of the courses are recognized by southern institutions so they can continue on to take advanced education, whether it be a diploma or a degree program. So we’re always pushing our northern college and other institutions to have an accreditation program here in the Northwest Territories. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Certainly those areas of discussion we can certainly have within my department, “G” Division and the municipalities of the Northwest Territories to strive towards trying to get more access and also resources and federal funding, and then also strategic thinking of territorial government funding in this initiative. Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, there are a lot of opportunities and those opportunities, certainly, we can work with. We have agreements with the RCMP “G” Division through the federal government and working with municipalities in the communities such as bylaw enforcement. So there are agreements in place already, but going beyond that, having foot patrols into the communities, we have to keep in mind that this is a territorial-wide initiative and we need to focus on all communities. That’s why we’re aggressively approaching the federal government to see our uniqueness, our remoteness, our geographic challenges...

Mr. Speaker, yes, the auto reply, whether by e-mail or phone call, is a standard procedure that we use in our office, whether it be Yellowknife or other communities. If it’s not being used, certainly those areas need to be looked at. Mr. Speaker, the procedure is in place and it’s just a matter of following through with that. So I’ll certainly make a commitment again to look into those areas. Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, we currently do not have a written policy specific to those individuals if the client service officer is away. But we do have a backup plan where in a larger centre such as Yellowknife, we have an on-call duty officer that takes those calls. If there are inquiries, then that individual follows through with that. Not only that, Mr. Speaker, that on-call duty officer also takes calls and is accessible any time, even without appointments. But in those communities outside Yellowknife, certainly we have client service officers going to the communities from a regional perspective. They...