Jackson Lafferty

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are directed to the Minister responsible for the Financial Management Board. Unlike other regions in the Northwest Territories having a special relationship with the Government of the Northwest Territories, the Tlicho Community Services Agency, under the new Tlicho Government, has the responsibility of education and health and social services to deliver the special services outlined in this document or agreement. It’s called the Intergovernmental Services Agreement. It denotes in the appendices our respective roles. So my question to the...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker…(Translation not provided)

(Translation) Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Recently we have just come to our new job, and sometimes when we have to make implementation of that land, we want to work really well with the territorial government and also with the federal government. Many elders have mentioned this in the past and this is true. When we look at it, when we talk about this and we talk about the long-term vision, we have to look at how we are going to work with each other, how we are going to work with people in the community, especially for people that are still negotiating their land claims and self-government.

When you...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The chiefs in the Tlicho Government recently requested that early childhood programs previously run by First Nations government be turned over to an agency that runs early childhood programs and has highlighted responsibilities for the region. This is a good decision. It reduces duplication, facilitates integration and improves efficiency. However, Mr. Speaker, the Financial Management Board Secretariat and the Government of the Northwest Territories have erected barriers to such arrangements with recent requirements that all agency employees, with the exception of our...

Mr. Speaker, I can do it in English if you want.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. (Translation) Today, first of all, we have one Page who’s from Whati. That’s Page Sarah Coey-Simpson from Whati. She’s going to be working here until Friday. The girl is attending Whati school and is in Grade 8. How she was selected is the principal, Bill Hurley, selected her as a Page. She was there as a role model for the students in that school, which is why she was selected. I wanted to thank her parents on her behalf.

Also, I was talking about the celebration in Behchoko in the Tlicho Nation. We have leadership from the Tlicho Government, and I would like to introduce...