Jackson Lafferty

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Since 2009 the Standing Committee on Government Operations released a final report on the Review of the Official Languages of the Northwest Territories. There have been several meetings since then with key stakeholders, such as FFTs, Aboriginal language groups and even as far as reaching out to both the Revitalization and Official Languages boards, talking about the amalgamation. Those are discussions that we will be having. This year I will be meeting with the board, seeking their input about the amalgamation prospects.

This has been a long time in the making. We made a lot...

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. Part of the reason why we’re transferring the funding to the Healthy Family Program has always been part of our discussion when we went through the Child and Family Resource Program that was initiated and has been successful to date. It was of the opinion that we need to put money into the programming, so that’s where the Healthy Family Initiative is earmarked. We are transferring, so it is in the works. Health and Social Services has always been our partner on this approach. Mahsi, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Chair, the pilot project we have done with Child and Family Resource Program into the communities, again, has been successful and this is building on that. Obviously, the Child and Family Resource Program is part of the Early Childhood Framework, the 10-year action plan and developing a 10-year framework and then a three-year action plan geared towards that. It is a continuation of the programming. This is one of the areas that Health and Social Services has been a partner. We are allocating healthy family programming based on the needs of the communities that have been identified. With...

We will be closely monitoring those areas to the best of our ability within my department and there will be other departments that I’m sure will be doing the same thing as well.

Again, the Aboriginal broadcasting, even at the local level is very important for the community and also my department. We’ve heard Mr. Blake’s challenge. There have been some issues with the tower. We are working with that. We do have program funding, but we don’t necessarily have infrastructure funding. We’re seeing what’s the best solution addressing this within my department and working very closely with the community, and we will continue to update the Member on this particular matter because we want it up and running again along with others such as CKLB and important Aboriginal...

Chevron has made a total commitment of $410,000 towards these different iPads for new parents. We as a department are contributing $750,000 towards this initiative, as well, as our contribution. This is an initiative that has been in the works for a number of years now. Finally it’s here, so we are moving forward at the end of this month and in the fall, as well, for new parents. Mahsi.

Obviously, literacy is one of our top priorities within our department. We’ve heard over and over from committee members that we need to focus on developing literacy programming and having partners involved. So, this is involving NGOs from across the Northwest Territories, working with Aurora Collage as well, and again NGOs, to deliver various programs from K to 12 equivalent courses and having the NWT Literacy Council actively engaged in this, as well, because they represent all the communities as well.

I believe that more investment in this area will be seeing positive results. We have seen...

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. Most definitely we can provide that information. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. I believe this is a great idea and we need to start talking not only with Inuvik but other regions as well. The more healthy food that we can have into our school system, the better for our children to learn. Having dedicated resources towards this type of initiative, obviously that would be considered as we move forward. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. Every year we go through these changes. It’s all based on FTEs, enrollment total and if that changes then obviously the budget changes and that reflects on the total enrollment. Mahsi.