Jackson Lafferty

Anytime we do a payment plan or subsidy to our clientele, obviously, there is a cost factor to it. I don’t have the actual figures because this is the first of its kind of RRSP clientele requesting income security area. We need to do further work in this area of the cost factor. Once the Member is compiling all the information with my department, we should have a clear idea of where we stand on this.

When we speak to income support and Income Assistance program, it is a program of last resort that helps the most vulnerable of community members in the Northwest Territories. When I speak of vulnerable citizens, I mean those that do not have anything to fall back on as opposed to RRSP, that there is financial support that is available to them.

We have to be very careful how we deal with policy changes when it comes to these particular areas. That’s why I am very cautious of changing the policies with respect to this particular area that we are faced with.

Mahsi. The specific information, which highlights how much it would cost us to reach out to the key people, the stakeholders, the industry representatives, community members, leadership, I don’t have that information here but I can provide that to the Member. But this is an area that we need to seek input. The more information the better, then we can develop an action plan. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. That information that we received, whether it be the 21 different strategies, there was the 30 recommendations. Our government has done a lot of work in this area. Most of the information that we collect, obviously, is through our negotiation with the federal government through the Labour Market Development Agreement, Labour Market Agreement, the Canada-NWT Job Fund that we successfully negotiated. We compiled the information, shared it with the Minister of the day with the federal government. That is information that we’ve been compiling.

Obviously, during our engagement...

I am fully aware of the framework that was initiated in 2009. It has been six years now. A lot of things have changed over that six-year period, such as employment and training stats. We’ve been told over and over, either by this Assembly or the general public, that we need to engage the public. We need to seek their input. We need to gather that data. That’s what we’re doing, Mr. Speaker. Over six years there’s been a lot of work put into play and now we want to build on that. That’s what we’re doing. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Part of the forum we are having in these communities, more specifically Hay River, Fort Smith, Fort Simpson, Inuvik, Norman Wells, Yellowknife and Behchoko in February and March, is to gather all the information, the data that we require that will lead to the development of a strategic framework that will set out a new direction for adults and post-secondary and skills training in the Northwest Territories. That will be followed by an action plan, monitoring and evaluation and also an accountability plan. So there is a great deal of work ahead of us, but we want to compile...

Mahsi. It is approximately $1.8 million to deliver junior kindergarten, and with the downsize to 19 and 18 there’s a small reduction that’s going back to the school boards. I must reiterate that the October 30th decision that was made by this House uses an existing fund that we’ve allocated. So, we’ll continue to go with that process, as well, for next year. Mahsi.

Mahsi. We are currently, as the Member indicated, reviewing the overall JK, junior kindergarten deliverance for next year. The communities that provided written to opt out of junior kindergarten have been verified and next year the plan is to have 18 junior kindergartens to be delivered as part of the process. That’s where it stands. We go by what’s been written to our department by the DEAs and the DECs. Mahsi.

We contribute to the NWT Arts Council to effectively contribute towards these highly successful projects or activities within the Northwest Territories, and there has been an increase in that funding over the years as well. We also evaluate on the funding, the criteria, the contribution we contribute on an annual basis. Like I said, it’s been increased over the years, so we can certainly look at those as well.

Mr. Speaker, the NWT Arts Council and the Support to Northern Performers contribution is based on the applications they receive. More specifically, the Kole Crook Fiddle Association has submitted one on an annual basis and they’ll continue to do so.

This is an area where we feel we should continue to support the youth, especially the youth who we sponsor over the years. As far as the 2,100 participants that benefitted from the workshop, even within a three-year timespan there have been 300 participants on an annual basis. This is a very successful project and we’ll continue to deliver that...