Jackson Lafferty

That is obviously part of our goals and objectives, to keep Members informed on our progress of our review of the 23 communities where JK is being delivered over the coming months. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, as I stated in this House, we do have a steering committee, a dedicated team that provides support to these 23 communities and we’ll continue to provide that through my department just based on the announcement today. Those are the communities that we need to focus on. Whether the option of continuing or not, as the Premier indicated, that’s a decision that we’ve made, and at the same time, those are some of the reviews that we’ll be undertaking, as well, throughout the next eight months that we have. So that’s what we’ll be focusing on. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. [Translation] We have Bobby Weyallon in the gallery. I would like to recognize him in the House.

Within our Government of the Northwest Territories, we’ve been talking about, just recently, the wraparound, the services. That has been in discussion. Obviously, this will be a topic of discussion that the Member alluded to when I meet with interagency and other departments here when we talk about the funding itself. Yes, this will be, obviously, part of the discussion that we’ll be having.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Obviously, there is a school funding framework that we follow through with and it does consist of various categories for individual school boards to qualify for. Some of the areas for counselling, obviously, the funding would be for school community counsellors, inclusive schooling, that there is funding for counsellors and inclusive schooling and funding for counselling and healing. These are just some of the areas that we’ll be capturing what the Member is referring to as community school counsellors. Part of the Dehcho Divisional Education Council, we are contributing up...

Mahsi. Yes, we need to provide as much support to our students as we possibly can, especially students coming from the remote communities, and all communities as well.

This is an area that I need to address with the college because the college dorms are under their umbrella. So, that message will be relayed to the board chair and president, what’s the status on that and how can we assist those individuals, the students, if they’re struggling. I will get the status for the Member. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Colville Lake’s school has been in the discussions for a number of years now, even through the local DEAs and at the regional level with DECs. We have to go through, obviously, the capital planning process where we have all these different areas of capital infrastructure coming forward. We, as a department, hope to get those key initiatives such as Colville Lake into the hopper. So based on that, we’re following through on what will be approved through this Assembly and moving forward. Part of that, obviously, is the Colville Lake School that we’ve been talking about for a...

Mahsi. Obviously, we welcome any organizations, any industries coming to our schools to provide incentives, whether it be focusing on attendance or on-the-land programs. There are all these different partnerships out there that come into our school system and do partner up and contribute towards our programming or students’ well-being. So, we’ll continue to push that forward, seeking out partners, and we’ll do our part as the Department of Education, working again, with the DECs and DEAs as well. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The whole Education Renewal and Innovation will obviously capture that. The attendance issue has been at the forefront of our discussion through the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative in which we’ve engaged with the general public over the years since 2010, and we had a forum on education renewal. The poor attendance, obviously, is a symptom of underlying issues where students are disengaged in our school system.

Examples of our ERI that I can share with the Member, one of the focuses is student well-being through safe and caring school practices and also providing...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize some of the recipients of this year’s Culture and Heritage Circle Award here with us in the gallery, along with their guests as well.

First is Rene Fumoleau who is here with us in the Individual award category, along with his guest, Pat Braden. The Elder award is Camilla Tutcho with a guest of Tina Tutcho. Also, in the Youth category, Janelle Nitsiza with her grandma, Dora Nitsiza. The Group award category is the Foster Family Coalition of the NWT. Attendees are Nicole Garbutt and Mary Richardson who are here with us. The Minister’s Choice Award, of...