Norman Yakeleya

I appreciate the Minister committing to look at it. I’m hoping we can go one step further to make Norman Wells and Colville Lake communities that will receive base funding like any other college in my region and establish some base funding for those two centres. I appreciate the Minister’s commitment to poke his head in there and start digging around to find out what’s going on.

My point, Mr. Chair, is the funding here that’s been established, $1.6 million. My point is that this fund has been here for a couple of years, 2009-2010 was $1.4 million, we didn’t have any cultural orientations, not until we started pushing it in this House, in the communities. All of a sudden, okay, let’s do it, but where do we find the money. Now everybody thinks it’s the best thing since sliced bread. Everybody is benefitting, no doubt about it. I’m just saying why take it out of the Aboriginal achievement funding? This should have been done a long time ago. That’s what I’m pointing to.

I...

Mr. Chairman, I want to ask the Minister about base funding. I think two of my communities in the Sahtu are not eligible or not receiving base funding at the Aurora College operations facilities. I want to ask the Minister if this is an oversight. Tulita, Deline, Fort Good Hope receive base funding. Norman Wells and Colville Lake do not receive base funding for Aurora College programs like the other communities. I wonder why this special treatment for Norman Wells and Colville Lake.

Thank you. I find it very strange taking money out of the Aboriginal achievement funding to fund these professional teachers to take a course, an orientation course to learn about the students that they’re going to be teaching throughout the year. Shouldn’t they take it out of their own fund or through the Collective Agreement and leave that Aboriginal funding alone for what it’s supposed to be for? Why did this happen? Why are we taking money out of the Aboriginal achievement funding to do something that the teachers should do already in their professional development schedules?

I really don’t need the names. I’m very happy if you can provide by region or community. I’ll be happy to get those. I also want to ask the Minister if under this item here, is the department administering the USEP program for college entry for Aboriginal students.

Thanks for the flexibility, Mr. Chair. I wanted to ask a question on 10-19 on the NWT Teachers’ Association Professional Development Fund. We make a contribution to this development fund for teachers as part of their Collective Agreement. Now, I’m very happy that the department has initiated a mandatory cultural orientation week for teachers in the North every year. Is this part of their Collective Agreement funding?

The point I wanted to make, again, reflects to the many priorities within health care, many priorities within this specific budget item we’re talking about and that health care is not quite equal across the North here and they’re doing their best. I know that some of the health centres have the technology to hook up with some of the other larger hospitals to look at issues such as diabetes. My point is, I’m hoping that this Minister, within the life of this government, makes some strong recommendations to look at the seriousness of diabetes in our small communities and makes some strong...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just by hearing the Minister’s comments I think the government has a heart. Today is happy Valentine’s Day, so I think they have a heart.

I want to take the opportunity, also, to wish my sweetheart a happy Valentine’s Day, while I have the floor.

Mr. Speaker, certainly, when you look at situations like this, this is the reality of some of the smaller schools and some of the quality of education that students have to do Monday to Friday, day in and day out. That’s what we’re up against. We have larger centres and this does not impact them. There’s the critical mass there...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a motion.

WHEREAS Members of this Legislative Assembly have repeatedly raised concerns about the quality of high school education in small community schools and the need for many high school graduates to receive upgrading before continuing on to post-secondary studies;

AND WHEREAS graduation rates remain low in small communities relative to the Northwest Territories average;

AND WHEREAS schools delivering grades 10 to 12 need a minimum of three secondary teacher positions in order to deliver the required range of programming;

AND WHEREAS schools with fewer than 20...

Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the Minister, in terms of being a responsible Minister and being responsible for the seniors, there doesn’t seem to be a very strong voice for the seniors, coordinating the different departments to help the seniors. As, again, a case in point, this senior, his house was frozen up. It’s been like that since even last Friday. It doesn’t send a good message that we’re taking care of our seniors. How does it, within the government, coordinate these types of issues to get looked at as a priority for our seniors? It doesn’t seem like it’s working, no matter what type of...