Norman Yakeleya

Thank you, colleagues. Once again, I’d like to recognize the Deline leadership, the negotiating team on these past couple days, a historical day for them. Welcome, and good to see you guys again.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Has the department ever come to the point where they do a pilot project such as they’ve done in Inuvik with the TEST program, with students in sports or on-the-land activities within education so these students can develop into world-class athletes? Has there ever been a program since they did theirs in Inuvik with the TEST program? Has there been any thought to that?

I do apologize to the Minister. I was talking about hoping the student would say something that would get them to stay in school or something exciting, but he was looking forward to leaving the school every day. So I want to know what type of programs are in place in the schools, such as sporting events, that make students go to school and stay in school and have their school be a fun place to go to.

Has the Minister looked at any type of program such as sports and the days of the TEST program where there were sporting events that kept students in school and measured their success by also...

Mr. Speaker, it says in the paper, kids are not learning to read and write by Grade 3, and if you don’t learn to read and write by Grade 3, you’re handicapped all the way through. That’s what I’m talking about, and the results show that 50 percent of our small schools are operating below their grade level. We are failing them.

I’m asking the Minister again, is he willing to look at the pilot projects that are done in Ontario to see if these pilot projects can be implemented in our Sahtu communities as a pilot project to improve the literacy skills of our students? Will he be willing to commit...

In the Globe and Mail article it talks about the Aboriginal Literacy Pilot Project that dramatically improved the test scores in Ontario. I wonder if the Minister is aware of this First Nations reserve school in Ontario. It was struggling with the basic literacy test scores, and they have done a pilot project in that community that has greatly improved the results of these test scores for the young students.

Is this something that the Minister would be interested to investigate and to see if this could be done in the Northwest Territories in looking at a pilot project in the Sahtu communities?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank Mr. Bromley for bringing this motion to the committee to have a discussion and a chance to talk about it today.

In today’s society, when you look at this motion, it’s quite challenging for health care workers. Today you don’t know what type of people will walk into our health care facilities. You don’t know what type of drugs they might be on or where they’ve been or what kind of state they’re in. You think you are bringing them in to get help for whatever injury they may have or where they may be hurt really badly, but for them, being on some of...

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to go back on the orders of the day to item number five.

---Unanimous consent granted

Is there any funding in the provisions to train and assist local people in the community of Deline to look after their loved ones in times of need?

Thank you, Minister Abernethy. So, in 2015-16 the needs assessment and analysis will be done for Deline palliative care beds in that community and that discussion will come forward for discussion for the ’15-16 infrastructure. Is that correct, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This past weekend, specifically yesterday, the grounds in Yellowknife were hopping. About close to 500 people from the Sahtu region live in Yellowknife. So, yesterday they had their first ever Sahtu Dene-Metis beneficiary gathering for all beneficiaries that live here in Yellowknife. People come here for school, to raise their families, for work, whatever.

It was the unofficial Sahtu day here in Yellowknife. It was a gathering of the large families that came together yesterday. The board of directors said, you know, we have close to 40 percent of listed beneficiaries...