Norman Yakeleya

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I just want to ask for some explanation or some clarification on the comment the Minister made in his opening comments in making reference to section 7 dealing with the income averaging for farmers and fisherman. He made reference to those two occupations of workers. The trappers are left out. They are not mentioned in here, which is something that I don't quite understand. I would ask the Minister for clarification. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again, the Minister is very accurate on his observation of our facility in Norman Wells in terms of the Aurora College. I would like to ask the Minister if he would be committed to meeting with possibly the Town of Norman Wells or the Aurora College authorities to possibly look at alternative locations for this centre and also see what they could come up with. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I spoke in my Member’s statement about the Norman Wells Aurora College, the community learning centre and about the facility that is in Norman Wells. Can the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment tell me if there are any future plans to relocate the Norman Wells Community Learning Centre to a more suitable location in the town of Norman Wells? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My Member’s statement is on the Norman Wells Aurora College. Recent statistics on employment rates by the highest level of schooling demonstrates the importance of education. The employment rate for people with university degrees is over 90 percent in the Northwest Territories for 2004. For people with other certificates or diplomas it was over 85 percent. These statistics drop to 80 percent for people with high school only to less than 50 percent for people with Grade 9 to Grade 11, and to less than 35 percent for people with less than Grade 9 education.

As the late...

Thank you. I guess that begs the next question, Mr. Chairman. In the future is there any potential or is this something that we don't want to discuss right now in terms of including trappers because it is federal legislation? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the town of Norman Wells in the Sahtu region, there is every oil and gas activity. I just can’t see that this government is putting a centre like this that we desperately need on the back burner of the capital plan. Would the Minister again assure the people of Norman Wells that this learning centre in Norman Wells gets high priority in terms of putting it back on the capital plan before any more beautiful new buildings like the one building in Inuvik are built? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the Minister is going to bat for the town of Norman Wells on this facility here. However, can the Minister tell me whether this tiny, run-down ATCO trailer in Norman Wells is a typical community learning centre across the Northwest Territories, or is it standing out as a sore thumb in terms of the facilities that the department owns in Education? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize a person that I’ve known for some time, a staff member of the office of the Indian Residential School Solution Canada, Ms. Irene Fraser.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Minister. The next question I’d ask is if the Minister would give a firm commitment for the February session in terms of what to expect with the reintroduction of the Special Constable Program in the North. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement today I quoted George Washington, who said, "The administration of justice is the firmest pillar of government." Mr. Speaker, I spoke about the reintroduction of the Special Constable Program in the Northwest Territories. I do not believe that the present RCMP recruitment methods for aboriginal people effectively increased the presence of aboriginal policing at the local and community levels in the North. Can the Minister of Justice inform this Assembly whether the Department of Justice has considered reintroducing the Special...