Norman Yakeleya

Mr. Speaker, our children today are challenged with financial literacy. There’s money coming out. It’s going to be a bigger issue for them if they do not have the financial literacy. I think it’s key in today’s world that we give the children the opportunity to learn how to work with money, otherwise we’ll continue to have poverty in the Northwest Territories. We have to do this for our children.

I want to ask the Minister again, you know, in regards to the financial literacy by this junior program. Is he going to be pushing strong, this department, this government, to look at volunteers – not...

I’m going to ask the Minister again, is he aware of the wide range of financial literacy available through the Junior Achievement Program? Is the Minister willing to support a pilot project in the upcoming school year where the Junior Achievement volunteers – not paid, volunteers – offer courses to elementary or high school students? Because the Sahtu Educational Board wants this program to know what the Minister is talking. We want a Grade 8 program. Is the Minister willing to look at that?

Mr. Speaker, it is my great pleasure to honour Mr. Danny Leonard Gaudet. Today I want to state a fact. Today the University of Alberta will be honouring Mr. Danny Gaudet with an honourary Doctoral Law Degree.

The honourary degree demonstrates that hard work, a sense of purpose, doing more than you’re paid for and helping others is the first lesson taught to him by his elders. He says he owes so much to these highly prized teachers in life.

Mr. Speaker, let us today in this Assembly congratulate Mr. Danny Gaudet on his Doctoral Degree in Law. On behalf of the Sahtu and those who know Dr. Gaudet...

We’re not putting enough emphasis on financial literacy and this is a great disservice to our young people.

I’ll have questions later for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Mahsi.

Mr. Chair, I move that this committee endorse the 14 recommendations made by the Office of the Auditor General in its report and recommends that the Department of Justice takes the steps necessary to ensure all recommendations are implemented in a timely manner. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories provides a comprehensive response to this report within 120 days.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, am going to not support this motion. I find it puzzling. I don’t know if it’s the appetite of the day or the week, because this motion coming in here and asking us to take a plebiscite to the people in November, and on any question that’s important to the people of the Northwest Territories, as MLAs, every Assembly we have questions of importance. I could add on to the plebiscite a number of questions to the people to vote on. It’s just a natural process in November when we go to the polling stations, people there vote on the candidacy, on their records, on...

I have three documents to table. The first one is on the Diamond Mining Impact on People, Wildlife in Northwest Territories of Canada. Another document tabled is Resolution No. 4 regarding fracking from the Sahtu Secretariat Annual General Meeting, August of 2014. I have a third document to table, it’s from the Northern News web poll in the Deh Cho, Thursday May 7, 2015, with the question: Do you support fracking in the Northwest Territories? With 60 percent saying yes, 40 percent saying no.

At one time this Junior Achievement Program did operate in the Northwest Territories and they stopped. Now the president of the program from northern Alberta NWT chapter of Junior Achievement has confirmed they are not currently, but they want to be, involved again in the Northwest Territories. So I’m glad that the Minister has indicated…

Will he direct his staff to contact the Northern Alberta and NWT Chapter of Junior Achievement and start kicking up the dust so that we can have a pilot project in the Northwest Territories? We have a volunteer here in the Northwest Territories willing to do...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Is the Minister aware of the wide range of financial literacy courses available through the Junior Achievement Program?