Wendy Bisaro

Maybe I got lost in the numbers there, but I don’t think I heard the Minister tell me how much of the $15 million is going to the Aboriginal governments for their regional language plans.

This is public money. It’s coming from taxpayers. It’s coming from the GNWT. So I feel that the Legislative Assembly has to be accountable for this money that is going to Aboriginal governments and that we need to be accountable for all the money that we distribute.

So, I’d like to know from the Minister, is there a system in place between the GNWT, his department and Aboriginal governments to account for both...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The office of the Auditor General of Canada released another excellent report yesterday. It’s their usual quality of work and I thank them for it. The first line of the Auditor General’s press release pretty much says it all: “The Department of Justice has not met its key responsibilities for the rehabilitation, safety and security of inmates within the correctional system.”

As the office of the Auditor General consistently does, their auditors look at NWT policies, procedures and mandates for correctional services and facilities, along with generally accepted nationally...

Thanks, Mr. Chair, and thanks to the Minister and the DM for that information. I want to reiterate that I think, from my understanding of what’s going on with education authorities at the moment, the percentage funding is not the way to go. I appreciate the Minister’s commitment that there’s not going to be a reduction in inclusive schooling funding, but I think there needs to be a serious look at changing the method that we fund in order to make sure that magnet schools and magnet communities, such as Yellowknife and Hay River, and Inuvik as well, that they get the funding needed to provide...

Thank you, Madam Chair. We wish to continue with TD 188-17(5), Northwest Territories Main Estimates 2015-2016, with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Minister. Yes, I was going to ask whether or not there’s been any consultation with the Akaitcho or the Yellowknives Dene, and I’m glad to hear that there is.

Before this interim land withdrawal agreement is extended yet again, will the Minister and the department be consulting with both the city and with the YKDFN to see how it’s going to be done going forward? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that we report progress.

---Carried

Thanks to the Minister. I didn’t hear much of a rationale there, except that we want to do it in small pieces. I’m struggling to understand why the public would be involved. This is generally something between the city and the GNWT.

My city is being proactive, planning for the future and for future developments, and yet the length of time that it takes for some land applications is quite long and, as I’ve mentioned, the size of the parcels is really quite small.

I’d like to know from the Minister if he would go back and look at some of the recent applications from the City of Yellowknife and if...

Mr. Chair, I got a little confused there. So we have deputy minister, we have an associate – I believe that’s Mr. Heide – and we have two assistant DMs. Mr. Heide is retiring soon, so we have three now, or we have four now, or we’re going back to three? I got lost there. Thanks.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I too want to welcome Mr. Campbell. It’s been a great pleasure to work with him over the years that I’ve been here. I know that he’s approaching retirement with the same mindset as I am: looking forward to it. I wish him well and thank him for all the work that he’s done for us over the years. Thank you.

That’s good. Thanks, Mr. Chair. I’m done.