R.J. Simpson

Last week, the Premier and I sat with the Regular Members in confidence, just the elected Members, the Regular Members, the Premier, and I, and we discussed this issue in detail. We took questions from the Regular Members. That is where it is going to stay because this is an HR issue.

I will speak with the department, and I will find out how they go about doing these surveys. This is relatively new, the service standards. It's an exciting initiative to post in a government office that: this is what you can expect; we are going to treat you this way, and, if not, then, there is recourse for it.

If the Member has issues with income assistance, if there are service issues, I am always happy to hear them. I have gone to the Member's office, and we have put constituents of his on the phone, and I've heard directly from them. I am happy to do that. If there are enough concerns...

I thank my colleague. That's why I try and say "colleague" all the time because we're all equal here. There are no promotions. We are all here to represent the public. I am happy to work with the education authorities to find ways to ensure that they can use their funds to deliver education in the best possible way. We also have to look at the fact that the funding from ECE is provided to the education council, and the education council is the one that then distributes it to the education authorities.

There is another level here that we have to look at, and perhaps the way that it's distributed...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Member bringing this up. It's good to get this type of information out to the public. I know that, when I was a Regular Member, and even now as a Minister, there seems to be difficulty communicating with the people on the ground, with the boards, about the roles and responsibilities and the rights of education authorities.

The policy that the Member is referencing was enacted to ensure that money that is provided by this Assembly for education is spent on education, and it allows for surplus carryover that is either 7 percent of audited revenue or $250...

Mr. Speaker, education is vital to the success of our residents. Increasing student outcomes in the Northwest Territories to the same level as the rest of Canada is a priority for the 19th Legislative Assembly and one of the key objectives of the education renewal and innovation efforts underway in schools across the territory.

Last week, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment released its first five-year evaluation report on the education renewal and innovation framework and action plan, which is guiding systemic changes to the way we approach junior kindergarten to grade 12...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What we have done with Income Security is take a continuous improvement approach. I was a Regular Member for four years, and I am still an MLA. I do get concerns from constituents about Income Assistance, but the vast majority of times, things go off without a hitch; there aren't problems. There are going to be hiccups in any system like this, but we are committed to continuously looking at each case, learning from it, and improving our system. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think that it is advisable to have a bank account. It is easier to keep track of your money; direct deposits can make their way into that bank account sooner. There is also the option to cut a cheque at the Income Assistance office, so it is not an absolute necessity to have a bank account. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

There have been some staffing issues in Fort Providence, and there hasn't been someone there, permanently, every single day for quite a while. I am happy to announce that, on January 27th, that position was permanently staffed. A lot of those issues that the residents have been facing are going to be cleared up. This person has previous experience as a client service officer, so the client service officer can help clients access their banking information. There is office equipment, phones, faxes, and computers at the office that they can use. There should be no reason that they are being sent...

When the Premier asked newly elected Ministers what portfolios they would want and why, one of the things that I said when I said I would like Education is that one of my goals is to eliminate the need for social passing for inclusive schooling, because all of our students would be on track right from junior kindergarten.

Some of the things that the department has already done are things like junior kindergarten, which will begin showing results. We are going to see that. There is a group of kids out there who have access to more quality education earlier, and that is going to pay big dividends...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I spoke to this the other day. This is not an easy task. We have to combat 150 years of degradation of Indigenous languages in the territory, and it's tough, especially when the numbers of speakers are dwindling. You know, we have a division within the department that is focusing on this. They are very passionate about it, and they have been making strides to work with Indigenous governments and work within schools by helping to develop curriculum, which we are rolling out across the territory in the next couple of years, and it will be fully implemented. The action...