Jane Weyallon Armstrong

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for the information. So what is the average cost of building and maintaining the winter road to Gameti from January through March annually? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Mr. Speaker, we need to be forward-looking. The effects of climate change will continue, and planning for all-weather access roads now will benefit residents and industry in the long-term. I will have questions for the Minister of Infrastructure at the appropriate time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes, please.

Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, Bill 8, An Act to Amend the Student Financial Assistance Act, received second reading in the Legislative Assembly on June 12th, 2024, and was referred to the Standing Committee on Social Development for review. The committee received written submissions from 11 students eagerly welcoming this bill as well as a student's oral submission at the committee's public hearing held on August 20, 2024.

On October 8, 2024, the standing committee held its clause-by-clause review of the bill with the bill's sponsor, the Member for Yellowknife Centre, where the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier in this sitting I shared concerns about early childhood education. Mr. Speaker, I have seen firsthand in my riding that many children are entering the school system on an uneven level. This limits their chances for long-term achievement and success. One of the issues I hear from constituents is about the need for speech-language pathology services for their child or children.

Speech-language pathology, or SLP, is a rehabilitation service that provides speech and language therapy to people with communication disorders. In the past, these services were...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I move that this committee recommends the Government of the Northwest Territories provide a response to Committee Report 9-20(1), Standing Committee on Social Development Report on Bill 8: An Act to Amend the Student Financial Assistance Act, within 120 days.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Speaker, committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories study the disparity of educational outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students and put forward a plan with solutions to ensure that our Indigenous students are not left behind. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, thank you, Mr. Chair. Motion 2, I move that this committee recommends the Government of the Northwest Territories make a public commitment to guarantee continued reconciliation efforts in regards to education outcomes for Indigenous students such as the removal of semester limits and increase access to funding under the basic grant. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Masi, Mr. Chair. I support this motion because an increase in education funding for Indigenous students would have a huge impact on my community and Tlicho region and communities across the territory. The Standing Committee on Social Development has discussed how to improve education outcome for Indigenous students. During the 2020 review of early childhood to grade 12 education in the Northwest Territories, the Auditor General of Canada recommended the Department of Education, Culture and Employment identify what is required to provide equitable access to quality education for all students...

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I move that this committee recommends the Government of the Northwest Territories increase education funding to Indigenous communities and Indigenous students in the Northwest Territories to improve the education outcome of Indigenous students. Thank you, Mr. Chair.