R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the Member is speaking about one of the issues we spoke about in the summer when we were in this House, whether or not there would be money for bussing. And at that time, I was of the mind that there would be more than enough money for busing because I knew what was in the bank. And as it turns out, the projected deficit of nearly a million dollars was actually a surplus of nearly a million dollars, so there was more than enough money for busing. And the DEA's share of that is somewhere around $400,000. We do have a surplus retention policy. We do want schools to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I agree with the Member, skilled tradespeople are key to the economic success and prosperity in the Northwest Territories. So I've heard a lot about the need for additional trades programming and giving high school students and younger students even more access to the trades, more opportunities. And so our curriculum review and our Education Act modernization have, through the engagements we've heard a lot about that, and so going forward that will be a focus. I can't commit to offering certain programs in certain schools. Of course the education bodies definitely...

Yes, Mr. Speaker, absolutely, I will commit to that, thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And with all things education, we're governed by the Education Act and I believe it is section 86 that allows for petition to the Minister to make those types of changes. The petition would require either 50 percent of the adult population in a community, or 50 adults in that community, whichever is less. So it's a relatively low bar for somewhere like Hay River. If there's a petition with 50 signatures to make these types of changes, then that can be considered, and I'm sure the clerk's office would help the Member put together a petition in no time. I'm sure that he...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Everything's on the table right now when we're looking at modernizing the Education Act. Any changes we make to the regulations have to be done in consultation with the education bodies. So it's not something that I can just do on my own. That being said, I think it's important to get rid of as many barriers as we can to students getting education. And so ensuring that students can access transportation when they need to is one of my priorities and whether that is an elimination of fees or whether that is a system where income is taken into consideration, I'm looking at...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, that's one of the things that ECE does. We do have the number of programs that try to connect employers with student so students can actually gain experience while they're in school. We are rolling out career and education counsellors to help connect employers with students and figure out and help students figure out what they need to get to the careers they want. So that's exactly the type of work that we are undertaking at this moment. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The exact process that's involved with building a school in a community, I can't say that I am overly familiar with how ECE works with Infrastructure who works with MACA who works with Lands, it's very operational. But whatever we need to do to ensure a successful project, I am committed to doing that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the Honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that Bill 37, an Act to Amend the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I have identified this as a priority with the department.

There are court workers in those communities, and I know that they do provide quite a bit of assistance. As MLA, I often send constituents to them, and they do help. I know that we have asked the outreach clinic to make sure they're keeping good records on who's contacting them and about what issues, and I know they have that. I read some of those stats here and so we're doing our best to make a case to get some more positions but I can't promise anything at this point. But I would be as happy as the Member to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So in the 2020-2021 fiscal year, there were 692 people who accessed the Legal Aid Outreach Clinic. 46 percent of those people were in Yellowknife and the rest were throughout the territory, and it roughly breaks down to the populations of the specific regions. So the South Slave region had about 15 percent of the people, the Inuvik region about 15 percent, and so on. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.