A comprehensive early childhood development plan is the essential first step to improve Aboriginal student achievement. Until we have early childhood plans in place, the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative will be lacking critical answers. Let’s not short change the vital early childhood issues by rushing to early decisions on formal schooling aspects of Aboriginal student achievement.

I will be asking the Minister of ECE questions on this. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As mentioned by our colleague Mr. Abernethy earlier, the mayor of the City of Yellowknife recently received a letter from two GNWT deputy ministers. The message in that letter was that our government, the departments of Health and Social Services and Justice, would no longer fully participate on the Yellowknife Social Issues Committee.

Like Mr. Abernethy, I am deeply disappointed by this decision, Mr. Speaker. I believe it is very much a move in the wrong direction. The Yellowknife bi-annual community survey has several times identified social problems in the city as the number one issue for Yellowknife residents. My community government, Yellowknife City Council, is being proactive, responding to the concerns of residents

by establishing a Social Issues Committee. They want to make life in our city better, and they are working to improve the community for residents and visitors alike.

So where does the responsibility lie for ensuring the social well-being of residents? Not with the city. That financial and program responsibility belongs with the territorial government. With the action outlined in the letter, the GNWT is backing away from that responsibility. The government should welcome the positive and proactive approach of Yellowknife’s council and should recognize the value that an active, interested organization can bring to the table when trying to solve our social ills.

The provision of health services, social services and justice services by this government to NWT residents is handled through our departments of Health and Social Services and Justice. This government should be working through those departments, should be working with the City of Yellowknife to advance initiatives and create success in the area of social issues. We have seen a few of those successful collaborations. The day shelter is one of them. The Homelessness Coalition, which includes GNWT representation, has proven to be a very positive force and has accomplished a great deal. Why can’t that same thing happen with the Yellowknife Social Issues Committee?

I have to wonder, Mr. Speaker, where the priorities of the City of Yellowknife sit with this government. How committed is the GNWT to supporting our capital city both in funding and with human resources support?

This government needs to remember that the city of Yellowknife is 50 percent of the NWT population, that the city of Yellowknife is the engine, the main generator for the NWT economy, that the city of Yellowknife has services here which many NWT residents come here to use.

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

---Unanimous consent granted

Whether you like it or not, Yellowknife is a magnet community and, as such, provides for many Northerners who’ve moved here from their home community to access better services. The financial strain that that puts on Yellowknife must be recognized by this government.

Mr. Speaker, a community striving to improve itself for the benefit of its residents should not be penalized for their actions.

I will have questions for the Deputy Premier at the appropriate time. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we all know, programs and services are essential to delivering services throughout the Northwest Territories. Mr. Speaker, the reality is a lot of our communities are losing programs and services which are either being cut back or phased out altogether.

Mr. Speaker, I’m talking about the nursing position in Tsiigehtchic where we have a health centre which, again, is not functional because you don’t have a full-time nurse to maintain and operate and provide the essential service.

Again, Mr. Speaker, cutting back at the Joe Greenland Centre in regard to moving it from a level three facility to a level two. There again, we’re cutting back programs and services in our community which is essential for the care and the well-being of our residents.

Mr. Speaker, standing up here time and time again, regardless of making Member’s statements...(inaudible)...petitions, or in most cases, getting motions passed from my colleagues in this House to support these initiatives and to keep them in place so that we can have programs and services that other people take for granted.

I think, Mr. Speaker, it’s imperative that the Government of the Northwest Territories has a universal health system that works in all communities in the Northwest Territories, that basically encompasses the importance of not only our front-line nursing staff but the regional centres and also Yellowknife in regard to how health care is being provided. But, Mr. Speaker, once you start taking positions out of our communities, regardless if it’s a nursing position in Tsiigehtchic or closure of the long-term care facility of the Joe Greenland Centre, this has a detrimental effect on the whole delivery system in the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, time and time again petitions have been filed, as I did again this week, which was basically given to the Minister of Health January 11

th

in Aklavik, in which a public meeting at which

over 100 people were in attendance, in which a lot of commitments were made and a lot of discussion took place. Again, this government made commitments publicly on exactly how they’re going to continue to deliver programs in regard to elderly programs in Aklavik through the Joe Greenland Centre. Again, that is the commitment we made.

I think, Mr. Speaker, it’s important that this government realizes that when you talk about

independent living, day programs, and all of the essential programs, you need to run such a facility as the Joe Greenland Centre, commitment is not only a verbal commitment, it needs a financial commitment.

At the appropriate time, Mr. Speaker, I will be asking the Minister of Health exactly where we are in our commitment to our communities.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For thousands of years the people of the Sahtu have relied on the land to sustain us and our elders to guide us. Mr. Speaker, with those resources, it’s hard to keep the good people down, even with the challenges the residents face today. Just look at the issue in Norman Wells.

However, today I am pleased to talk about the projects that the Sahtu residents are involved in to address the high cost of living and improve their way of life. The Sahtu has become the potato capital of the Northwest Territories. Last year more than 10,000 pounds of spuds were grown locally and sold throughout the region. But it’s just not potatoes, Mr. Speaker. Gerry and Monica Loomis are the proud owners of Produce North. The Norman Wells business grew over 24,000 plants and vegetables last summer. This year they’re doubling the size of their greenhouse operation, which will make them one of the largest retail businesses of plants and vegetables in the Northwest Territories.

I think as well as the potato capital, Norman Wells is also known as the tomato capital. I am pleased that all five of the Sahtu communities now have greenhouses. Residents are becoming more sustainable by growing their own foods which will help them bring down the cost of living. One example of a successful greenhouse operation is the greenhouse in Deline operated by Verna Firth. Last summer all kinds of vegetables and plants were grown in this greenhouse, and the local hotel benefited from the locally grown lettuce during the summer months.

Another feather into the cap of the Sahtu is the news that some of the Deline residents are planning to raise free-range chickens and turkeys. Deline will soon be famous for more than the birthplace of ice hockey in Canada as those free-range chickens can show up on our dinner plates around the Sahtu and maybe even on our plates here.

Mr. Speaker, the Sahtu region is not only known for producing delicious vegetables, tourism, fishing and

big-game hunting attract people in our region every year. A local hunter recently became famous for bagging the largest muskox rack. Just last fall a visiting hunter took the largest ever Woodland caribou rack in the Mackenzie Mountains, and recently a world record trout was caught in Great Bear Lake.

Mr. Yakeleya, your time for your Member’s statement has expired.

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

---Unanimous consent granted

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, honourable colleagues. Outdoor adventure enthusiasts from all over come to the Sahtu, come to experience some of the finest whitewaters in North America. In addition to our rivers, Mr. Speaker, our trails have also become famous within the hiking circles. Last summer, through a partnership between ITI and the Tulita Land Corporation, a beautiful hiking trail from the Mackenzie River to the top of Yamoria on the top of Bear Rock was developed. The trail offers the finest view of the Mackenzie of all NWT traditional trails around Fort Good Hope that have been reopened, which allowed young Aboriginal youth the opportunity to enjoy the history and culture of the K’asho Got’ine. Colville Lake has the rights to boast Bern Will Brown paintings. Mr. Speaker, the Canol Trail is also known for its hiking extreme enthusiasts who hike this trail.

Mr. Speaker, this July myself and the Minister of ITI will be attending the opening of the Norman Wells Float Base and Aviation Museum. Mr. Speaker, the spirit of entrepreneurialship is alive and well in the Sahtu. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to recognize my constituency assistant, Ms. Leona Pearl Norwegian, who worked with me in Yellowknife all this week. Mahsi cho.

Also, her birthday is Saturday, so please join me in wishing her a special public happy birthday.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Item 6, acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today, you know I’ve been bringing this up in the House numerous times in regard to students out of Sachs Harbour over the past two years and nothing is being done. Mr. Speaker, given that currently there are many students in Nunakput who, for various reasons, have left high school and moved back to their home communities, reasons such as nowhere to live, not enough moral support or resources, will this government immediately commit the funds to make resources available for a high school teacher so that students can at least earn some high school courses? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. This particular issue has been, as the Member indicated, brought up in the House and we did approach BDEC, the Beaufort-Delta Department of Education, Beaufort-Delta Board of Education. We’ve been working closely with the board on identifying key aspects of the students: are they missing school or having challenges while they’re in school, where they’ll be staying. We provide funding to BDEC on an ongoing basis, on an annual basis.

Mr. Speaker, also the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative, the meeting that we’ve had, the last one in the Beaufort-Delta was a very successful meeting. They talked about the importance of having every student succeed in education, and out of that, Mr. Speaker, part of the discussion was having our students in Inuvik as well focusing in those areas.

So, Mr. Speaker, a lot of discussion took place on that. The leadership were there, as well. Mahsi.

Thank you. You know, all these meetings and nothing happening. Nothing’s been done, students are still at home. The government spent over $275,000 last year for the Western Arctic Leadership Program in Fort Smith. Why aren’t they doing that in Inuvik, why just one community in the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

Mahsi. That’s the very reason why we’re doing the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative forums in all regions. The Beaufort-Delta was, again, very successful, one of the successful outcomes. We had all of the leadership involved, the educators, the parents, even the youth to talk about their experience. They talk about what they want to be when they graduate

and so forth, and that the leadership, the DEA, the chairpersons were there discussing the importance of supporting our students and developing plans of action. That’s what is going to be before this House and I’m looking forward to delivering that key messaging, the voices of the Northwest Territories and voices from the Beaufort-Delta that we’re going to be delivering. Mahsi.

Thank you. I look forward to it too again, but voices are not being heard. Time and time again I have brought this issue up in this House. There’s a lack of support for our students in Inuvik that are coming in from the communities, it’s not there. They’re having to go home. I had a letter last week, Mr. Speaker, in regards to drug and alcohol issues, where a student was staying, they didn’t want to stay in that house. Something is wrong with that. Will this government conduct a thorough review to identify how many high school students from small isolated communities have dropped out of high school? Thank you.

Mahsi. I believe we are listening to those voices. We listen to the MLA that is sitting here, Mr. Jacobson. He indicated the importance of supporting our students, the importance of having these students continue with higher education, and we are pursuing that through the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative. These are important works that are coming from the expertise at the grassroots level. We want to hear the people from the Beaufort-Delta region and that’s what we’re doing.

Also, the Beaufort-Delta education, they have all of the records, all of the attendance, the students that may have dropped out and the reasons for it. They have that information. The Member and community members can access that through the Beaufort-Delta Department of Education, the Board of Education, and it’s easily accessible through them. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Your final supplementary, Mr. Jacobson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The grassroots level, I live it. Everyday I’m home I see some students in the community of Tuk not going to school because of lack of support. I’m still getting the same calls that I’ve been getting for the last two years. I’m getting the same letters from the same parents that are not being helped. The Minister could do something about this. The Minister could tell the Beaufort-Delta Education Council to fix the problem, but yet he doesn’t. We’re going to do more reviews, more of everything, but we’re failing the students, Mr. Speaker. Two years now I’ve been standing up in here and asking him the same questions, but we’re failing.

Will the government allocate the appropriate resources for serious problems regarding a lack of boarding facilities to ensure quarterly reviews and

benchmarks are met for future students in the upcoming school year? Thank you.

Mahsi. Yes, it’s been two years that we’ve been pursuing this Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative since the Member raised this issue. We know that it’s important, and it’s not just the Member, all of the Members have been raising the issues about the success of our students, and that’s the very reason why we’re here, Mr. Speaker. We’ve visited all regions, and we’re finalizing the package, and we will be meeting in a couple of weeks for the final go-round with the leadership to say this is what we’ve heard, this is what we want delivered, what do you think. That is key messaging that’s in there.

The Beaufort-Delta educators, the teachers, the principals, the parents, the youth have raised a number of issues that the Member is raising in this House. So it will be a part of the package as we move forward. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.