Madam Speaker, I didn’t say if I have committed or not on this particular initiative. I stated that we need to deal with the school board and identify the importance of delivering this program into the communities.

What I can state is we are going through various initiatives within the Government of the Northwest Territories. Education renewal is before us. Part of the pillars is professionalism, dealing with the teachers. Also, there is a Small Schools Initiative, the funding that goes to the community, the programming and the delivery. So those are the discussions that will be initiated with the stakeholders. We will be sharing their input and if there’s a need for a continuation and expanding it further with e-learning, then those are initiatives we will bring forward to this House. Mahsi, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Minister Lafferty. Final supplementary, Mr. Moses.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I understand we’re going through an education renewal process, but this program is new and I don’t feel that there needs to be renewal on this successful program that is already bringing a lot of students in the smaller communities up to par and advanced education where they weren’t two or three years ago. This doesn’t need to be renewed; it needs to be supported.

With that said, earlier in my Member’s statement I did make comments about formula funding and the money that the Beaufort-Delta Education Council does receive. They only receive so many dollars, and they stretch those dollars to ensure that they can provide these services.

Would the Minister commit and look at reassessing this formula funding so that our region, with one of the highest costs of living in all of Canada, can actually provide some of these programs and services to the communities that need it? Can he commit to that? Thank you.

Madam Speaker, the educational renewal will deal with that matter as well. What I can commit here is that the renewal of the e-learning up to two years from 2011-12, so we do have some time this year and next year, what has been laid out here.

This is an area that we will be discussing with the Beaufort-Delta Education Council. We will update the standing committee on the results of our discussion and then the next step. Mahsi, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. This tender was won fair and square. It was won by Can-Traffic at a cost savings of about

$800,000 to the taxpayer here in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

I want to thank the Minister for putting Can-Traffic on the record. This isn’t an issue about cost. This gets down to the bread and butter of ethics of how contracts are won and awarded and, certainly, issued.

Did Can-Traffic fill out Appendix B as required in the contract? When I e-mailed the department, they refused to show me that they even complied, so nobody even really knows. Thank you.

Madam Speaker, the GNWT public tender process was followed. Three compliant bids were received and evaluated. Those bid prices ranged from $1.149 million to over $4.1 million. The lowest acceptable bid was deemed suitable and the award letter was sent out at the end of January. To my knowledge, that was followed.

If the Member would like further details, he is able to see, through ATIPP, whatever he wants to view. We provided the Member with whatever we could provide him with. Thank you.

Madam Speaker, I had asked for information, even to be blacked out, to prove that they had actually complied with the contract bidding process. As I said and I continue to say, part of the Appendix B had to be filled out that demonstrated they had a northern component. This is just an awarding of a sub to a southern company to yet again come do northern work.

Will the Minister comply with my request, which is by e-mail, asking for them to prove that they filled out Appendix B? The way it stands now, they did not and nothing says they complied fairly. Thank you.

Madam Speaker, they were not credited with any northern content, yet again, they were $800,000 below the next… And this is after the BIP adjustment. They were $800,000 below the next bidder, saving taxpayers’ money.

As to whether or not Appendix B was filled out, I can get the Member a yes or no answer to that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I wish I had the former AG’s official comments here last week from which she talked about some of the senators’ expenses, such as accept but verify. How do we verify a yes or no? Quite frankly, a yes or no does not prove to the public that they actually complied with the requirements that everybody else was following. Yes, I’m happy that the lowest bid may be getting it, but the fact is I am happy maybe for the wrong reasons.

Will the Minister prove publicly that they complied with all the requirements as set out to the bid? All we are asking for is a fair playing field. Thank you.

Madam Speaker, we want to ensure that there is a fair process. Certainly I’m not saying that the Member is correct or incorrect. I am saying that the process was followed. The contract was awarded. If the Member wants other information, I’ll do my best to get him whatever information that he needs to satisfy his requirement that Appendix B was filled out and that all the proper steps were taken in the award of this contract. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I was going to follow up to my Member’s statement in listening to the people of Inuvik, and listening to some of our educators and parents and our constituents. My question today is for the Minister of Health and Social Services.

In his action plan, we talk a lot about mental health and addictions in the communities and in the territory, but one place that we don’t really bring it up or talk about it is in the schools. I would like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services what is his department doing to address some of these mental health disorders such as behavioural issues, violence issues, some of these issues that are possibly happening in the schools. What is he doing? How is he working with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment to address some of these mental health concerns that are happening in our schools today? Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Moses. The Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I guess the first thing under the total umbrella of a chronic disease strategy is mental health. As we develop that strategy, we are looking at all aspects of mental health. As we have travelled to the communities, it was apparent that there needs to be some counselling at the schools and so on, targeted to mental health. Also, when the addictions forum is travelling they have indicated that they would like to look at some wellness in the communities, and they are going into the schools to talk to the students there and target also mental health. Thank you.

Madam Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister… I know he has a forum out there asking questions, but he’s also got an action plan

developed. I saw it in this House maybe two weeks ago. Why are we sending people out there when we have an action plan here already to be put into place?

What specifically is in his Mental Health and Addictions Action Plan, what kind of services and programs does he have identified for youth in the schools? It’s not youth outside of the schools. I want to know what is happening for them in the schools so they are not disrupting other students. How do you get these students that are in the schools the proper care and treatment that they need so they can succeed? Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Madam Speaker, I think the department recognizes that, along with the authorities, this is sort of like an issue that is a looming issue right across the territory with youth. Whether or not we are going into the schools to do the counselling, it’s not as simple as the Department of Health and Social Services indicating we’re going to go into the schools to start counselling. We have to work sort of interdepartmental with ourselves and the Department of Education. They have to, in turn, work with the school boards in order to appoint counsellors for the schools. We are preparing for that.

We have the Stanton authority working with the Dalhousie University on mental health and psychiatry. These are the things we’re doing, but it will still take some work and some legal process to get the counsellors into the school. Thank you.

Madam Speaker, he didn’t really make reference to some of the things that are listed in his Mental Health and Addictions Action Plan. But it’s not all about counselling. We can talk to people until their ears fall off and still nothing’s going to go through. It’s about intervention.

What is the Minister doing to intervene with some of these students at an early age or at the junior high level or even at a senior high level?

What is this Minister doing or even working with the Department of Education to intervene to address some of these needs that these children are requesting and are asking for, or some of our teachers are asking for this intervention to address some of these needs in the schools with mental health and addictions?

Within the action plan, as the Member referred to, we are promoting understanding, awareness and acceptance of mental health. Those types of things are in the very initial steps in order for us to potentially intervene, if necessary, in the schools. But again, prior to intervention there’s a lot of other work that has to occur. Like the Member indicated, there are things in the action plan, yes, I agree, they’re there, we put

them there for a reason and these are the very initial steps to understand it. This is an issue that is becoming quite a huge issue right across most communities, and we recognize that and we are trying to address that as soon as we can. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Beaulieu. Final supplementary, Mr. Moses.