Good afternoon, colleagues. Item 2, Ministers’ statements. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, building strong working relationships with Aboriginal governments has been a personal priority of mine and of this Assembly. Our ability to work together in the spirit of respect, recognition and responsibility is what enables us to serve the common interest of all the people of this territory and will be the foundation for the successful implementation of devolution.

I am pleased to advise Members that our governments have taken another step forward in our continuing partnership with the signing of the Northwest Territories Intergovernmental Resource Revenue Sharing Agreement and the Northwest Territories Intergovernmental Agreement on Lands and Resource Management. These two agreements mark further milestones in our journey together to create a strong, prosperous Northwest Territories that will provide opportunities to all our residents.

I want to congratulate the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, the Northwest Territory Metis Nation, the Sahtu Secretariat Incorporated, the Gwich’in Tribal Council and the Tlicho Government for their work on these agreements.

Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to ensuring all people in the Northwest Territories share in the benefits of resource development on public lands. That is why we offered to share 25 percent of the fiscal benefit from resource revenues with our Aboriginal government partners. When resource revenues are collected by the Government of the Northwest Territories, Aboriginal

government partners will receive a direct share of the benefits of resource development. We are setting a new standard for collaboration here in the Northwest Territories, Mr. Speaker. Nowhere else in Canada have revenues from public lands been offered to Aboriginal governments at this level.

Resource revenue sharing offers the promise of further fiscal capacity to Aboriginal governments. Gone are the days when resource development in the NWT offered little opportunity to Aboriginal people. Today resource development should mean jobs and investment opportunity for all residents and business in the NWT. It must be done responsibly, in a way that protects the land and water and recognizes that Aboriginal peoples have rights, including rights under land claims and treaties. Mr. Speaker, through devolution and the Revenue Sharing Agreement we also recognize that resource revenues can further benefit our Aboriginal government partners and their citizens, along with all residents of the NWT.

In addition to resource revenue sharing, our Aboriginal government partners in devolution have also helped lay the foundation for how we will cooperate and collaborate with Aboriginal governments in the area of land and resource management. Once again the GNWT is breaking new ground and setting an example for others to follow in formalizing its relationships with Aboriginal governments.

The Intergovernmental Agreement on Lands and Resources allows us to engage with Aboriginal governments through an Intergovernmental Council. We have a shared interest in exploring harmonized management regimes, building knowledge and capacity in land and resource management, attracting investment and protecting lands and resources. We believe the best way to do these things is to work collaboratively and cooperatively. The Intergovernmental Council will let us build the best possible land and resource management policies and practices together and share ideas for legislation and policy covering our respective lands and resources.

The Intergovernmental Council is not intended to be a forum for discussing constitutional development or issues. It will not restrict or diminish the legislative authority of this Assembly, or the authority of Aboriginal governments. It will,

however, give us further opportunity to work constructively together. It allows us to build upon the best practices of this government as we assume the responsibility for the management of public lands and waters.

In recent years and months, we have worked closely with Aboriginal government partners as the Wildlife Act was developed. We have entered into government-to-government agreements with four Aboriginal governments. We have worked closely with our partners in the development of an NWT Water Stewardship Strategy, recognized as one of the most progressive in the world. We have collaborated on a Land Use and Sustainability Framework that will help guide us in land and resource management. We have clearly benefited from cooperation and collaboration with Aboriginal governments. With the

Intergovernmental

Agreement we commit, along with our Aboriginal government partners, to continue this approach in areas related to land and resource management.

Again, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank our Aboriginal government partners for their work with us. I want to thank them for their shared leadership as we set an example for others in Canada and around the world to follow, and I know that we all look forward to working together to build a strong, prosperous NWT.

This Assembly has a stated vision that includes, “Strong individuals, families and communities sharing the benefits and responsibilities of a unified, environmentally sustainable and prosperous Northwest Territories.” With our Devolution Agreement, with our Resource Revenue Sharing Agreement and with our Intergovernmental Agreement we are helping to fulfil that promise. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.

Mr. Speaker, thank you for this opportunity to share with you an exciting initiative that will move forward some of our government’s top priorities, enabling Aboriginal youth to achieve their potential through quality education and developing home-grown solutions to our labour market challenges.

I am proud to announce that the Council of Ministers of Education Canada has asked me to co-lead a national initiative to improve Aboriginal education across Canada with my Alberta counterpart. This appointment recognizes our experience in developing residential school teaching resources in partnership with the

Government of Nunavut and the Legacy of Hope Foundation.

Last year I made a commitment to ensure that all NWT teachers are aware of the history and legacy of residential schools. We have now provided training to the majority of teachers and, by the end of this year, all teachers in the territory will have participated in this awareness training. We are recognized as a national leader in this area.

For the national initiative, I want to build on this experience as well as on the groundbreaking ideas in our new Education Renewal and Innovation Framework: Directions for Change. We have proposed to focus on post-secondary teacher training and the increased recruitment of Aboriginal teachers all across Canada.

We want to ensure all of Canada’s teachers acknowledge and have a clear understanding of our country’s past, specifically of the very real impacts of past residential schools on Aboriginal students today.

As such, we have also proposed to focus at the national level on encouraging more Aboriginal young people to pursue teaching as a career. Building a workforce of dedicated, local Aboriginal teachers will produce even greater benefits for our territory and our country.

Aboriginal teachers who are members of the community and who share the same culture and traditions are better equipped to bring the school into the community and the community into the school. Strengthening this relationship helps students understand the importance of, and builds strong bonds between, education and the community.

Mr. Speaker, Aboriginal youth are the fastest growing segment of our population and will play a key role in our country’s future. They are starting to look to our young people to fill worker shortages, both north and south of 60. Aboriginal students’ success stems from their sense of identity, growing up proud of themselves, their communities and their cultures. Increasing and retaining the number of Aboriginal teachers in our schools is an obvious way to support that student growth.

The support from my fellow Ministers of Education will underline the national understanding that we must offer equitable access to educational opportunities and services to Aboriginal students so they have the skills and knowledge they need to reach this potential.

It reinforces that we must do more than simply bridge the gap. We need to support young people’s educational success so they can live fulfilled lives and contribute to stable, healthy and productive communities and a prosperous country.

Members of this Assembly know that investments in our children are investments in the future of the NWT and our country. I am truly encouraged by the priority being given to improving education for Aboriginal youth by my fellow Education Ministers. I am equally proud to be able to put our territory on the national stage as we lead the way in Aboriginal education. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.

Mr. Speaker, mineral exploration and development is a cornerstone of the NWT economy. Ensuring the continuing health of this sector is critical if we want to grow our economy and achieve our vision of a strong, prosperous Northwest Territories. Last fall this government reached a major milestone when it released the NWT Mineral Development Strategy. This is a comprehensive plan to ensure the long-term growth of a sustainable mining industry that will create jobs and economic opportunities for the people of the NWT.

As Members of this Assembly are aware, this strategy was a partnership effort. It was developed in conjunction with the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines with extensive input from the mining industry, local and regional governments, and NWT residents from around the territory.

Mr. Speaker, we are developing an implementation plan to put the recommendations made in the Mineral Development Strategy into place. We expect to complete our plan by the end of March, but we are not waiting to get started and have already set the wheels in motion.

Although ITI has taken the lead on the development and implementation of the Mineral Development Strategy, other GNWT departments will play a key role. As the strategy involves several recommendations related to training, Aboriginal engagement and capacity building, sustainability promotion and regulation, we are working closely with other GNWT departments to ensure a cohesive approach.

Mr. Speaker, the GNWT is proposing to invest close to $2 million in initiatives outlined in the Mineral Development Strategy. By making immediate investments in the future of mineral development and exploration in the territory, we can transform our resource potential into real opportunities for our residents, businesses and communities across the NWT.

Solid geoscience information is the foundation on which resource development is built. A good

geoscience knowledge base represents a key competitive advantage for jurisdictions that want to attract mineral and petroleum resource investment. Through the Mineral Development Strategy, we will provide better and more comprehensive geoscience information and research.

Comprehensive, accurate identification of where these resources might be found is essential to making new discoveries and fostering new development.

We are also proposing to create a Mining Incentive Program aimed at attracting mineral exploration. These types of programs have been successful across Canada. Yukon is a prime example of where this has worked.

Earmarking funds to market the NWT as an attractive place for mineral exploration and development investment is also a key deliverable in the Mineral Development Strategy. We will also make investments to enhance Aboriginal engagement and community capacity building, which will assist organizations to prepare and participate in mineral developments in their area.

Mr. Speaker, these investments will play key roles addressing the decline in exploration expenditures and firmly establish the NWT as a favourable jurisdiction for sustained mineral exploration investment.

To ensure we stay on track, the implementation plan will contain a performance evaluation framework that will help to assess our progress. I look forward to returning to this Assembly annually to share our achievements.

Mr. Speaker, this government strongly supports a balanced approach to developing and advancing economic growth. Resource development must not only be environmentally and socially responsible and sustainable, it also needs to yield real economic benefits to NWT residents, communities and businesses.

The Mineral Development Strategy is part of this government’s plan to grow our economy, which also includes the Economic Opportunities Strategy, strategic infrastructure investments, and new energy and power system plans.

Alongside investments we are making in our people through initiatives like the Anti-Poverty Strategy and Early Childhood Development Framework, we are doing our part to help create a strong, prosperous Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Abernethy.

Mr. Speaker, investing in prevention, education and awareness, and early childhood development are priorities of the 17th Legislative Assembly.

On March 4th and 5th , the Department of Health and

Social Services will host the Canada Northwest Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Partnership Symposium. The theme is Sharing Voices, Inspiring Hope: FASD in Northern Communities - Finding Solutions that Work.

Professionals and community workers will share information on innovative approaches and initiatives that are uniquely suited to northern communities and can both prevent FASD and improve the quality of life for people living with the disorder.

The Canada Northwest Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Partnership, CNFASDP, is an alliance of the four western provinces and three territories. The goal of the partnership has been to develop a coordinated approach to the prevention of FASD and the care and support of those affected by FASD. The GNWT has been a proud partner in this work since 1999.

FASD is a major concern in our territory, and its social and economic impact has touched all of us either directly or indirectly. FASD is a preventable developmental disability that affects about 1 percent of the Canadian population. It cannot be cured and has lifelong impacts on individuals, their families and their communities.

Individuals with FASD have permanent brain damage from exposure to alcohol before birth. They need support throughout their lives to overcome challenges to their health, mental health, learning difficulties and behavioral problems that can lead to issues with addictions and involvement in the justice system. Our government is committed to preventing FASD and to supporting individuals affected by FASD.

Mr. Speaker, the symposium will give individuals affected by FASD, as well as their families, an opportunity to share their experiences and success stories. They will talk about what resources exist in their communities and how these resources can be better managed. They can then go back to their communities with new strategies to address FASD.

The symposium will help us to improve our network of community services and supports. I would like to acknowledge the work done by our partners to organize this symposium: Aboriginal governments and organizations, non-government organizations, professional associations, pan-territorial communities and the governments of Yukon and Nunavut.

With the support from these organizations, we are happy to announce a number of keynote speakers, including Dr. Sterling Clarren, who is the scientific director of Canada FASD Research Network and clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of British Columbia and the University of Washington State; and Ms. Nancy Poole, who is the director of research and knowledge translation for the BC Centre of Excellence for Women's Health and the prevention lead for the CanFASD Research Network. These notable speakers, combined with our own local experts, will provide a great opportunity for learning.

Addressing FASD is an important step towards having sustainable, vibrant, safe communities, Mr. Speaker. This symposium will help further this goal. It also aligns with commitments made in the GNWT framework for early childhood development to ensure that expectant mothers have the support they need, whether it is help to stop drinking, to eat a healthy diet, to be protected from an abusive relationship or to get the best prenatal care possible.

This symposium will help us achieve our goal of ensuring families and individuals affected by FASD feel better supported within their communities and function more independently.

I look forward to sharing the final report from the symposium with my colleagues in this Assembly and the CanFASD Partnership. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Item 3, Members’ statements. The Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to speak on Education Week and to recognize the hard work of the Dehcho Divisional Board, the principals, teachers, assistants and all the hardworking staff that make education a success in our region and small communities.

Over the years during my tenure as MLA for Nahendeh, I’ve travelled to our communities and seen the teachers in our schools and admired the attention and care they give our students and the involvement they have in the communities. It really does take a special calibre of teacher to venture north and live in our small and remote communities, teach and learn with limited resources, basically, like 100 years ago with one-room schools. However, those resourceful teachers taught our best Canadians, created great minds that grew our great Canada. With these similar conditions, our

resourceful teachers are now growing our great Northwest Territories with bright, young Northerners that can, and will, lead us into the future.

I want to commend, once again, all our teachers for their great contributions in all aspects of community life, getting involved in after-hours activities such as sports, Cadets, Brownies and supporting cultural activities that are unique to us, for taking the time for fundraising, travel to tournaments, attend territorial and national championships not only with sports but in educational competitions as well. With continued support from our government, our Education Minister, we as MLAs, and all our leaders and communities, our teachers will continue to have success, inspire and support our students. We do have great educational champions in the Northwest Territories. Well done, educators and education boards. Keep up the good work.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This past weekend I attended the second NWT Wellness Conference at Sir John Franklin High School, and joined my colleagues, Ms. Bisaro and the Premier, for a tour there. While the Premier may not be known for his flexibility in this House, you should have seen him in the yoga workshop. I had no idea the human body could do things like that. But the Premier was not the only one who put a lot of effort into this event.

There were plenty of dedicated volunteers and sponsors from the local business community, non-government organizations, talented care providers, and motivated citizens who deserve a hearty thank you for their hard work and contributions, and I should give a tip of the hat to Weledeh businesspeople Leanne Tait and Tami Johnson of Tait Communications, Wayne Guy of Guy Architects, Matthew Grogono of Old Town Glassworks, and Johanna Tiemessen, who is program coordinator.

Twenty-six trade show exhibitors included a wide variety of wellness options, medical and naturopathic doctors, traditional and natural healers, varied massage therapists, hard of hearing support, life coaches and an estate planning lawyer, to name just a few.

Besides eight informative workshops, the trade show and live demonstrations, the conference included four panels: Bridging the Gap: Allopathic and Naturopathic Medicine; Stress and Mental Health in the Workplace; Demystifying Energy Healing; Wellness-Connecting Mind, Body, Soul and Spirit.

Finally, inspirational music therapist Jennifer Buchanan was the keynote speaker and a moving music collaboration led by Weledeh VIP Pat Braden ended the conference in style.

This conference would not have been possible without the help of their very dedicated, thrifty and hardworking steering committee: Simone Goudreau, recruitment coordinator; Della Green, Aboriginal component; Tami Johnson, as I mentioned, marketing; Rhonda Miller, workshop and panel coordinator; Paul Gillard, logistics; Johanna Tiemessen, program coordinator; Peggy Holroyd, volunteer coordinator; and Sylvie Francoeur, coordinator (Ayni Conceptions). I’d like you to join me in thanking all these good, hardworking folks.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Colleagues, today I would like to welcome and introduce a special group of international students that are here from Rotary International. They are joining us here in the House today from all over the world. Welcome to the Northwest Territories and welcome to Canada.

Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have been talking a great deal about education in the last few weeks and months. This is Education Week and I would like to recognize and salute all the NWT educators among us who make a difference in people’s lives.

We – and I include myself, because teachers never stop being educators – are everywhere in our lives. Yes, educators are in our schools, teaching kindergarten to Grade 12, but they are also in our gyms, our fitness centres and our yoga institutes, at the NWT Literacy Council and their workers are community workers who are in every one of our communities, and in our libraries. They are the coaches of our sports teams; the supervisors of our other extracurricular activities, both inside and outside of school; they are the professionals mentoring new employees in the workplace; supervisors in the workplace; Aurora College, day and evening instructors; visiting and/or guest speakers in schools and at community events; training course instructors; our elders; every one of our parents; and our siblings.

I have, no doubt, missed a few examples to give you; the point is: educators abound. They are in every aspect of our lives. Many of us remember one particular individual who had an impact on us, either in school, at work or in an activity that we took part in, an individual who taught us, shaped us, made us think, enhanced our lives and helped us grow.

So, now as Education Week ends, remember that person. Thank them in person if you can, give them a silent thanks if you cannot.

To my colleagues I have a request. As you return to your communities in the next day or so, take stock of those around you who are educators, not just teachers, but all kinds of educators, and thank them for making a difference, a difference to you and to all the others in the NWT that they influenced. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s a pleasure to talk today, of course, and I’m here to talk about the stabilization fund once again.

Our government builds its budget around the best guess estimates provided by the federal government, and for lack of better terms, it is a best guess. Those revenues that they predict for our territorial government are what they think they see are coming forward after last year’s estimates. But what do we do when it’s wrong? When the SS GNWT doesn’t get the cheque it was promised, what do we do then?

Over the years I have seen a number of budgets built and it certainly hasn’t met the expectations provided by the federal government, so a small territorial government like ours has limited ability to respond.

We need to build our finance estimates and a budget around a five-year rolling average. This would help stabilize our government when the money just doesn’t show up. When the money doesn’t show up it’s sort of a sink or swim situation.

If we planned accordingly, had good fiscal policy around this particular thing, we wouldn’t have the money like we do today already dreamt about and already spent before the first cheque shows up, like it already has been by this particular Cabinet.

Now, of course, I fully understand that this fiscal type of policy is exceptionally boring for the average person, because quite frankly, all they really want to know is are the lights on and will services be delivered. In most cases they are, but they don’t know the behind the scenes stuff such as our government has built, over the last 16 years, budgets around the fact that estimates have been wrong eight out of 16 times. They have been built around the best guess or early estimates provided by the federal government.

May I remind this government that this is not sound fiscal budgeting; this is budgeting by Ouija board for goodness sakes. I mean, we’re only waiting for some higher power to tell us what it may or may not

be delivering. When it doesn’t show up, we have no other choice than to be forced with drastic changes and where do we go from there?

What’s important to realize here is this: we could do something today. Now, the Finance Minister will try to distract us with his fancy words and his little fancy dancing moves and say the Government of the Northwest Territories has a triple 1A credit rating. Frankly, the average person just doesn’t care. They want to know we have sound budgeting and the programs will be there.

If we built a stabilization fund over a five-year rolling average, that would protect our finances when the federal government sends that cheque and we weren’t shortchanged on estimates that nobody knew what we were working off of. Best guesses don’t always work and we will have that discussion in question period later today. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am going to read a quote from an elder. “When a community does something together, that community is very happy, jubilant, connected and unified. …(inaudible)…” Larry Atkin, Chipewya.

The Aboriginal people have always been able to adapt. If the hunting changed, we found new hunting grounds. If the earth changed, we moved to a better place. If the river changed course, we followed the river. But with every change, we kept our Aboriginal values and culture and our spirituality. Our culture and our spirituality have always been our strength. Our culture and our spirituality taught us to live in harmony. We must change with the times, but we must maintain our culture and spirituality and always live in harmony.

Last week I had the pleasure of viewing very old footage that was taken in 1957 or so with some of the Members from the Assembly here. It was a film of the Sahtu Shuhagot’ine people. Jean Michea had that film and he came up to the Northwest Territories in 1957 to study the oil development in Norman Wells. Apparently this young fellow at the time went with the Shuhagot’ine to the mountains and to the Keele River with his camera and shot some footage of the Mountain Indians. In 1995 Tom Andrew began the fishing task of finding this footage. This is 25 minutes of early life in Yellowknife and Norman Wells and in the mountains and Tulita. The Shuhagot’ine people in Tulita saw this film and they were jam packed and they were very happy.

We saw the film, a truly emotional picture for me as I saw some people I remembered in the film. I’d like to thank this gentleman, Chris Fletcher, for helping in being the key and for bringing this film back to the Northwest Territories.

From moose skin boats to jet boats, we in the Sahtu are still the same inside. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This week is Education Week and the theme is Changing the Way We Learn. I’d like to take this opportunity to recognize educators throughout the Northwest Territories for their hard work, dedication, support and commitment to our youth, but also to those who are seeking further education in post-secondary or upgrading programs.

With the constant goal to make sure our students are successful beyond the classroom, I want to make sure that our educators are, as well, and offer any type of support that I can. But I want to make a special thank you to those educators who take it one step further and go outside of the classroom, attend community events, volunteer in the community and coach our youth in sports, which also provides a lot of great life lessons.

I’d like to also send some special thank yous today. Thank you to the NWT Teachers’ Association for representing our educators throughout the Northwest Territories. I’d like to give a special thank you to the Department of Education, Culture and Employment for their continued support and their initiatives in this Legislative Assembly that are starting to make a difference in early childhood development, as well as revamping the education system with the Education Renewal Initiative.

I’d also like to thank the Members of this Legislative Assembly who are taking this education, running with it, putting the effort in to changing it and making it better for our students, our educators and residents of the Northwest Territories.

As I stated earlier, a lot of our educators go above and beyond, taking the education outside the classrooms and supporting our youth and our residents of the Northwest Territories. In fact, this weekend I know a lot of educators are coaching our youth in sports here in Yellowknife in the senior boys Cager Basketball Tournament. With that, I just want to say, go East 3 Secondary School Eagles! Go get ‘em, have a good time and I wish you just as much success as the elementary boys last week. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Moses. Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Obesity is a serious and growing epidemic. In 2001, census data indicates that fully one-third of the NWT population is overweight and more than one-quarter of our population is obese. This makes the NWT one of the heaviest regions in Canada.

Obesity is costly. It is linked to increased health care costs and diminished worker productivity. The economic costs associated with obesity in Canada rose from $3.9 billion in 2000 to $7 billion in 2011, a staggering 80 percent increase in just over a decade.

Rising obesity rates are significantly correlated with increased rates of cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer. As well, being obese or overweight can result in low self-esteem and negative impacts on cognitive and social development, which can be particularly devastating for growing children.

It is estimated that childhood obesity has tripled in the last 30 years. Now one in four Canadian children are obese or overweight. This trend is so alarming that a leading researcher in the area of childhood obesity believes children growing up in North America today are at risk of being the first generation in modern memory that will have a shorter life expectancy than their parents.

The factors driving this epidemic are very complex. They include kids with too much screen time, not enough time outdoors, and poverty that makes healthy eating a challenge, addictions, stress and access to high-calorie foods full of sugar and salt.

However, we are all reminded obesity can be considerably improved by increasing our physical activity, by encouraging healthy eating habits and by building a smoke-free generation. Why then is this problem so prevalent and growing in the NWT if we are encouraging these behaviours? What are we missing?

We know we have unique challenges in our lives. Remote NWT communities face high food costs and lack of variety and availability of perishable foods, especially fruits and vegetables. As well, a traditional diet might be hard to access and, of course, darkness and extreme temperatures that can curtail traditional outdoor activities. But are these our only roadblock from being “fataholics”? No, Mr. Speaker.

I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

As I mentioned last week, we are also “sugarholics.” So much so the average person consumes 141 pounds of sugar a year and we are getting worse.

Our GNWT’s successful Drop the Pop campaign needs to be complemented by a multi-pronged approach aimed exclusively on prevention, but not a tax program and definitely not a disincentive policy.

We need to inform our people of the poisonous aspects of sugar, high fructose corn syrup and fructose in our diet. This education has to start in our homes, in our daycares, in our soon-to-be junior kindergartens, in our schools and in the workplace, otherwise the consequences we face as an obese society will continue to explode. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Item 4, reports of standing and special committees. Item 5, returns to oral questions. Item 6, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize my constituency assistant Wendy Morgan in the visitors gallery today, and with her is Mr. Tony Mammone from Calgary, with ATCO Sustainable Communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize all the Pages and especially the Pages from Yellowknife South: Benjamin Karstad, Hannah Schauerte, Kristin Chapman, Mackenzie Marriott, and also the Pages who were here last week: Ashley Stride and Kyra Hanninen. I really appreciate all the work that the Pages do here in the Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize my number one constituent, my partner, Lucyanne Kendo, and my step-daughter, Brittany Jewel. Welcome to the gallery and to the proceedings. It’s great to see you here. Mahsi.

Mr. Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize two Pages from Inuvik here today, Caitlyn Church and Ms. Olivia Inglangasuk, both of whose favourites sports are northern games. I asked them what did they like best about being here in the Legislative Assembly this week. They said it was fun and would definitely do it again. They also said you get to meet lots of people and all the important people, so I’m assuming that might be the Members. They also said that they get to go on TV a lot and you get free food. But most of all, they said they have a better understanding of how

the government works, and I just appreciate them for being here this week, and all Pages that were here. I know it was a long week and I appreciate all the hard work and effort that they did for the House here this week.

Thank you, Mr. Moses. Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to recognize a young fellow and one of our Pages here. This young fellow and I do some physical activity in the evenings. His name is Ben Karstad. He’s one of the Pages. I just wanted to recognize him because he’s a pretty good little fellow.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Item 7, acknowledgements. Mr. Yakeleya.

Mr. Speaker, today I would like to acknowledge the naming of Mount Fred Andrew Sr., truly a Shuhagot’ine from Tulita. The mountain was officially announced on December 6, 2013.

Mr. Speaker, the name honours Mr. Fred Andrew Sr. for his knowledge and leadership, by guiding the U.S. army through the Mackenzie Mountains during the World War era of 1943-1944.

Today this route is now formally called the Canol Heritage Trail, considered one of the toughest hikes in the world.

Mr. Andrew is one of the many other guides who helped with the war efforts at that time.

Mahsi Cho for giving recognition to our people. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Item 8, oral questions. Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First I’ll say it was my error. I think Members agreed not to ask questions today, and I completely forgot, because I would not have done such a thrusting statement on stabilization. I’m hopeful that the Finance Minister will answer it on one question only, of course.

Everyone knows that fiscal policy isn’t done by accident, and we always need a plan and the plan shouldn’t be based on luck.

Would the Minister be willing to work with all Members on this side of the House to help develop a stabilization fund for a funding plan as we look

forward to the next fiscal budget that we plan for the people of the Northwest Territories? If the answer is yes, I only need one question.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Minister of Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Extensive work has been done on the stabilization fund, and as we move forward with the final budget of the 17th Legislative Assembly, as

always, we are open to discussions, and in this case, yes, we would be happy to put that information on the table and engage in a discussion with the Members.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I didn’t make a Member’s statement today because I didn’t think we were doing Members’ statements, but now we’re not doing questions, so I’m going to do questions.

In response to my colleague from Range Lake’s Member’s statement about obesity and all those statistics that he put out there, I’d like to talk about smoking a little bit. I’d like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services some questions about smoking.

I’m really glad I never started smoking, because it is a really strong addiction, and I don’t have very much willpower and I really, really, first of all, want to say that I do feel sorry for people who are addicted and would like to quit smoking but cannot.

I would like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services, what more can we do as a government to deter people from smoking?

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The Minister of Health, Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe it was just a couple of days ago that Member Dolynny talked about some of the statistics with respect to smoking and that we are actually finally seeing a bit of a decrease in smoking rates in the Northwest Territories. Having said that, we still have higher rates than pretty much everywhere else in the country and obviously more needs to be done.

We do have some wonderful programs. We’ve all heard of Don’t Be a Butthead, and there are a number of programs out there as well. I know Mr. Moses actually referenced a number of them the other day.

Obviously, we are always open to new ideas. If committee has new ideas that they want to present

to us if they want to help us with reduced smoking in the Northwest Territories, we are always open to that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, we always talk about the sin taxes. What is stopping this government from raising the tax on cigarettes so high that it would even make the most dedicated smokers rethink their habit? Thank you.

I know that in the 16th Assembly we did put a significant increase on taxes for cigarettes and in this budget we did increase the budget for loose tobacco, but as far as increased taxes on tobacco, I would certainly be willing to have that conversation with the Minister of Finance and see where we can go. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Is the Minister of Health and Social Services aware of any downside of putting a really, really deterring kind of a tax on cigarettes? Is he aware of any downside to doing that? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, off the top of my head, the only one that I could think of would actually be potential smuggling and that would be something that we would have to consider as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

One last question. If I go and buy life insurance and I am a smoker, I pay a higher premium. For those that are already addicted, let’s give them a break and say okay, but can’t we go back to some date and say, if you start smoking after this time, you need to think that when you become an adult and you are seeking medical services, or you are going to have to pay a premium on medical services if you smoke. Not for those who are already addicted, but for those that are coming up, the next generation. Could we not create a monetary disincentive to smoke by creating some kind of a health insurance premium? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It’s an intriguing idea and then it could… Obviously, if something like that existed, it could stretch to sugar, it could stretch to other things as well. I don’t know if we actually have the capacity to do something like that, but I would certainly be willing to have some conversations with the department and some more discussions with committee to see what options exist. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Item 9, written questions. Item 10, returns to written questions. Item 11, replies to opening address. Item 12, petitions. Item 13, reports of committees on the review of bills. Item 14, tabling of documents. Item 15, notices of motion. Item 16, notices of motion for first reading of bills. Item 17, motions. Mr. Yakeleya.

I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that, notwithstanding Rule 4, when this House adjourns on February 27 2014, it shall be adjourned until Monday, March 3, 2014:

AND FURTHER, that any time prior to March 3, 2014, if the Speaker is satisfied, after consultation with the Executive Council and Members of the Legislative Assembly, that the public interest requires that the House should meet at an earlier time during the adjournment, the Speaker may give notice and thereupon the House shall meet at the time stated in such notice and shall transact its business as it has been duly adjourned to that time.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The motion is in order. To the motion.

Question has been called. The motion is carried.

---Carried

Item 18, first reading of bills. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife Great Slave, that Bill 13, Devolution Measures Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Bill 13 has had first reading.

---Carried

Mr. McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that Bill 14, Waters Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Bill 14 has had first reading.

---Carried

Item 19, second reading of bills. Mr. Miltenberger.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife South, that Bill 12, Northern Employee Benefits Services Pension Plan Act, be read for the second time.

Mr. Speaker, this bill sets out the legislative framework for the continuation of the Northern Employee Benefits Service Plan as a multi-employer, multijurisdictional pension plan for employees of approved public sector employers in northern Canada.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. To the principle of the bill.

Question has been called. Bill 12 has had second reading.

---Carried

Item 20, consideration in Committee of the Whole of bills and other matters, with Mr. Dolynny in the chair.

I’d like to call Committee of the Whole to order. Committee, we’ve got a number of things to consider today: Bill 5, Bill 10, Bill 11, Committee Report 2-17(5), Tabled Document 4-17(5), Tabled Document 22-17(5). What is the wish of committee? Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Committee would like to continue with Tabled Document 22-17(5), NWT Main Estimates 2014-14, continuing with Education, Culture and Employment and, time permitting, Transportation and then Environment and Natural Resources. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Does committee agree?

Thank you, committee. We’ll turn over to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty, if he has any witnesses to bring into the House.

Yes, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister Lafferty. Does committee agree?

Thank you, committee. Sergeant-at-Arms, if you could please escort the witnesses in.

Minister Lafferty, if you wouldn’t mind introducing your visitors to the House again, please.

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. I have, to my left, deputy minister of ECE, Gabriella Eggenhofer. To my immediate right is Dana Heide, associate deputy minister. To my far right is Marissa Martin, director of finance and capital planning within ECE. Mahsi.

Thank you, Minister Lafferty. Ms. Martin, Mr. Heide and Ms. Eggenhofer, welcome back. Committee, we last left off on activity summary 10-17. A number of Members have gone through what I call their first rounds of questioning. Next on my list on this activity page, activity summary, Education, Culture and Employment, operations expenditure summary, I have Mr. Moses, followed by Mr. Blake. Mr. Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I’m trying to get back into my frame of mind here. I know last night I was really eager to get into questions and comments, but since we left general comments yesterday I just want to open up with a couple of really quick remarks. With this department here, I know the Social Programs committee has had numerous dialogues on so many different topics that it’s really great to see where we are. I feel that all committee and Members really need to do is support and monitor and continue to keep the department accountable with all the work that has been going forward.

In the opening comments yesterday, the Minister did mention that this budget represents over a year of hard work, and committee was in the same room, so we’ve done a lot of hard work. I always recognize the hard work of committee and staff, but I just want to say I acknowledge and appreciate the hard work that the department and your staff has done over the past year, but ever since committee has really gotten into the details of these budgets.

With that said, the work on education renewal, early childhood development, the collaborative work with mental health and addictions and anti-poverty, what wasn’t said in the opening comments yesterday was the Aboriginal student achievements and updates on where we can move on this. Not a big deal, but I know we’re working on bigger things.

The first area I’m going to go on to is early childhood development. There were a lot of good questions discussed yesterday. We didn’t get into wraparound services. We tried passing a motion on the daycares, and there was mention of junior kindergarten and some concerns with that. What we’ve been hearing is that it is a three-year process

and our first target is getting into the small communities that really need that.

Maybe I can just make some references to this action plan here. You have in here… I had all these stats yesterday. I can’t find them. But you have them here, numerous areas of action. I know the action plan is between the Department of Health and Social Services and Education, Culture and Employment. Are these areas of action in priority from one to the very last one is 22? Are they areas of action and you’re going to go one and continue down the line, or are you just taking actions where and when you can address them? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Moses. Minister Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. We’ve been working closely with Health and Social Services on this. It’s not necessarily itemized by priority. We have to tackle each and every one of the recommendations that are brought to our attention. Between the two departments, we’ll be rolling out the programming, the implementation. Number one would be at the top but we might have to deal with, say, number 18, type of deal. We have to deal with those matters at hand. The Member is asking if it’s a priority; it hasn’t really been set as a priority from one to 22, it’s just the way it’s laid out. Mahsi.

I know the collaboration between the departments of Health and Education Culture and Employment, and in the opening remarks it mentions that there is $511,000 for wage top-up and training to increase the program staff for licenced child care centres.

That got me thinking. I did have some discussions with an early childhood development specialist whose husband works up in Inuvik. We got to talking about these new initiatives and early childhood, and she mentioned that we need to have a specialist that can certify all these early childhood workers and currently we don’t have that. I want to ask the Minister, how are we going to certify our early childhood workers moving forward so that they are licenced? Maybe I’ll just ask the Minister that question. How are we going to licence our early childhood daycare providers, whether it’s in a home, a daycare facility, junior kindergarten or any of those areas? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Chair, part of the process will be the regs that will be before us would have to require those individuals to have the qualification. We will do our part, as a department, to provide the necessary training, necessary support mechanism that needs to be in place. Throughout the licenced early childhood programming, we talk about the daycares and junior kindergarten, a mixture. Yesterday, we got into more detail about how we can provide training.

That is information that is available and we will provide that specific training to qualify people in our education system to deal with the children of the Northwest Territories. We are moving forward and we will be putting those mechanisms in place as we start implementation. Mahsi.

So some things I caught there were support mechanisms and specific training. As you heard yesterday, there was a lot of concern with stages of early childhood development. I do support the junior kindergarten programs in the small communities and the way it’s coming out, but we also need the prenatal to five and six, even to there, as a strong initiative.

I want to ask the Minister, in terms of specific training, if he’s familiar with the BC Early Learning Framework where they’ve actually developed child care licensing regulations. They have a child care sector occupational competencies. I wonder if he is familiar with that and if that could be a teaching tool for the department, a tool in terms of how we set forth since this government has really taken the initiative on early childhood development. Perhaps we can use that as a reference to develop these occupational competencies that set out things like knowledge skills, things that the early childhood educators need to demonstrate. I went through it briefly as best as I could and there’s a lot of really good information in there. I would like to ask the Minister and his staff if they are familiar with the BC Early Learning Framework and whether or not they will be developing some type of occupational competencies for the child care sector. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Most definitely. Those are the areas that we are currently researching with our contacts in BC, not only BC but Alberta. As you know, Dr. Corriveau was in Alberta for a short period. He made all kinds of connections there with educators and administrators. We are taking full advantage of those resources that are available to us, but most specifically in BC, as the Member is alluding to. Those are some of the areas we want to get our hands on and start working on within our department and the Northwest Territories operators. Mahsi.

I think, developing some occupational competencies, when we develop this, is going to be very handy not only for this government but it will set the future for our educators. Yesterday I was really hoping I would be able to get through all my questions and answers in the 10 minutes.

I’m a strong supporter of where the department is going. However, I’ve come to realize that this page alone, education and culture, is 79 percent of the overall ECE budget, so there will definitely be a lot of questions. If you look further, it’s 15 percent of

the overall budget that we’re going to be approving within this government. I’m looking at the time and I’m going to have to be put back on the rotation here.

Sticking with early childhood development, I would like to ask the Minister in commitment number six where they are looking to address the infrastructure challenges in the small communities, under one of the deliverables it mentions, “To ensure infrastructure is adequate for junior kindergarten in schools.” Seeing as we’re going to be going into our first year of junior kindergarten, has this deliverable been addressed already? Has it been identified? Do we know what the needs are and the inventory? What are the needs moving forward, so we can make sure that when we roll out this junior kindergarten we aren’t stuck with challenges where the infrastructure is not there. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

We have already started working very closely with communities, the district education authorities and district education councils to identify the infrastructure needs in the communities. Again, we are working very closely with Health and Social Services and Public Works and Services. So those are some areas we’ve identified based on the numbers that have been produced by the district education authorities and councils. So we’ve been working with those numbers in communities. The information that has been shared with us, we are fully aware of infrastructure in the communities. Again, based on enrollment at the community level, most of the schools can accommodate junior kindergarten as an initial step. There may be some challenges with infrastructure, so we have to work with those guidelines as well. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Continuing on this activity for first round of questioning, I have Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to focus some of my area of concern around inclusive schooling funding. I’m not sure if anyone else has covered this particular area, but I’m just going to ask a few basic questions before we get into the detail of where we’re going. Although we have the global number of $26.5 million for inclusive schooling funding, maybe if the Minister could break out, not only just for Members but the public, how that money is broken out by school district. So let’s put on the record how many school districts and how that money is spread out across the districts. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Minister Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. Inclusive schooling, as Members know, is a territory-wide funding allocation to the school boards. I don’t have the detailed breakdown of all the districts, but we cover most of the schools and

the school boards we have to work with. Based on that, there is a breakdown from the school boards to the schools and agencies they work with. It could be complex information that we can share with Members, but I just have the breakdown of the school district, whether it be Beaufort-Delta, Commission scolaire, Dehcho, Sahtu, South Slave, Tlicho, YSC, YK No. 1, Detah and Ndilo, for a combination of $26.670 million. That’s what we have on file currently. Mahsi.

Is it safe to say that that money is broken out evenly? I think there are 10 school boards that are represented there. Is it safe to say that it’s broken out evenly amongst the school boards? Thank you.

The information I shared is $26.6 million based on the enrollment of the schools. Some school facilities are small, so they would get a smaller portion than the larger centres. It’s all based on enrollment. The contribution is based on that. Mahsi.

So would the Minister be correct by saying that it’s based on a pupil ratio? Is that what he’s saying? It’s calculated down to for every student you have you get $10, so if you have more students, you get more money, less students, you get less. What type of figure do they use for their calculation? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. For that response, we’ll go to the deputy minister, Ms. Eggenhofer.

Although, of course, we’re not on page 10-6, I would draw people’s general attention to it, and it cites under inclusive schooling it ensures through guidelines and contributions that all NWT students are entitled to access an educational program in a regular institution setting in their home community. I appreciate the insight Deputy Minister Eggenhofer has offered, and that said, I’m just curious now about the diagnosis portion of it. I didn’t realize that was actually part of

the funding of it, and if it is, can we help to figure out what the funding is and how that’s broken out, because as I understood it, it was about access to educational programming and being able to be in an educational setting, so please. Thank you.

Is it fair to assume that the money is broken out on best guess based on, I’ll say, the experience and situation of these types of schools, that there is need but it hasn’t been technically diagnosed? In other words, we have students we know that are there but they haven’t been formally diagnosed under some type of, we’ll call it, structure or professional basis. Is that a fair observation or understanding of what, in a small form, the deputy minister is trying to say? They’re providing money based on that best assessment?

My last couple minutes I’m going to use focusing in on assessment and in some manner or form linking it to the particular student as and when necessary. It’s a good refresher here, and I thank MLA Bisaro for reminding me of telehealth mechanisms, tools, and instruments we have in many small communities, maybe not every one. I believe the funding should follow the student once we’ve identified them for what particular need they are so we cater appropriately for them.

Has the Department of Education used these types of tools and instruments such as telehealth in order to help identify this? Because I realize that if you’re in Sachs Harbour, you may not have the ability to send someone out to a speech pathologist to be properly diagnosed, but we could use mechanisms like this so then we know which students through identifying and then we can target the money. I mean, at the end of the day, I want the money to be

targeted at the student who needs it most, not just the district to where we’re just guessing.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Minister Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Most definitely, we are using telehealth. The Member mentioned Sachs could be a challenge, but we are fully aware that the Beaufort-Delta on the e-learning and other technology enhancement that they’ve had, they’ve been dealing with the telehealth in their schools as well. Those are some of the accessible technologies that we have, so we’ll take full advantage of it. We have and we will continue to do so.

Is the Minister able to put on the record how many students have been diagnosed through using telehealth so, again, we can appropriately spend the right inclusive money on the students that need it most? Rather than just targeting based on estimates, I’m really a believer that the money should follow the student, and regardless of where that student is going to, so whatever institution, to me, matters little. Quite frankly, it’s a matter about ensuring that appropriate funding is there for that student and the institution being able to facilitate regular instruction in a proper instructional setting.

Would the Minister be able to highlight how many times telehealth has been used in this ability? I think he just said that it’s a tool they use. I’d like to know a little more detail as to how often they use it and maybe about how much money, time and effort they’ve been using and for how long, of course.

Obviously, I don’t have the detailed breakdown because we still have to get that information from the district education council, but as soon as we get that we can share it with the Members.

Thank you, Minister Lafferty. Mr. Hawkins, your time is expired. If you need to get back on, let me know.

Committee, just a reminder, we’ve had one round of questions on this activity, and the chair recognizes that this is a fairly large activity by number and I will allow another round as needed for completion. I would ask though, committee, to shorten the preamble still a little bit more and try to get more questions in during your time allotment.

That being said, next on my list for second rounds on this activity is Mr. Bromley, followed by Ms. Bisaro and Mr. Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I do have a lot of questions. I’ll see what I can get through here, and I appreciate very short, concise answers. Junior kindergarten, what’s the junior kindergarten implementation dollar amount for the 29

communities scheduled in ’14-15? That’s the year under discussion.

Secondly, I know the Minister has agreed that a fully qualified ECE worker is needed for every junior kindergarten group. I don’t call them a class because that implies teaching. We’re talking child development. The Minister has agreed with that, but I still haven’t heard him commit to meeting this precondition. Will he make that commitment? Two questions there.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Minister Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. In order to achieve the 29 communities by the 2014-15 school year on junior kindergarten, it will cost us approximately $2.8 million on an annual basis. The Member is referring to the qualification. We’ve highlighted already the types of training that will be required and training that we’re going to be delivering to these individuals and also the operators. More specifically, when it comes to junior kindergarten, we have to work with the kindergarten teachers as well. We’re understanding of and share the Member’s concerns, and we’re going to be developing an action plan towards that. We do have some time to roll that out. This is an area that I’ve highlighted of providing various training pertaining to that, so we’ll continue to push that forward.

Would the Minister commit to providing committee a briefing in writing or in person on the various levels of qualifications for early childhood education workers and how many of each level – I think he gave us some information on that but perhaps he could provide that in writing – that are available by community, and what level of ECE worker qualification is provided by Aurora College programs currently, number of graduates and what the plan is for the immediate future in terms of training actually fully qualified ECE workers?

For sure, we’ll provide all that information, because we want the Members to work with us, as well, with as much information as we possibly can to deliver to them. In addition, we can provide those spaces that are available that I had mentioned, I believe, yesterday. We’ll provide that detailed information on all those questions that were asked.

Thanks to the Minister. Very briefly, a comment, this will be my last comment hopefully on ECD, early childhood development. The premise that junior kindergarten is the way to go rather than focussing on zero to three, I know the Minister is aware that this is a contention here. Particularly on the claim that because services for zero to three age classes are fragmented, is a great leap and highly debatable, huge assumptions made there and I totally disagree with that. I think we are missing the boat. There is little evidence that the

issues we are seeing can be addressed through junior kindergarten nearly as much as a coordinated effort in the early, early years. I’ll leave it at that. That’s my strong belief and I believe I can back that up with evidence.

I’m just wondering: I see the Aboriginal languages section of this division is very important and I have spoken out consistently in favour of that work. I just want to point out to the Minister what I think is a kernel and that is a TED Talk by a lady, I think her name is Patricia Kuhl, entitled “The Genius of Babies.” In that 10-minute TED Talk, it demonstrates, with massive amounts of data, that the window of opportunity between the ages of five and seven months, a five to seven-month-old human being, is absolutely amazing for picking up language and providing the basis for the rest of their life for multiple languages. So I would love to see the department take advantage of that opportunity, realizing that the department is not delivering all the programs, but this would be important information to get out to our partners and to use to guide at least the significant amount of our funding on languages. Can I just get a brief comment from the Minister on that? Mahsi.

Mr. Chair, those are just some of the discussions that we need to have with various researchers out there, programs that have been successful, as Members indicated one of the programs on Aboriginal language, so we need to compile that information. At the same time, we are working very closely with the Aboriginal governments. As indicated in my Minister’s statement, we are re-profiling funding back to the communities, back to the Aboriginal governments because they are the experts when it comes to Aboriginal language, and we are there to assist them and to support them and work closely with them. So, I agree with the Member. All that information is out there. We have been researching, and working with and enhance what’s before us and if there are best practices, by all means we’ll take full advantage of it. Mahsi.

Thanks to the Minister. I find myself returning to early childhood development, probably not surprisingly. Just in terms of the work to establish family resource centres, child and family resource centres and activities in communities, I think we’re a year and a half into the work in Ndilo and Detah, which already had some work already going on there. What is the outreach plan for other communities and what is the long-range plan for those centres, and particularly how are they being focused on the early years? Mahsi.

Mr. Chair, we have contacted two pilot projects in two communities and that’s been successful to date. We just want to find out, I guess, how it turns out and so we’ve been quite impressed with that.

As we move forward, we’re going to be working very closely again with the Department of Health and Social Services to identify what came out of the pilot project, and based on that, part of the process will be to start implementing particular programming into other communities as well. We’re at very preliminary discussions right now with the two departments, and as we move forward, we will definitely be sharing that information with the Members. If we’re going to be identifying let’s say a community that we’re going to do another project or program delivery, then we’ll definitely give a heads-up to the Members before we start that. Mahsi.

A huge disappointment here, obviously. This is molasses at 40 below. The committee has been clear that we want these on-the-ground community programs in place. So, based on what I heard, if I heard it accurately, extremely disappointing.

As we know, last year at this time, when we looked at the budget, the money had not been delivered to those communities, or perhaps it was delivered during the week that we were discussing it. So within a few weeks they had to spend all that money, probably frantically and inefficiently. So, again, I’m not impressed and I think this department needs some serious tune-up in this area, if I am hearing the Minister accurately. I’m just not hearing much that makes me grin. Thank you.