This is page numbers 4511 – 4544 of the Hansard for the 17th Assembly, 5th Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was work.

Topics

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Certainly, we are looking at that. The clinic itself is a good building. Whether or not it will be used for health, it most likely would be feasible for the government to retain as office space, but for this purpose and at this moment we are looking at the possibility of housing the individuals that are moving from H.H. Williams outside of the refurbished clinic as well.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was very excited with the recent youth forum that we had in Fort Providence. It brought together the leaders and youth of Fort Providence. My question is to the Minister for the Homelessness and Youth.

Could the Minister explain the kinds of programs, funding and resources for youth that his department could deliver and that’s available for communities that may want to work with the youth.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. McLeod.

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Through MACA we deliver a large number of programs and we have funding for many youth initiatives. We went through the numbers during the debate on the budget back in February or March. The youth centre funding program is one of them. We do support some youth centres. We have a lot of youth initiatives. There is a long list. I could compile a list and provide it or even table it in this House as to the number of programs we have for the youth and the amount of money that we allocate to these programs.

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

I’d like to thank the Minister. I’d be very interested in having a list of the programs that are available for youth initiatives in the community. One primary finding of the discussions that were held recently in Fort Providence was the need to follow up with the meeting to try and identify the next steps. The other thing that was recognized and acknowledged by the leaders is that we need to work with our youth in terms of leadership development, showing them how we make decisions, role modeling and that kind of stuff.

How is the Minister ensuring that youth leadership development is a priority of local communities? Mahsi.

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you. This government takes the future of the youth quite seriously. With the Youth Parliament they have every second year, it gives them an opportunity to see how we work here. As well, through Municipal and Community Affairs we have the Youth Ambassador Program, which is actually an excellent program and every opportunity I have to speak on it is most welcome, but we just had a recent intake. So we’re in the process of having intake now. We get applications from youth, I believe, from 17 to 24 across the Northwest Territories, and they have an excellent opportunity to broaden their horizon. I believe this next group that’s coming in may have an opportunity to be part of the Pan American Games that are taking part in Toronto next year, as well as the Aboriginal Games.

This past group took part, they were actually volunteers in the Arctic Winter Games in Fairbanks; they were part of the volunteer team. So there’s a lot of opportunities there to help youth build their leadership abilities. Thank you.

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Thank you. When we did have the forum, I think everybody was there, the local leadership, the youth, the agencies, and the only missing element at the time was a representative perhaps from MACA, maybe even the Minister was absent. So I’ll give him an opportunity to make up for his absence and ask him how will his department be prepared to assist the leaders and the youth of Fort Providence in trying to follow up on this meeting and identify the next steps in trying to advance the working relationship between the leadership and the youth? Mahsi.

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you. We welcome any opportunity that we have to interact with the youth and hear their opinions. I don’t know if I was aware of the event that was taking place in Fort Providence. Perhaps if the MLA had invited me I would have gone.

---Laughter

So I'll put some of the blame back on the Member. We welcome any opportunity we have to work with the youth. We have an excellent team over at MACA that works with youth and they’re all over the place, all parts of the Northwest Territories working with the youth. So we welcome any opportunity, and if there’s an opportunity for me to meet with the youth in Fort Providence in the future, the MLA can let me know and I will be sure that I’m there. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Nadli.

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think what the community has done is taken the initiative of trying to bring the leadership and the youth together at the local level, and there’s a need for resources and program-wise and funding and trying to work with the youth.

The last Assembly, the 16th Assembly had a Youth

Forum. Would the Minister ensure that we do have a pan-territorial youth forum for the end of the 17th Assembly? Mahsi.

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you. The one in the 16th Assembly was the initiative of the then

Premier, but it was a very valuable tool, because I took part in that and I think one of the other Members in his former life had taken part in that too. It was an excellent opportunity to gather with the youth from across the Northwest Territories and get their views on a lot of different issues that are facing the Northwest Territories. So I will commit to the Member that this is an initiative that I’ll work with the department to have a look at and I’ll work with my colleagues to see if there’s a possibility we

could pull something like this together, especially in event of the Youth Parliament not going ahead this year because of the Elders Parliament. This might be a good opportunity to gather the youth and have their input on issues facing the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On February 5, 2014, I’d asked the Minister of Education to use some of his authority under Section 7 of the Aurora College Act. I asked him to tell the Aurora College Board of Governors to meet the students and certainly provide some e-mail addresses so people can contact them, but rather, they still appear to be anonymous. Perhaps they like it that way in a sense of governance of the board and the college for the students.

I want to hear what updates the Minister can provide the House immediately to find out has he actually done anything. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Minister of Education, Mr. Lafferty.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Yes, that information was brought to my attention even in this House. I did meet with the chair and also the president and addressed that concern to their attention. There has been work done in that area where their meeting is open and they have a student representative. We nominated a student just recently.

So we’ll continue to make that important to the Board of Governors of Aurora College. I’ve always stressed whatever has been brought to my attention from this House, or even the general public, I raise that with the profile for the Board of Governors. Mahsi.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

It has been three months and I’m glad to hear that the Minister has met with the board and met with the president, but he hasn’t informed me or anyone else that I’m aware of that he has met with any of them. So what topic did he actually meet with them about, what did he direct them to do, has he had the courage to use Section 7 of the Aurora College Act where the Minister can direct the board to do things such as provide e-mail addresses so students can contact their Board of Governors with concerns and complaints so they can get direct action? There is zero accountability. What can the Minister say about that problem?

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi. When I met with the Board of Governors, I addressed all of those issues. Any issues that come to my attention, I address with them. We work out solutions. When it

comes to the contacts of certain individuals, private e-mails of private individuals’ contacts, those are at the discretion of the board if they want to release that information. But they do have a website. All the contact information, phone numbers, e-mails, it’s all on the website. They even have a student representative as well. We are going to a June meeting in Inuvik and I believe the Member will be there as well.

So, we’re looking forward to those exchanges of information as we move forward. Mahsi.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you. So, go to the website; interesting answer. As I brought up before, the website says send all correspondence through the president’s office. So the president gets to handle, control who knows what with the information. So the direct contact and accountability, what is the Minister afraid of to tell them to provide them with an Aurora College e-mail address because if they’re on the Board of Governors, they’re there as an advisory board, they’re there as an administrative board, or are they there for whatever reason? I don’t know. Maybe the Minister will take that initiative on and demonstrate some true accountability for the students. Thank you.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi. Obviously, we’re not afraid of anything. Every time an issue comes up, I do address those issues with the Board of Governors. What’s being said here will again be shared with the Board of Governors. Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

I’m not sure this is getting through to the Minister. I brought a complaint to a particular member of the Board of Governors the other day and they just go, well, it’s part of the policy, that’s the way it goes. Then he sent me to the president’s office with the complaint. What is the point of having a Board of Governors if they don’t do anything? This is frustrating. They don’t represent the students, they don’t represent MLAs when we bring complaints on behalf of the students, and now the only option for us to do is bring complaints to the president’s office, who controls them, whether they meet the Board of Governors or not. So, frankly, I want to know what this Minister will finally do to demonstrate accountability because, frankly, it’s a hollow word around this Assembly, it gets batted around regularly and I see zero meaning behind it.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi. Aurora College Board of Governors does work with the students. We deliver the best program we possibly can in the Northwest Territories, along with our partners further down south at various institutions. We’ll continue to make that a success. Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to follow up from my statement and ask some questions of the Education, Culture and Employment Minister about the Education Renewal and Innovation Project and how it’s going to be funded.

I recently received a letter from the Minister responding to questions that I raised in March of this year about the Education Renewal and Innovation Project. In that letter it indicates 10 initiatives from the ERI plan, well, actually 11 if you consider Junior Kindergarten, but the 10 initiatives are set to start in the 2014-15 school year. However, in the letter there was absolutely no reference to how these initiatives will be funded.

I would like to ask the Minister to explain how these 10 initiatives planned for the 2014-15 school year will be funded. Thank you.