Good afternoon, colleagues. Item 2, Ministers’ statements. Minister of Justice, Mr. Ramsay.

Mr. Speaker, Fort Smith has a long history of supporting correctional facilities located within their community. As a result, inmates in these facilities have had the benefit of community acceptance as they work through their rehabilitation process and make plans for release. For the adult female offenders housed in Fort Smith, this community support has been especially beneficial in their rehabilitation process.

The current building housing adult female offenders has been used as a correctional facility since 1991. Prior to this it was a youth group home, originally constructed in the late 1960s. It has clearly outlived its usefulness as a correctional facility. The 17thLegislative Assembly has approved the funding necessary to construct a new facility. This is a commitment to territorial adult female inmates and the people of Fort Smith.

In August we were pleased to be able to announce that the tender for the design and construction of the new facility has been awarded to C.A.B. Construction of Fort Smith with a successful proposal of just over $23.5 million. The new facility will have capacity for 23 women and will be located on MacDougal Road next to the existing facility for male inmates.

While the women’s building will be completely separate from the men’s unit, using this location will allow the Department of Justice to maximize efficiencies through shared food services, utilities, program and administrative supports. Additionally, the department will be able to retain and build on the skills of the experienced staff members currently employed at the facility. This is an approach that both

meets program requirements and lets us continue pursuing this Assembly’s goal of effective and efficient government.

This project is now in the design phase and we anticipate construction to begin in the spring of 2016. Best practices will be used in this facility supporting a residential style of housing for inmates as well as spirituality and special traditional programming areas. The building will meet all necessary and appropriate security requirements, from construction materials through to the outfitting of interior rooms. As well as meeting current needs, the design will allow for easy expansion of the building should we require more space in the future.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the community of Fort Smith for their continued support. It is important to have women serve their sentences close to their families and support networks, while remaining in the Northwest Territories. It is imperative to the success of the Northwest Territories and its people, socially, culturally, economically and spiritually, that healing of our northern women offenders takes place.

When the current territorial women’s facility was opened in Fort Smith, the main goal was to help female inmates address the needs that led to their incarceration in a supportive and culturally appropriate environment. This new facility will continue this legacy in keeping with the department’s goal to support the healing and rehabilitation of offenders. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mr. Speaker, the number of new cancer cases in the Northwest Territories is expected to rise dramatically by 2030.

According to Canadian Cancer Statistics 2015, a report released by the Canadian Cancer Society earlier this year, the number of new cancer cases in all of the territories will increase by approximately 60 percent within the next 15 years, largely due to an anticipated increase in the seniors population.

To guide our planning for this increase in cases, the Department of Health and Social Services has developed the NWT’s first 10-year Cancer Strategy, Charting Our Course: Northwest Territories Cancer Strategy 2015-2025, which I will be tabling later today.

Charting Our Course outlines the GNWT’s commitment to improving the cancer patient experience, including planning and coordination at all levels of prevention, care and support.

Our Cancer Strategy sets out five distinct areas of focus: cancer prevention; early detection and screening; continuity of care; communication and information flow; and the quality of life of cancer patients, their families and caregivers, and cancer survivors.

Cancer care and support services must address the diverse needs of people and our communities. Our Cancer Strategy is the result of research and consultation with many partners including Aboriginal governments, regional health and social services authorities, elders, and individuals and families whose lives have been affected by this disease. The strategy, which was directly informed by our conversations with these partners, reflects our most urgent priorities over the next 10 years.

The strategy combines clinical evidence with community knowledge, including lessons shared by cancer survivors, to lessen our cancer burden and reduce inequities in cancer care.

Charting Our Course promotes a circle of care model where the patient is at the centre, surrounded by a team of health professionals – physicians, nurses, social workers, counsellors, and dieticians – who work collaboratively toward the patient’s holistic health and wellness.

Mr. Speaker, opening a dialogue among all NWT residents, especially between patients and care providers, is at the very core of this strategy. We can learn from one another, ease fear, reduce stigma and ultimately support healing.

We all have a personal responsibility for maintaining our own health. I cannot emphasize enough the need for each of us and for every resident of the NWT to live a healthy lifestyle. By eating healthy food, getting regular exercise and by reducing alcohol consumption and not smoking, the chances are reduced that we will develop cancer and other chronic diseases as we and the population age.

Knowing your cancer risk and getting regular, early screening is also essential. This ensures that we are able to catch the disease early, should it appear, and have a better chance of treating it successfully.

Implementation of the strategy will have a lasting, better beneficial impact on our residents and will guide our efforts and interventions to ensure that we are providing best health, best care and a better future to cancer patients and their loved ones.

I would like to acknowledge our partnership with the Canadian Cancer Society, which is an important component of our work to reduce cancer in the NWT, and the input provided by the Canadian Partnership against Cancer, the Breast Health/Breast Cancer Action Group, the Stanton Elders Council, community leaders, and the many residents who gave us wisdom and insight into their healing journeys through sharing circles held across the NWT.

Our next step will be to develop a social marketing campaign built around this need for open dialogue and support. By encouraging learning and discussion about cancer prevention, early detection, and supporting one another in making healthy choices, we hope to contribute in a meaningful way to individual and community-level change for healthier living. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.

Mr. Speaker, the North has a long history and a rich heritage with numerous languages and cultures. Our people work to preserve, revitalize and celebrate all aspects of their cultures and languages, which continually grow and evolve.

In 2014 the Department of Education, Culture and Employment began work on a government-wide 10-year Culture and Heritage Strategic Framework. This framework aligns the existing culture and heritage work of the government around a shared vision, goals and priorities. It is a cultural lens and guide for government initiatives until 2025.

We reviewed the work undertaken in other jurisdictions. We also reached out to residents to help develop the framework and received responses from people in 28 communities. We held 31 focus groups, meetings, home visits and workshops across the NWT. A wealth of information was provided by Aboriginal governments; arts, culture, and heritage organizations; cultural groups, including francophone groups, immigrants, foreign-born NWT residents and newcomers to Canada; elders; youth; communities of various sizes and GNWT advisory groups. I will be tabling the framework later today.

Mr. Speaker, languages are a vital part of this framework and are important to our people. For a year we were without the largest broadcaster of Aboriginal languages. CKLB, the broadcasting arm of the Native Communications Society, experienced some operational challenges resulting in discontinued live broadcasts. This government provided an additional $400,000 to CKLB, enabling them to resume the live broadcasting our community residents enjoy. CKLB is a critical part of preserving and promoting diverse language use across the NWT and we commend them for the excellent job they do.

The primary hub of our history and heritage is the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre. The centre showcases NWT culture through beautiful and informative in-house exhibits. This past Saturday a new three-year collaborative exhibit This Land Is Our Home, Wıilıideh Yellowknives Dene,opened to great success. The centre also creates travelling exhibits and educational resources that circulate around the territory. It houses the NWT archives that care for our historical and government records, which are available to the public. The centre also conducts research to identify and preserve our archaeology and cultural places. We are continually striving to learn about, foster and protect our culture and heritage.

Mr. Speaker, earlier yesterday we celebrated the 5thAnnual Minister’s Culture and Heritage Circle ceremony. This was created in 2011 to recognize those who have contributed to preserving and promoting the arts, cultures and heritage in our territory. Our recipients this year were the Yellowknife Ukrainian Association for the Group category; the 2015 Pan Am and Parapan Am Games NWT Youth Ambassadors for the Youth category; Berna Beaulieu of Behchoko in the Individual category and Jeanna Graham of the Hay River Reserve for the Elder category. The Minister’s Choice Award went to Vivian Edgi-Manuel of Fort Good Hope. Please join me in congratulating these tremendous role models for their work promoting the cultural diversity of the North.

Mr. Speaker, we are all stewards of our culture and heritage. We have the tools, information, technology and, most importantly, the will to ensure our diverse northern heritage is protected, taught and celebrated for generations to come. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Item 3, Members’ statements. Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Education is so important. We need to encourage students to graduate and go on to college and university. That is the message we give our Grade 12 graduates when we speak at their high school ceremonies.

It’s a huge transition for our young adults to make the big decision to leave home to further their education and to step up in life. They are continuing to grow and shape their future. We give them advice, we wish them well and we encourage them to do their very best, and at the same time, they are afraid. They are scared and feel alone.

One of my constituents went to Aurora College in Inuvik to attend the Access Program. It’s my understanding that the Access Program is to prepare students to enter the program of their choice, whether it be nursing, teaching or renewable resources. This student, a high school graduate and ready to venture out on his own, was told on the first day that he was not eligible for the Access Program. Staff told him to withdraw and to let the residence manager know that he will be leaving the residence.

This young adult made every attempt on his own to apply to college, apply to SFA and for any bursaries available to him, and he was successful. He was out on his own and was excited about a new career, a new opportunity, just to be told, basically, to go home.

Our college should have encouraged this student to stay and study. Our college should have given advice, encouragement and prepared him, or even given options of what can be done. Stay here and we will prepare you. Instead, we tell him to go home. This young man has no desire to go back to school after being told you’re not good enough. W

e need to open doors. We need you as a model. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I’ll have questions later today.

Thank you, Mr. Blake. Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Our days in this House are drawing to a close. I want to speak about something today that’s still very, very important in the Northwest Territories and that is the subject of addictions. I don’t think anybody who works for this government around this table could say that we have anything less than an epidemic proportion of problems with addictions, and we also know that it affects every aspect of life in the Northwest Territories, whether it’s justice, education, health, or just the well-being and safety of our communities.

So, as a government, we look for ways to address addictions, and I do commend the government for things like community counselling programs; the NWT Helpline; the Matrix program, which I just saw an ad in the Fort Smith newspaper for a Matrix program which outlined it all – it looks amazing – withdrawal management; on-the-land healing programs; and then also there are the residential treatment centres. We do not have a residential treatment centre in the Northwest Territories at this time, but we were told that with the money that was saved from the closure of Nats’ejee K’eh that clients who needed residential treatment could be referred to southern institutions and that this process would be streamlined, so we took that as something to be encouraged by, but still today we know that it is not easy for people to find treatment that want treatment.

In my constituency I was approached by a constituent, and I’ll make this story short, but this individual was going to the family counselling services and he hit rock bottom. He was faced imminently with the loss of his job – which was a very good job – with the loss of his family, with the loss of his home, and this person took matters into his own hands. They got out their credit card and they got themselves to treatment because they knew they were at that crossroads of absolute loss of everything they valued. So they got themselves to residential treatment in the South, on their credit card, and I want to say, happily, the treatment was fantastic, it helped so much. They returned to their community, to their job, to their family, to their life, and to this day remain sober, and this was many, many months ago that they did this. But the fact is that they had to do that on their own dime and that debt still remains now a cloud hanging over that family.

This is a compassionate government. I have gone to these Ministers before with one-offs and unusual circumstances and they have been compassionate.

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

---Unanimous consent granted

So, although we can say that we have a streamlined process, there are these one-offs and these unusual circumstances which do occur at times. For this particular case, I am asking this government, again appealing to these Ministers for discretionary latitude to help this family out now with this debt that remains for an initiative that they took to get the treatment that they needed and are now living a happy and healthy life. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen, Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. As my colleagues know, two of my favourite words in this Legislature are Highway 7. I cannot let the 17thAssembly draw to a close without saying them for the 150thtime. This time it’s a pleasure to say positive things about the work being done on the reconstruction of this highway, which is an important lifeline for the people of the communities I represent.

As I mentioned in March 2014, the renewed funding from the federal government under the new Build Canada Plan and the Department of Transportation’s Corridors for Canada III has allowed critical reconstruction work to continue. It was a beautiful summer in Nahendeh and nice, dry weather led to work great work on the highway. People were happy with the rehabilitation work done on Fort Liard Highway No. 7, which included grade repairs, surfacing, safety improvements, 20 of the 30 kilometres were chipsealed from the BC border to Fort Liard, and the dip at kilometre 169 was fixed and for the first time in years, the road ban was lifted in June.

I am pleased to see that reconstruction work is scheduled for the next four years in the Department of Transportation’s capital plan. I wanted to thank the Minister of Transportation and his department for the great work and look forward to reconstructing the rest in the years to come.

Premier McLeod and Minister Ramsay travelled with me on August 27thto Fort Liard. The conditions of the road were very good, but constituents were telling the Premier about it. In fact, he was chiding me and asking me what I was complaining about. All kidding aside, there’s much work yet to be done so that the travelling public and businesses can really enjoy the Deh Cho Trail, the road connection from the Alberta border all the way through to the BC border and then on to the Alaska Highway. Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today marks the final leg of my journey to a tabled document brought before the House on September 29, 2015, called Measuring GNWT Fiscal Performance and Accountability.

Public reporting, by all accounts, is the last measure of fiscal performance, because if you can’t show your work or report your work properly, then really who cares? So, reporting should be timely, clear and comprehensible to the average person. Although there has been some general improvement over the years, in 2015 the C.D. Howe Institute sums it up best in saying, “On the quality of reporting scale, the Northwest Territories earns a grade of D plus. Although the PSAB-consistent public accounts save the Northwest Territories from getting outright failing grades, its budgets would bewilder our idealized reader with multiple presentations of revenue and spending figures that no non-expert could possibly reconcile with the headline figures in their public accounts.”

To that end, I cannot argue with C.D. Howe Institute, and I also give the McLeod government an equal D plus grade when it comes to public reporting.

There you have it, Mr. Speaker. A complete six-day review of the McLeod government as it pertains to measurables of their fiscal performance and accountability. So, to recap the McLeod government report card: operational and capital growth spending, B minus; on taxation management, A; on population growth management, C; on debt and borrowing capacity, C; on workforce growth management, B minus; finally, on public reporting, D plus.

Again, I want to thank all resource staff for their report and fact-checking all my numbers. Bringing this much needed public information in an easier to understand document was a goal for me in my first year of office and I was glad I was able to fulfil that task.

It is my hope this formal evaluation format will be used by future Assemblies as a means to measure our fiscal performance and accountability for the people we serve. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If I Had a Million Dollars was a song sung by the Barenaked Ladies. However, I’m not going to say anything to that, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, if I had a million dollars I would pursue with the people of Colville Lake and this government to develop a strong partnership with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment to begin planning to build a new school. …(inaudible)…,says the movie. If you build it, they will come.

This issue is so important that it was raised with the Premier and the Cabinet on September 24thin meetings with SSI and our government. The people came, they met, and now they wait to see if this partnership can become a reality.

Colville Lake is a traditional community, and as we know, both sizes of these traditional communities have very limited infrastructure, such as the basic essentials of a health centre without a full-time nurse, or having fly-in RCMP services, and they have one room with multi-grade classrooms together with only partitions separating them. There is no standard-size school gym. In this day and age, it’s unbelievable with all the money we spent on other infrastructures that we cannot get a school together for Colville Lake.

Over the years Colville Lake has made great strides to have their students begin and finish and to graduate at home. I have a note that says there were 10 students who dropped out of school this year because there’s no high school program in Colville Lake.

It’s been noted, for the record, that the people in Colville Lake built their own airport, a gold standard airport. In fact, the Premier’s Award of Excellence awarded this community and the people and this government. Partnerships work. It’s been proven and there’s solid evidence. This award was given because of the partnership between this government and the Colville Lake people.

To establish a partnership that works, partners needs to sit down together, and the Colville Lake people want this…

I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

I urge this government to build upon the partnership that they have with Colville Lake and make this a reality. It’s been proven already. I urge this government to continue this initiative and pass it on to the next government. Colville Lake recognizes our goal set out in the 17thLegislative Assembly and we must walk our talk and commit ourselves to partnerships that will see a new school in Colville Lake

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My statement today will be on business. As you all know, throughout this Assembly I’ve made a lot of statements on business and some of the issues that we’re having with our government and their lack of support and their difficulty supporting northern business.

Our Business Incentive Policy has got a bunch of flaws in it. Our Public Works and Services shared services has flaws in it. We continue to have issues with the government and the bureaucracy having the thought process of supporting northern businesses as opposed to finding a way to support southern businesses. I equate it to a map that we often see of NTCL where they are actually from the North Pole looking south. South should be down there. We shouldn’t be focused on how do we do business, and we should make sure that southern businesses can bid up here. We should be working on how we can get northern companies jobs and business in the Northwest Territories.

I’ve had numerous occasions where departments give the specs and certifications to a southern company saying we need a fire pit that’s powder coated. Nobody in the Northwest Territories powder coats. We got it from some other southern firm that gave us a quote. We’re buying mobile homes throughout the Northwest Territories. We don’t build mobile homes in the Northwest Territories. Why aren’t we doing that?

Again, we just put out four tenders for plow trucks. Again, Kingland Ford, second in bid, but the low bidder is going to build everything in Quebec and Ontario. Nothing is going to be done in the Northwest Territories. We’re selling to a northern company but all the work is being done in the South. We know that in a lot of Kingland’s, they’re putting 51 percent, over $100,000 worth of work, thousands of hours of work into these projects.

Our government has been partnering up. We looked at 802 airplanes instead of partnering with businesses that wanted to extend the life of some of the equipment we currently have. We have the electrical business where we didn’t even talk to the current electrical provider, NUL. Our Cabinet felt that they didn’t need to do that.

We’ve got to stop looking at the South and saying they’re the way to go. We need to support northern businesses in the North.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have been talking about a territory-wide midwife program for a long time now. Originally we had programs in Fort Smith and Yellowknife, but the Yellowknife program was dropped with a plan to beef up the program in the Minister’s home community of Fort Smith.

The plan was to expand the Fort Smith program to Hay River, the Beau-Del, Behchoko and Yellowknife. A start was made and we have since seen progress in Hay River and Fort Smith. However, the Minister reports that the health authorities in the Beau-Del decided that instead of a midwifery program they would maintain general practitioners’ obstetrics skills complemented by community health workers and nurse practitioners.

This past July the Minister said that the next goal was to develop a territorial midwifery service based in Yellowknife and to expand the program into the regions, starting with the Deh Cho region and Behchoko. We have not heard about how and when the program will roll out here in Yellowknife.

A local mother-to-be recently asked if she could count on having her next baby with the assistance of a midwife in Yellowknife. She was told, “There is much work to be done, including seeking funding for this proposed program.” When did this become a proposed program and when did we lose the money for it? The Minister stated in July that he was still committed to move forward with a territorial model based out of Yellowknife in 2015-16 so that the full rollout could be done in 2016-17. Positions for midwives elsewhere have been funded for some time, though the positions have languished unfulfilled.

We have a midwife coordinator position. In fact we have two now, but it would seem that it would be a good thing to have some midwives to coordinate. There seems to be little commitment by the government to fulfill their promise of a timely territorial Midwifery Program serving all of the regions of the NWT.

With the sporadic and conflicting information out there, there is public concern and confusion about where we are headed with this program. The apparent lack of progress or even that we might be moving backwards with this program has people asking a lot of questions. I urge the Minister to set their minds at ease and reassure the mothers-to-be across the territory who want such services that they will be able to have their babies with the assistance of well-trained midwives who are supported by a comprehensive, stable, well-funded Midwifery Program in any of our regional centres across the NWT.

For the sake of our young families, I hope the Minister will confirm real progress and certainty on moving forward with territorial midwifery.

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

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

---Unanimous consent granted

For the sake of our young families, I hope the Minister will confirm real progress and certainty on moving forward with territorial midwifery in Yellowknife soon. I will have questions. Mahsi.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I want to talk about the exciting partnership that is benefitting the people of the Deh Cho. Aboriginal language revitalization is an award-winning and accessible four-year certificate program taught out of the University of Victoria but based here in the NWT. It pairs fluent speakers with adult students interested in learning Dene Zhatie, also known as South Slavey. I wanted to take the opportunity to briefly say something in my language as well.

[English translation not provided.]

This program is innovative because, unlike a traditional classroom setting, students get the opportunity to speak their language frequently, and not just when they are in class. Students must put in 100 hours of conversation with their mentors over the duration of the program with no English allowed. The groundbreaking program was featured earlier this year on CBC, at which time 17 students were participating.

This language program is being hosted by the Deh Gah School in Fort Providence in collaboration with the University of Victoria. I think it is a great program to preserve an Aboriginal language. I want to congratulate this year’s graduates and encourage anyone who wishes to learn or improve their Dene Zhatie to consider this exciting program.

Student Dahti Tstetso says…[English translation not provided]…anything is possible, one day I will speak really good Dene. Mahsi cho.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The main cause of death, disease and disability in Canada and the Northwest Territories today are chronic diseases and injury. However, a large proportion of chronic diseases, disabilities and injuries can be prevented or their onset can be delayed.

Today I’d like to speak to one particular chronic disease that we have in the Northwest Territories and that’s diabetes. Anybody that knows anybody who has diabetes or has suffered from diabetes knows that

it can lead to such things as kidney failure, blindness, lower limb amputations as well as risk of heart disease.

Currently, there are about 2,900 NWT residents in the Northwest Territories who are living with diabetes and every year it’s expected that 200 new diagnosis will happen. We do have a high prevalence, and with the increase in childhood obesity as well as obesity throughout our NWT residents, it only puts more people at risk. As well as the personal lifestyle choices that residents of the Northwest Territories have for themselves it also puts them at risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

The Canadian Diabetes Association recommends that diabetes care is patient-centred and is delivered by a multi-disciplinary team with specific training in diabetes, and focuses on such things as prevention, effective screening and management.

The Canadian Diabetes Association also recommends things such as a Pharmacare program so that people living with diabetes can access medications, devices and supplies they need to manage their disease. They also talked about possibly putting a sugar-sweetened beverage tax on such things as sports drinks, pop, diet pop, juices and, something that we see more prevalently, energy drinks. There is a clear connection between the high consumption of these drinks and the development of type 2 diabetes.

As I mentioned earlier, we do have a lot of NWT residents living with the disease. It’s very prevalent in the Northwest Territories.

I will be asking questions of our Minister of Health today how we’re treating the people with diabetes, but how we’re trying to prevent it and promote the education and awareness. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Moses. Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For the past 35 years, the Yellowknife Day Care Association has been providing quality daycare services in a downtown GNWT-owned building, but now they’ve reached the absolute critical impasse and they need our help more than ever.

ECE has come to the strange decision that it is now time that the daycare has to go, and they’ve given them their notice. That’s right. Minister Jackson Lafferty is telling these kids it’s time to go. So, as each kid, as the daycare starts the day by turning on the lights and they get the important services of child care up and running for 55 kids, those kids will now have to find a new home.

The Yellowknife Day Care Association is a treasure to the downtown. They provide quality, reliable, affordable options for parents. But Minister Lafferty has determined as of July 31, 2016, that’ll be their last day. That’s right, Mr. Speaker. Next summer these kids will be kicked to the streets. Why? Well, I can only speculate as to why, but the truth is we haven’t really heard a solid or honest answer why they need to be rushed out the door. To be fair, the YK Day Care knows and certainly agrees that the building that they’re in is coming to the end of its useful life.

So while the smiles and laughter may be singing away in the air of the daycare each and every day, it’s true that building may be tired, but there are no, and I repeat there are no health and safety issues with that particular building, even the GNWT’s own studies say that that’s true. Yes, it has gone along and its useful life may be coming near the end, and the building may be older, true, but by seniors’ standards, it barely is a senior. It’s not that old. So why now? Why rush the daycare out the door before it’s ready to take the plunge in the open market and buy their own building?

They have been saving money for years, but they don’t quite have enough yet to do it on their own. So, if Minister Lafferty would support this daycare so they could get set up right, they would be in a position to succeed, but not just that, they could also expand a desperately needed area such as a daycare our community needs.

Let me remind Minister Lafferty that this daycare offers 55 child care spaces each and every day. The Minister personally knows about children and how important they are. He’s got a lot of kids, for goodness sakes. He should know. All I can tell you is that we have 12 out of the 24 licenced spaces allotted for children between the ages of one and…

I’m sorry, Mr. Hawkins, your time for Member’s statement has expired.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was just trying and squeeze in the last couple of words before I asked. I seek unanimous consent to conclude my Member’s statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

What I was trying to say is this daycare has 12 out of the 24 licenced allotted spaces for children in Yellowknife between the ages of one and two years old. Those are precious spaces because they’re critical so parents can go back to work, otherwise what would they do? So I’m asking the Minister to stop and think about what they’re doing before they kick the kids to the street.

There are solutions. This government has given money to other daycares. A couple years ago, our government gave $1 million to one that needed it desperately. So the fact is there are solutions out there and we have to stop trying to make them all fit the same mold.

In closing, the solution would be less than half a kilometre of highway, and I choose the kids over the highway. The last thing I’ll say is the Minister knows how much he loves his picture in the paper with kids each and every time. Perhaps we should get a picture of the kids from this daycare on the street with their lunch bags and their little suitcases with nowhere to go and we can shame this Minister into doing something. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. About 12 months ago the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment promised, in this House, a review of the Junior Kindergarten program. Oh, that phrase sounds kind of familiar. Promised in this House. I’ve heard that before.

The Junior Kindergarten review was to be in done in July of 2015, and at the time of the announcement, I thought it was an ambitious timeline. Education, Culture and Employment has had a very full plate the last couple of years with Education Renewal Initiative and all the other reviews that they have been, and are, doing. But I took the Minister at his word and waited for notice of completion of the Junior Kindergarten report.

With all ECE is doing these days, when July came and went and there was no indication to either committee or Regular Members that a report was coming, I wasn’t surprised. I heard rumours suggesting the report might be done by the end of August, then the end of September. Well, we’re into October now and still no sign that a Junior Kindergarten report is on the horizon.

Obviously, the expected report is not going to have any impact on junior kindergarten operations for this school year. Obviously, there’s not going to be an opportunity for this Assembly to see the report and comment on it before the 2015 election, and that’s too bad. The 17thAssembly Standing Committee on Social Programs and several other Members invested considerable time, effort, thought and advice to government on the subject of junior kindergarten. All that experience will now be lost when it comes time to review the promised Junior Kindergarten review report, if it ever comes.

I know departments are busy. I know this report was intended to be comprehensive and so would take more than a bit of time. But the government should not make promises it cannot keep. I sincerely hope that Minister Lafferty’s promise is not as hollow as that made for the Deh Cho Bridge Project review.

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

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. [English translation not provided.]

Mr. Speaker, I realize there is no Tlicho interpretation, so I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement in English.

---Unanimous consent granted

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. As Members are aware, there has been a real tragedy in the Tlicho region; more specifically, in the community of Behchoko. There have been three tragic incidents with three family members involved that also brought us together as a community the last two days. I’ve been a witness to that. I participated. I supported the family which brought us together as a community to discuss what’s been happening in our community.

Not only that, there’s been some of the family of the victims and the family of the accused in one building. There has been a lot of emotion and discussion, lots of grieving. At the same time, there has been overwhelming support from family members. They forgave each other, the family members that were most impacted. That provided opportunity for the community to be united once again, and this is the opportunity for communities to move forward.

We’ve been told by elders; elders made some statements in the cultural centre that this is a time to reflect on what’s happening in our Tlicho nation, how can we move forward. We need to have gatherings such as this very important gathering. As we move forward, we need to continue the dialogue, stand united, come up with some solutions to deal with our tragic loss in the communities.

My heart goes out to the family members, and our prayers as well. We just recently, as late as yesterday, lost an elder, Mary Rose Charlo. She was an elder parliamentarian in this House two years ago. It is a huge loss for the community, a very well-respected elder. Our prayers go out to her family. There has been a gathering all this week, as well, and it will continue until Thursday. I just wanted to say that so the Members are aware of what’s happening in this House. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Thoughts and prayers go to the community of Behchoko from the House.

Item 4, reports of standing and special committees. Item 5, returns to oral questions. Item 6, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to take this opportunity to recognize a student action group from Yellowknife’s St. Patrick High School called Students Against Drinking and Distracted Driving.

---Applause

Originally, the focus of the student organization was on impaired driving. Now students are also working to prevent destructive decisions, with a focus on making impaired driving and distracted driving socially unacceptable. The students are here in the gallery today to support Bill 60, An Act to Amend the Motor Vehicles Act, No. 2. The bill includes several provisions meant to reduce distracted driving.

I welcome the 30-or-so students and I offer them my best wishes in the coming academic year as they plan events and activities to promote safe and positive choices.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the gallery today I would like to recognize Ms. Fernanda Martins,

relationship development coordinator; and Nikki Groebbecker, the revenue development coordinator with the Alberta/NWT Division of the Canadian Cancer Society and I’d like to thank them and the society for their ongoing advocacy and support of people with cancer. Thank you so much. Welcome to the gallery.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to welcome and recognize a bunch of young constituents and future leaders from the school in Ndilo, the K’alemi Dene School, and I wonder if they could stand up as I mention their names. We have here David Sangris, D.J. Drygeese, Aurora Fraser, Kaiya Goulet, Amy Betsina, Devon Vogel, Justin Lafferty, Cheyenne Lafferty, Stefon Franki, Nick Beaulieu, Kaydens Abel, Dakota Mackeinzo, Donovan Black Quitte, Riel Komrie, and they are accompanied by Tiffany Smith, education assistant; and teacher Anna Hernandez.

I’d like to just mention, when I asked this bunch of young folks if they like to read, just about everyone put their hands up. These are a literate bunch and they’re bound for great destinations, so I appreciate them being in the House today.

Thank you very much. I’d also like to recognize the Students Against Drunk Driving, the St. Pat’s School and Weledeh School in the Weledeh riding. Thanks very much for all the work that they do. Very good stuff. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Minister Beaulieu did a good job introducing the SADD group we have here in the gallery and I, too, wish to add my support and accolades to the work they do. MLA Dolynny and I have spent many a cold morning waving with them, bringing in hot chocolate and donuts, and they always have our full support anytime the school needs. As well as with the SADD group is the ever-amazing Michelle Thoms. She’s the teacher/advisor to the group. I know she doesn’t do it alone, but she certainly deserves a great pat on the back. She’s certainly the driving force of this organization, I’m sure, and I want to thank the school and the school district.

I also want to recognize, forgive me, I’m not going to recognize every student up there, but if the House would allow me to recognize my own son, who is a Member of the SADD group. So, McKinley Hawkins, thanks for coming along, buddy, glad you joined SADD.

Just to finish off the SADD issue before I recognize the other constituents, I just want to say that the Minister mentioned 30 constituents. That’s a demonstration of great leadership. Under Mildred Hall we have two Pages here today, Carter Yakeleya and Ryan Lafferty. I want to thank them both for participating here today, and from my hometown of Fort Simpson I want to acknowledge the students who are participating here today. So, thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to recognize all the students here in the gallery from the schools. I want to say something to the students. Never give up on your dreams. One day you could be down here too. So keep up what you’re doing, set your goals high and work hard together. Thank you for the good work that you’re doing. I’m hoping that we can get a chapter like this in the Sahtu region, also, for the same message.

I also want to recognize my little nephew. He’s here, Carter, and I’m very surprised to see him. He’s come into his own world, a young man. He’s come a long way since he was a little baby when I first picked him up, and I want to recognize him. I’m so proud of him.

Lastly, I want to recognize your family members who are here with you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. I would like to welcome my daughter Kirstin here today. It’s always good to have family and

to see everybody from across the Territories once they get a chance to come. So, welcome to the House and thank you for taking interest in our proceedings here today.

Item 7, acknowledgements. Item 8, oral questions. Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m not sure who I should direct my question to today, but as I said in my Member’s statement, I have a constituent who took the matter of their own well-being, their own welfare, into their own hands and took the initiative to get themselves to a residential treatment program in the South, was granted the time off from work, works for the government, and the results of that treatment were highly successful, and now, though, looms the debt that was incurred.

So, Mr. Speaker, I don’t know who to direct this question to. Okay. Now, Mr. Speaker, I am asking for a discretionary approval on compassionate grounds for this young family to have these costs covered, and I want to say that the cost incurred is no greater than what it would have been had this government referred them out for treatment. So, it’s no extra cost. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Minister of Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m aware of the circumstances that the Member has raised and I will commit that we will make sure that we have the appropriate discussion with HR, the Minister of HR, especially if there are employee benefits that may be accessed. Thank you.

Thank you, for that commitment. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In follow-up to my Member’s statement, I have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. We must find out why this student had already moved to Inuvik before the college advised him he was not eligible for the Access Program of his choice. This is one of our future leaders.

Will the department work with the college to review its administration and advising procedures? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Blake. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. As you know, there are upwards of 1,600 students in the Northwest Territories who are attending college and universities. This particular case file, I’m not too familiar with. We’re already seeking, and I’ll also ask some questions of the college, to provide detailed information on this particular case and how we can move forward on it. Mahsi.

The access programs are designed to help students transition into college programs, but these won’t work if students can’t access and use these programs.

What mechanisms are in place to help students transition into and through these access programs?

We honour a

certain process that needs to happen once the student applies for a particular program, such as the Access Program and through SFA program and other scholarships that may be available to them, then those are the processes that we’ve always encouraged our students to apply. If there are challenges or issues in the Member’s riding, the college would need to sit down with the student to find out what’s really happening and what’s missing, what piece of information is missing. Those are the discussions that we are currently having, as we speak, with the college to find out a bit more detailed information, because we want every student to succeed and this is what our goal is with this particular student. Mahsi.

What department programs currently exist to help students, especially in our small communities, to transition into post-secondary education and skills training?

We do have a variety of programs. We just expanded and enriched our SFA programming, and on the particular Access Program, there is a variety of funding through the college, through our department, and there’s also federal funding as well. So, again, depending on the program the individual is taking, we need to gather more information and

have the college sit down with the student before the student quits or walks out of the college. We need to resolve this issue. We are, again, dealing with upwards of 1,600 students, so we have to be mindful of when they applied. If they are late in applying, there are processes in place. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

How does the department reach out to prospective students, especially in our small communities, Mr. Speaker?

There are processes in place where we have a Board of Governors representing the regions. We have one in the Beaufort-Delta that is accessible by students. They know by names as well. That information, if it’s not available to the particular student, the college will be fully aware of it and get as much information to this particular student and other students as well.

We are a public government. The college falls under us and this information should be publicly accessible to them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the department should contact this student and apologize for the situation he’s been put through. We have to do a better job of encouraging our students to stay in school and we have to find ways to accommodate them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

That’s why we’re trying to find out what truly happened here. There’s always two sides of the story. We need to gather the facts so this student can move forward. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. It is with dismay and frustration that I stand before you today to say there is unfinished business with the Deh Cho Bridge. Yesterday I tabled, in the House, the Referee Claim Review, the interim and phase two reports of the Deh Cho Bridge between Rowe’s, ATCON and DOT. I would like to ask the Minister of Transportation a few questions about the referee report. Most particularly, the unfinished business is Rowe’s Construction. An NWT company was the only contractor not paid when this bridge was completed. I would like to ask the Minister about that, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Minister of Transportation, Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The company had chosen to use a political process to get the money from the Government of the Northwest Territories in the work that they did for a company that initially went bankrupt and was no longer working on the bridge. The original contract, whether it be verbal or in writing, was between the company that that Member refers to and the former company that was ATCON. Once that company went bankrupt, another company came in to finish the bridge. So, legally their dealings would be with the company.

What happened was that the bankrupt company was supported by the Government of New Brunswick. We needed to prove to the Government of New Brunswick that that money that was held by them or their support for the company that went bankrupt would be money that would be used to finish the bridge and complete all the efficiencies on the bridge. That’s what we have the money for. Thank you.

Certainly, the Minister covered some of the details, but he didn’t cover all the details like when the bridge failed in 2010, the government came to this House for a further $15.9 million and once again came to this House for another $10 million. Yet, we can’t pay for unfinished business from our contractors

. Once again, I make the case that Rowe’s Construction was the only contractor not paid as a result of ATCON failing. I’d like to know why and I’d Iike to ask the Minister what the department is going to do about it.

I don’t have the list of all of the contractors that were paid. Anybody that was paid from this $13.6 million that was given to us by the Government of New Brunswick, all of the payments that were made from that account were something that would be supported by the Government of New Brunswick. We would have to provide the appropriate documentation to indicate that that was a valid payment and there was a contract between two companies, there was a contract that was left over, that where there was documentation, and based on documentation, we made the payment. It was then approved by the Government of New Brunswick. If we made payments that the government does not agree with, then we would be coming back to this House for additional dollars to make those payments. We were hoping that we would make all the payments and we feel that there’s enough money in this fund to finish the deficiencies on the bridge at this point, and that’s what we’re endeavouring to do.

The report looked at five different claims by this company. The referee indicated that two of the five claims had technical merit, meaning that he felt that Rowe’s Construction had done the work, so he priced out what he thought had technical merit. Technical merit doesn’t mean that the Government of the Northwest Territories has a legal obligation to pay. It just says that he believes that Rowe’s did the work.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Yes, Rowe’s did the work, and like any other contractor agreement, even if it’s verbal, they should be paid. That’s what I’m asking the Minister. Why have they not been paid to date?

As much as I’ve answered, we are still continuing to work with the company and also with the Government of New Brunswick. As I indicated, Rowe’s has a claim. Two of the five claims add up to approximately what’s left in the budget, and it also adds up to approximately how much deficiencies will cost to complete all of the deficiencies. We would like to have had enough money to pay everyone. Go to New Brunswick. If they had the documentation that we felt that that government would support, then we would have paid it, filed it with the government and had confidence that the money would have been paid. The problem is we needed to prove to that government and the government was going to approve the payment after we made it. Had they not made the approved payment and we didn’t have the proper documentation to make the payment then we would be paying it from this House.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to chime in here with my colleague Mr. Menicoche. What we’re hearing here today is absolutely hogwash. We’ve got a northern contractor here, the only northern contractor left that has yet to be paid for the work and services they did on the bridge, and we’ve got a referee program that we’ve clearly documented and the government has said we agree with the terms, we just don’t have the money left.

What kind of message are we telling our contractors out there? Please do the work for the government and we’ll pay you when we think or when we feel?

The Minister talks about ATCON and monies left over. Let’s talk about the facts. I’ve got correspondence from June 26thsent to my office from the department that clearly says that the terms of the agreement with the Government of New Brunswick, who secured the ATCON letter of credit, that these funds were to be used for deficiencies in the project caused by ATCON. From the Minister’s own words to my office, we have an amount of $690,707. Why isn’t the Minister using those funds and putting a little pressure on New Brunswick to pay our bills?

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The deficiencies, I think that seems to be the key here. The work was done by ATCON. The money given to us from the New Brunswick government was to clean up the deficiencies. There are deficiencies on the work that Rowe’s had performed for ATCON, as well, and that’s part of the work that we are doing. But the deficiencies to finish the bridge, we have about $700,000 to $800,000 worth of deficiencies still on the bridge. We have about $750,000 in that account. We want to use that money to finish the deficiencies.

Let’s actually speak about all the numbers, shall we, because we’re kind of dancing and skirting around the issue. As I said, ATCON has a holdback of $696,707, plus this government has a holdback with Ruskin and ATCON for over $958,000. Clearly, we’ve got two pots of money here that could be used to pay the bills that are outstanding to the project. Will the Minister commit to paying this bill?

No. Not in this forum.

Can the Minister indicate why?

Because we need to provide the documentation to the Government of New Brunswick that will validate the payment. This is not exactly what we got the money for. We got that money to do the deficiencies on the bridge, pay for the deficiencies on the bridge. There is more work to be done on the bridge. There are more deficiencies. This money wasn’t given to us so that we could pay companies that didn’t get all of the payments for the work that they’ve done with a company that went bankrupt.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s clear this government expects private industry to pay our financing for projects, and this is unacceptable.

As we said clearly, we went to an arbitrator, we agreed with the arbitration that we owe this contractor money. We’ve got two pots of money that are clearly in detail to use for such things as a payment back to a contractor. We’ve got holdbacks. We’ve got workings with the government. Again, this is a perfect, clear-cut case that we should be paying our bills.

Why is this Minister, why is this Cabinet, why is this government refusing to support local businesses and why aren’t they paying this bill?

This government supports lots of local and northern businesses. This is an issue where we need to have the proper documentation and we need to have the legal grounds to pay out of what is not considered to be exactly the reason that we got money. We weren’t given the mandate to just spend the money wherever we felt, wherever we felt pressure, wherever we felt that individuals were coming and trying to present this from a political perspective. We have a referee’s report, number one, and number two

, the referee

’

s report said two of those had technical merit, that they felt that two of those claims were work that was actually done by Rowe’s but they weren’t necessarily deficiencies that are left on the bridge.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.

Thank you. I’ll chime in, as well, and I think this is exactly what I was talking about in my Member’s statement about us working with businesses in the Northwest Territories.

The Minister indicated we were working with the company, yes, and that’s the problem. We were working with the company on a whole bunch of different problems and it’s taken four years with me as an MLA to get this to the floor of the House. The company has been very leery to take it to the House because they want to deal with the Department of Transportation. They have many contracts with them. We have them over a barrel. We paid out Ruskin.

Why did we pay out Ruskin and now are not willing to pay out Rowe’s?

Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Ruskin built a bridge for us. We had to pay them. Thank you.

I am referring to Ruskin was on the job before ATCON started. We paid them out. We paid out several contractors that were doing work for ATCON that they held us accountable for the bridge. Rowe’s didn’t have that leverage. Why did we pay all those other contractors and we’re not paying Rowe’s?

As I indicated in one of the responses, I don’t have the list of individuals that were paid out or the circumstances surrounding the payout. What I’m dealing with is the payout of a company, Rowe’s Construction, at this point. What we’re indicating is that we have the money to finish the bridge, clean up all the deficiencies. If we’re going to pay over and above that, if we’re going to pay for a deal that somebody made with another company that went bankrupt on the job, then we’d have to come back to the House for more money. It’s that simple. We can’t take money out of there and then pay somebody and then come back in here and say we need more money for deficiencies.

We know and the government is willing to say we’re using ATCON, a company that’s no longer there, using them as leverage. But when the government has inspectors in the project, they inspect the whole process. We had a whole bunch of stuff that was outside of the scope of the project. We hauled a whole bunch more rock from a longer distance. The Department of Transportation knew that. They gave approval to it and Rowe’s did that work.

Again, the Minister is indicating that there’s a merit there. Why are we not paying the bills based on a merit that we’ve given?

We’re not paying it because we don’t have the proper documentation indicating that there was a contract between Rowe’s Construction and we’re not paying it because the money that we got was not for this. The money that we got from the New Brunswick government was to pay for the deficiencies of the bridge, not to cover unfinished business by ATCON that wasn’t paid out. We don’t have any written authorization from ATCON. We don’t have any documentation. There is really nothing there other than the discussions that Mr. Rowe has been having with DOT, and based on that we are continuing to work on solutions. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bouchard.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister keeps talking about we’re not done the bridge, and I’m not sure when we’re going to get that done. We know we’ve added stuff to the contract. We know we’ve added guardrails. We know we’ve added telephones to the system. Now we’re spending more money and the reason that this is on the floor today is because now we’re going to spend another 12 to 30 million dollars on the Tuk-Inuvik Highway. We’re willing to stroke a cheque for them, but when a contractor that’s done the work and has been talking to this government – and not only the Minister, the Premier, Members of the Cabinet all know the situation that’s going on here – we are not paying the bill.

The question is why, with all the extras that we’re adding on to it, why haven’t we paid Rowe’s for the stuff that they’ve already done on the bottom of this bridge, and now we’re adding stuff on the top? Thank you.

There’s not a whole bunch of reasons why we’re not paying. It’s documentation, it’s the agreement that we had between another government and ourselves. So I can only answer this in one way, that this money that we got from another government was not there to pay for this work. It was there to cover the deficiencies. We still had deficiencies on the bridge. We have approximately the same amount of money left in the fund that there are deficiencies on the bridge. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Currently, in Colville Lake there are 45 to 50 students enrolled this year. About 10 of those students have dropped out for one reason or another. They are citing that the fact that they cannot concentrate in the small building shared by all grades, considering that kindergarten and Grade 1 are housed in a separate building.

So, imagine the size of this room. You have well over 40 students all trying to reach their grade potentials. This is why Colville Lake is asking for partnership with this government so that they can build a new school, a proper school so that we do not see more than 10 students dropping out of school this year. That’s a crisis. We should be stepping up, letting the community know that we care, going to that community and stopping the students from dropping out. Unbelievable.

Is the Minister willing to work with the community in a partnership to see how we can stop students from dropping out but, more importantly, to see how they can build a new school in Colville Lake?

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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The community of Colville Lake, the leadership have met with my staff as well. The band requested assistance from ECE to provide a class D estimate for a larger school to be completed with a full-size legal gym. So that’s an area that we are working on with the community. There’s also a request for full O and M costs to run the expanded facility.

As I stated, there’s been follow-up from my department on August 17, 2015. The Colville Lake leadership met with my staff to talk about a P3 partnership. We’re in support, in principle, of how it’s going to look. Whenever a proposal comes in on a P3 project, I would have to present it to my Cabinet colleagues. That is part of the process that we use, and once that happens, then I’ll notify the Member that we are moving forward on this. Mahsi.

The families of the students that have dropped out of school for one reason or another are saying that the small building that is shared by all the grades, they cannot concentrate in that school. Colville Lake is looking for a solution. This should be up there and making the headlines. Ten students or more have dropped out of Colville Lake’s school, citing that the building is not adequate. These are the results of the situation in Colville Lake.

How can this Minister, since we have 20 days or so left in our government, move this to the next government citing this as an emergency crisis situation in Colville Lake and that they need to have a new school as soon as possible and start building their partnerships with Colville Lake?

First and foremost, I have to commend Colville Lake leadership exploring options on how they can build the new school. Obviously, we are very interested. There has been a process that we go through with any capital infrastructure here in the Northwest Territories. Part of that is Colville Lake. The Member has been asking questions in the House, as well, and I’m fully aware of that. There are pressing issues, as well, that we are faced with, but this is an area that we are currently exploring with the leadership of Colville on how the P3 can work.

Once a proposal is submitted, then we need to discuss that as Cabinet and how we can push that forward. We are always exploring and encourage business partners to provide some business opportunities such as this particular P3 project that we are currently discussing within my department.

One of the factors of these 10 or more students who have dropped out for one reason or another in Colville Lake could be because we don’t have a proper school to educate them. Because of this situation and working with Colville Lake, the Colville Lake Education Council and the Sahtu Board of Education have cut this year’s budget by cutting out high school teachers. There are no high school teachers in Colville Lake. This is why the community, chief and council are pushing strong that they get a proper school in Colville Lake. This has to stop, Mr. Speaker.

What is the Minister going to do within the life of this government to push this initiative into the next government?

That is information that we are either waiting for or is arriving on my desk on the Colville Lake P3 project. We have met with the Sahtu leadership. The chief of Colville was obviously part of the process, as well, on having a new school identified for Colville Lake. I’m focusing on how we can move forward. Once a proposal is submitted to my attention, then an immediate discussion needs to happen on how we can move forward on that. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to ask this Minister, given the situation in Colville Lake where 10 or more students have dropped out citing their own reasons, within the life of this government is he seeing this as a crisis in Colville Lake? Can the Minister commit to going to Colville Lake with officials and the Sahtu Education Board to stop the students leaving the school by the time this government is finished? Can the Minister commit to going to Colville Lake to say he’s going to do something? Is that something I can look forward to from this Minister?

Obviously, my department needs to work very closely with the Sahtu Education Council as well. We have been working with them and the Colville Lake School. This is not new to us. We are fully aware of it. I will commit to getting back to the Member as soon as we have that information and we have deliberations. The next step, once that occurs, I will immediately follow up with the Member.

Again, the Sahtu leadership and the representatives have been working very closely with Colville Lake along with my department. We are going to push them forward as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.