Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Norman Yakeleya, MLA for Sahtu, encouraged the minister of education to meet with the school boards in his riding to talk about how to increase the number of cultural programs offered in his riding's school curriculum.

He suggested the department devote mornings for cultural activities - like dancing, while using Dene languages - and then to devote afternoons to academics.

Yakeleya also said elders are not getting into schools as often as they should.

"I feel that within our own schools we are excluding certain professors, such as elders," he said.

When elders want to come into schools, they find their pension money from the federal government decreases due to the income acquired teaching, he said.

Jackson Lafferty, minister of Education, Culture and Employment, said the department is considering ways to stop elders' pensions from being penalized by the casual cheques they receive when they go into schools.

Yakeleya said children are missing the cultural components of their education.

"We have people coming from outside who don't have that knowledge of our community and our language and our culture," he said.

"We've got to have elders in our schools."

Diamond Jenness renos set for next year

Renovations to Diamond Jenness secondary school in Hay River had originally been planned to begin this upcoming year.

After being pushed back two more years, Jane Groenewegen, MLA for Hay River South, tabled a committee motion last Monday to recommend cabinet include the project in their 2009-2010 capital plan. MLAs supported the motion unanimously.

Explaining the delays, public works minister Michael McLeod said members of the school and the community had asked for more than mere renovations to the building - including some moving of exterior walls along with upgrades to other systems.

Those recommendations would require an educational review of the building to determine what would be used and where, he said.

That did not fly with Groenewegen, who said she found it hard to believe a two-week review of the building - to be conducted this month - required renovations to be pushed back an entire year.

Groenewegen acknowledged the need for a trades training shop.

"They're making do with a very small space there," she said.

Bills ascend

The 16th legislative assembly's second session ended on Tuesday night, Oct. 21, with Northwest Territories Commissioner Tony Whitford giving assent to seven bills - which then became acts. Included among them was an act to amend the pharmacy act, an act to amend the legal profession act, and an act to amend the income tax act.

The third session of the assembly then convened the next day, and ended on Friday.

The next session will begin on Feb. 4, 2009.

Quote of the week:

"Far before Joe the Plumber, there was granny from Nahanni."

Kevin Menicoche, MLA for Nahendeh, presenting his version of U.S. presidential candidate John McCain's common person.