Colleen Moore
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Oct 13/03) - Yellowknife South MLA Brendan Bell believes the department of education, culture and employment should be held accountable for the declining graduation rates in the NWT.

In Wednesday's session at the legislative assembly, Bell said that in Yellowknife the graduation rate has dropped from 64 per cent in 2000 to 59 per cent the following year, to 57 per cent in 2002.

The minister responsible for education, Jake Ootes, said that trends across the NWT show graduation rates are still on track overall, with the exception of a substantial increase in 2001 that can be attributed to increased enrolment numbers that same year.

When challenged again on Thursday, Ootes acknowledged there was a decline and said the department is now analyzing the results of Grade 10 to 12 students to understand the trend.

Bell said the standing committee is seriously concerned, however, that student support budgets are not keeping up with the needs in the classroom.

Training sessions a must

With the development of the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline soon underway, David Krutko, Mackenzie Delta MLA, urged the minister responsible for education, culture and employment to take advantage of the more than 800 jobs created in the pre-stages by offering training sessions to people in communities.

Krutko said this is an opportunity for the unemployed and unskilled to get involved in the oil and gas industry, but said without proper training, this chance would go to waste.

Minister of education, culture and employment Jake Ootes said the government is spending approximately $1 million on training, but could not identify exactly where the money is going. Jim Antoine, minister responsible for resources, wildlife and economic development added that through existing programs and services, there is some money that may be utilized for job training, but he could not confirm that the money would flow into these communities to maximize the benefits of the pipeline.

Bringing back the tourists

A $500,000 marketing campaign has been announced in hopes of increasing Japanese tourism in the North.

Jim Antoine, minister responsible for resources, wildlife and economic development, made the announcement in Friday's session at the legislative assembly.

"I am confident that by working together with our tourism industry partners we can bring the Aurora viewing tourism industry back," said Antoine.

He said this is necessary, since the tourism industry has taken a hit since Sept. 11, followed by SARS outbreaks and the war in Iraq.

Spending has dropped by $13.8 million since these events began to unfold.

Antoine said the government had to intervene in order to ensure that the NWT recovers from this blow.

"Any further erosion of this delicate tourism market will have severe impacts on many Northern businesses," he said.

The NWT Arctic Tourism Association, the Canadian Tourism Commission, along with Japanese tour operators are developing the campaign, which will target the wholesale tourist industry.

Running candidate

Norman Wells resident Larry Tourangeau has announced he is a running candidate for MLA in the Sahtu region.

Tourangeau was president of the Metis Association of the NWT from 1983 to 1987, and served as chairperson for the Sahtu Secretariat Incorporated. He was also director of the Tulita District Land Corporation Ltd. and president of Sahtu Oil Incorporated.

He is presently working as a consultant on joint ventures in the oil and gas sector, and on aboriginal issues in the Sahtu region.