Alfred Moses

There will be no impact on the funds. We will still continue to fund the eight Aboriginal Head Start programs. In 2015-16 we funded them to the tune of $260,000. We're expecting, at the end of this year, the funds that we've given to all eight organizations would be in the area of around $285,000.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Any partnerships we can create and have that will help bring better outcomes for residents of the Northwest Territories, we are happy to get in those discussion, whether it is federal or even triterritorial with our northern partners. We are already having some meetings, as you know, with the curriculum that Alberta is developing, and our input into that, but any type of partnerships are more than welcome to have those discussions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

With the announcement, the NWT Teachers' Association, all the school boards, and our staff are working out a way to support our teachers in the schools, and this is going to be on a school-by-school basis, how they make those decisions.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Range Lake, that Bill 16, An Act to Amend the Education Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Currently, NWT has the highest student-teacher instructional hours in all of Canada. Our teachers, on average, are working about 52 hours a week. Research has suggested that increasing teachers' professional learning and strengthening a teacher's instructional practice is one of the most powerful and effective ways to ensure quality teaching and significantly improve student achievement. I believe there isn't a policy that we have to address. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t have that level of detail or the specifics at this moment, so I'll take the question as notice. Thank you.

I don't have that detailed information in front of me right now, but I can commit that I'll get that information and I will share it with the Member.

Public Works and Services is the facility maintainer. They do not typically undertake assessments specifically for asbestos; it is done as part of the routine preventative maintenance procedures. ECE is aware of asbestos in the crawl space and on the piping elbows, and it is contained and in good shape. The next annual inspection is scheduled for May-June 2017.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, we can commit to getting that information for the Member and all Members on the other side of the House. I just want to let the Members know that we also have approximately 33 NWT students attending teacher education programs outside the Northwest Territories, and we continue to support them through our Student Financial Assistance program; 13 are coming from communities outside Yellowknife, so we're getting students from the communities outside Yellowknife attending this. Additionally, there are approximately 19 NWT students presently attending social work...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned earlier, with the development of that new overarching legislation for a postsecondary education here in the Northwest Territories, that is the beginning of it, and that is the initial step that we have to do before we can start having those talks. So hopefully, we will have that legislation brought to committee soon.