Jackson Lafferty

Mr. Speaker, I’ve already answered that question for Mr. Bromley. This is federal programming, the eight communities the Member is referring to. We’re working with them. Junior kindergarten is a prime example as part of enhancing the program. Again, it’s optional. We’re not forcing parents to send their kids to junior kindergarten; it is optional for parents. At this point, I’ll have to take that question as notice. Mahsi

When we first introduced junior kindergarten as part of our discussions, obviously we don’t want to have impacts on other programs in schools. With this approach, the school programs should not suffer, as the department funds school boards as part of our contributions. Nobody needs to rely on surpluses to fund education. We already provide funding for educational programming for the Northwest Territories, the 33 communities we contribute to on an annual basis. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife South, that Bill 24, An Act to Amend the Student Financial Assistance Act, be read for the second time.

Mr. Speaker, this bill amends the Student Financial Assistance Act to raise the maximum aggregate principal amount of all student loans that may be made by the Government of the Northwest Territories by $5 million for the 2014-2015 and subsequent fiscal years. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Yes, my department has been engaged and has conducted a review of the implications for junior kindergarten in each school board across the Northwest Territories. We have also looked at the success of students in junior kindergarten when it was implemented in other jurisdictions, just to see the outcome of introducing a junior kindergarten.

The mill rate question is another one that we haven’t looked at as a department or as GNWT. The mill rate, as it is, is a municipal jurisdiction. Many of our communities are non-tax-based communities. It would be unfair to Yellowknife to...

Again, we’re not forcing them. It’s an optional program for parents in the Northwest Territories in the 33 communities we are going to be servicing. This has been in discussion, the Early Childhood Development Framework, in an engagement with the parents, the educators and they want this to be an option so they can choose, the parents can choose. So we’ve done that. We’ve listened to them. We will be rolling out the program, but it’s an optional program, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi.

Thank you. As I stated before, there have been various areas of evaluation and assessment of current delivery in the communities, whether it be preschools, early junior kindergarten and some of the development programming in the communities. So we’ve looked at all of that and we’re working, also, with the licenced child care programming, the centres.

This is an area that is not a brand new discussion we’re having today. Over the years of engagement, we’ve been hearing from the parents and the educators that we need to move forward on focusing on the preschool. We currently deliver preschool in...

We did compile all that information. As I stated, junior kindergarten is not a fresh topic of discussion here. It has been discussed for a number of years now as part of the process we’ve been going through. Compiling all the information for 2014, 2015-16, 2016-17, I can gather the information for the Member. I don’t have it in front of me today, but I can gather the detailed information for the Member.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I’ve stated numerous times in this House that this whole Junior Kindergarten Program three-year phase rollout has been the voice of the North. We’ve been through various engagements. Through Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative a few years back, and then the Early Childhood Development Framework the action plan was brought to our attention, and also the education renewal innovation. There have been a lot of discussions that have happened. There has also been research throughout Canada and internationally. We brought those researchers here to Yellowknife so Members...

We have to look at all angles, how many professionals that we have in the communities that can deal with… We currently have some of the preschools and we have junior kindergarten being rolled out as part of the kindergarten program because some of the communities are very small, the facility themselves as well, so it will be part of the kindergarten and also junior kindergarten, part of the play area. Those are areas that we’re still identifying as we move forward, but it will be offset by those professions that are in the system and building on that.

Mahsi. The plan is to obviously roll out the program this school year, 2014, covering the 29 communities, which will offset the 10 communities that are here before us without child care programming. The following year will be, obviously, regional to Hay River and then the following year, the last phase of approach will be to cover the Yellowknife area. Mahsi.