Jackson Lafferty

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment would like to announce that starting on April 1, 2010, minimum wage in the Northwest Territories is going up.

This is the first increase to the minimum wage in the Northwest Territories since 2003. Despite the high cost of living, the Northwest Territories’ minimum wage rate fell behind the national average and has not kept up with increases in other costs like rent, groceries and fuel.

The Department of Education, Culture and Employment is phasing in the changes over the next two years. In 2010 the rate...

We will continue to work with employment development officers in the communities; also with the organizations we’ll continue to work with. Whether it be client service officers, employment officers in the communities and the regions we’ll certainly be prepared to deal with the new initiatives that will be before us. We’ll be prepared as much as we can when the time comes.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Wednesday, February 3, 2010, I will move that Bill 10, Exemption Act, be read for the first time.

Again, that type of discussion needs to happen at the district education council with our department, identifying funding or resources within our department and also within the board department. We’ve already allocated funds for this school year operation, and those eight students or other students that Mr. Krutko is alluding to, we need to look at their status. The funding that’s been allocated to Inuvik, certainly they will lose that if the students are back in Tsiigehtchic. We need to adjust in those areas as well. The board needs to make those decisions as well. I have to respect those...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. We are looking at various options on how we can enhance our services in small, isolated communities such as Tsiigehtchic or Sachs Harbour and Ulukhaktok and other communities. Part of the ongoing discussion we’re having with the education council is identifying those resources. There is also the enrolment issue. We’re dealing with an enrolment that is going down, and that doesn’t help in small communities. So, certainly, those are the strategic thinking that we are having with our departments and with the community organizations. We need to find a solution. One solution is...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it gets very complicated where we’ve allocated funds based on where the students are enrolled. So we do provide the funding. We do provide the service to those eight students the Member is referring to. It’s just a matter of choice that the students are back in the community. Again, the decision lies with the Beaufort-Delta Education Council to make that decision, and the district education authority. If they are exploring options of extending high schools, those are discussions that need to take place as well. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, regarding the high school students, as I stated in the House on numerous occasions, we want every student to succeed. We do provide funding to district education councils and the DEA that falls under them that deals with these matters. I have to respect their decision, as well as the boarding homes’ and so forth. But it would be under the direction of the Beaufort-Delta to make those decisions based on the funding that we provide to them. We’ll continue to work with the Beaufort-Delta Education Council as we move forward. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, safety is our first priority so we will definitely look at the playground this summer. Whether to remove that due to safety precautions, we certainly need to discuss that further with PWS. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. That particular school was brought to our attention just in December that their playground needs to possibly be replaced within a few months or a couple years. So those are the discussions that we continue to have with the Dehcho Board of Education, specifically with the superintendent, that has brought this to our attention. The focus is that we’re going through our budget planning process this period, but part of the planning process will be to put this into next year’s budget. Mahsi.

That is the type of discussion that we will certainly be having. I would advise Members to try to meet up with board members on the educational factor, because it’s the board of education that is telling us where they are going to expend their money a year in advance. Sometimes we hear complaints or issues or opportunities that we move forward with, but those are discussions that we need to have with the board of education.