Julie Green

Thank you to the Minister. How will the department measure success for students and teachers of this pilot project?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have struggled mightily to get some answers on instructional hours in this sitting, including oral questions and written questions, and I am now down to four that I need answers to, so I am going to try these with the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. My first question is: why are reduced instructional hours being piloted all across the NWT in every school? Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with just one week left in this sitting, I want to look ahead to some important work Regular MLAs will be doing during the break. The Standing Committee on Social Development will be reviewing Bill 16, An Act to Amend the Education Act. Specifically, the members of this committee, including myself, will be looking at the proposed changes to instructional hours.

It has taken close questioning by my colleagues on this side, both in the House and at a public briefing, to understand the rationale for these changes and, specifically, to allay parents’ and students’...

Mr. Chair, we have a problem, in that we don’t have a hard copy of the bill. The binders are no longer present. Could we be advised of where to find the copy of the bill?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am tabling three documents today. The first is the letter from the Association of Social Workers in Northern Canada to all Members of this House concerning the decision to phase out the social work program at Aurora College; the second is a letter from the Canadian Association of Social Workers to the federal Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour on the same issue; and the third is a news release from the Canadian Association of Social Workers expressing its concern on this topic. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

My concern is that putting programs into abeyance is sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy for their extinction, meaning that, if instructors and students know that the program has a finite life, they won't continue on with it. They will move on to something else. Can the Minister assure us that this one year abeyance will in fact only be one year?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my final question is: is the department prepared to reverse this reduction in instructional hours if the pilot isn't successful, using those student and teacher outcomes? Thank you.

Thanks to the Minister for his answer. Can he give us an indication, of the 49 schools, how many schools have opted out?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, colleagues. As I was saying, the teachers said they work 52 hours a week, but the sample size is very small, because only 15 per cent of teachers took part in the survey. Surely there are more effective ways to measure teacher wellness, including their sick days, long-term disability, and retention in the profession. It would also be useful to see data on these points from jurisdictions with fewer instructional hours.

Mr. Speaker, the Minister has yet to produce a solid evidence-based rationale for these changes to instructional hours. I am challenging him...

Mr. Speaker, I would like to table the following document, a November 23, 2016 letter from participants in the Smart Prosperity Canada Initiative, in which corporate officers of 16 major Canadian firms and organizations called upon the Prime Minister to introduce carbon pricing. Thank you.