Michael Nadli

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. About 17 years ago the Aboriginal Head Start program in Fort Providence was established, like other existing Aboriginal Head Start programs in the North. At that time it was the communities and the schools that worked together and basically developed a proposal to Health Canada and made a submission. That’s how the Aboriginal Head Start programs were started. It was basically a community initiative at that time.

I wanted to ask the Minister, can the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment explain...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to waive Rule 93(4) and move Committee Report 9-17(5) into Committee of the Whole for consideration today. Mahsi.

---Unanimous consent granted

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have been paying attention to the debate about junior kindergarten. At this point several things are clear, but the debate is like a puzzle with a few missing pieces. It’s clear that junior kindergarten is just one component of the Early Childhood Development Action Plan. It’s being delivered without new funding by addressing the pupil-teacher ratio. It will be free and optional, providing alternatives for parents who need daycare. This is especially valuable in small communities where no daycare options exist. I get all of that, Mr. Speaker.

What I’m concerned about...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that the Government of the Northwest Territories provide an updated detailed progress report to this Assembly on work done towards a comprehensive review of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act; and further, that updates to the act be introduced during the life of the 17th Legislative Assembly.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Today the Standing Committee on Government Operations presented its report on the Review of the Northwest Territories Information and Privacy Commissioner’s 2012-2013 Annual Report.

The committee thanks Ms. Elaine Keenan Bengts for her report and for her appearance before the committee on April 25, 2014.

The Information and Privacy Commissioner has been encouraging the GNWT to find ways to include municipalities under the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act or under their own legislation since her annual report of 2007-2008. The Commissioner has again...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the key word is collaboration. The expectation that is, indeed, that as we’re going down this path, we would work together.

In Fort Providence there has been a JK pilot project running since October. We have Head Start running there as well. The children go to junior kindergarten in the morning and they come to Head Start in the afternoon. The program manager, Joyce McLeod, has had to contact parents and ask them to please come and get their children because they are very, very tired. So we know for a lot of the children, a full day is too much. That’s just one...

Would the Minister consider delaying or suspending at least the options of communities that raise their concerns, and see if there’s going to be a pause in terms of trying to reflect upon the next step? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to acknowledge Susan Fleck. Susan, yesterday, was the recipient of the Premier’s Award for collaboration. Susan was part of the Wildlife Act Working Group. Susan Fleck is a part-time executive director with the Dehcho Land Use Planning Committee in Fort Providence.

Susan was the director of wildlife from December 2005 until September 2011, when she lived in Yellowknife.

Susan was very much involved with the ENR personnel working group that faced an immense challenge in dealing with the 2012 bison anthrax outbreak in the summer of 2012.

She traded 25...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, your Standing Committee on Government Operations is pleased to provide its Report on the Review of the 2012-2013 Annual Report of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of the Northwest Territories and commends it to the House.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that the Government of the Northwest Territories provide a comprehensive response to this report within 120 days.