Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We wish to consider Bill 26, Committee Report 8-17(5) and Committee Report 9-17(5). Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have an accounting of potential costs of junior kindergarten implementation for Yellowknife Catholic Schools which I wish to table. Thank you.

Thank you. I totally understand that things vary. We have small schools, we have large schools, and yes, we absolutely vary. The average across the territory is 13.8 to 1.

The Minister just said, if I heard him correctly, we’re moving back to 16 students to 1, 16 to 1. Is that what I heard? Am I correct in what the Minister said? If that’s the case, do we really want to go to the top of the list and be worst in the country for PTR? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to return to my line of questioning with the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment and see if I can, one last time, try and get some clarity as to two conflicting statements and a package of fact sheets, which the Minister tabled the other day.

I would like to know from the Minister when a Junior Kindergarten Program starts, say in September of 2014, will the school district that runs that program get the money in September 2014, or will it have to wait a full year to get it in September 2015 like they do now for most students? Thank you.

To the Minister, yes, they are numbers, but they are numbers that have been agreed to by the department and the school board. I made mention yesterday of some conflicting statements in the fact sheets. I need to ask the Minister again the same questions to clarify what his answer was and which one of the statements in the fact sheets is correct.

When a district implements a junior kindergarten program in the fall of 2014, for example, and it would not be in Yellowknife but one of our small communities, will the school district that is running that program receive funding for those new JK...

My questions today are also addressed to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment as a follow-up on some questions I asked yesterday about the Minister’s statement and the JK fact sheets he tabled in the House, and also on the package of facts that he tabled in the House. At the outset, I want to advise the Minister that I ask these questions not just for Yellowknife schools and school districts but for all NWT school boards and schools because they are all affected by the changes ECE has proposed.

Portions of the Minister’s statement were very disturbing to me. He made much of the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Ten days from now, June 15th, is Elder Abuse Awareness Day, and I’m wearing purple today to again highlight and bring awareness to the problem of elder abuse.

Elders make a difference in our communities every day. They are deeply involved in our communities, and their contributions, big and small, benefit NWT residents of all ages. Elder abuse, though, is a significant threat to the older residents of the NWT in both small communities and larger centres. In the last 30 years or so, elder abuse has become an increasingly important issue and is now seen as a public problem...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I’m done, but it just helps if we have a bit of an explanation of the motion before we know what we are voting on. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I spoke these words some time ago, but they bear repeating, and I’m going to quote.

“Mr. Speaker, we’ve heard a lot about fracking in the last two weeks. I haven’t said much about it, but now feel the time has come and I must add my views. I’ve been following the statements and exchanges in the House, the media reports and so on. The Economic Development and Infrastructure Committee has been at the forefront of the fracking issue, doing the research, considering the pros and cons, monitoring Sahtu exploration and development. I’ve tried to stay abreast of the info...

Thanks to the Minister for telling me the information I already know. That’s not my question. My question was I’m hearing that schools will not be getting any new funding when they start junior kindergarten in 2014-15. Why is that, if it’s supposed to be coming?

On another page titled, “How Will We Pay for Junior Kindergarten,” the statement is, “All education authorities are being asked to implement junior kindergarten with existing funding.” That seems to, again, contradict that they will get funding when the program rolls out.

One of the things that are required is resources for new programs...