Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are addressed to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. I’d like to thank the Minister for tabling the fact sheet yesterday. There’s a lot of information in there. I think there are a few opinions, as well, but I would like to ask him a few questions about some of the statements in those sheets.

On the page that says “What Will JK Cost,” It goes on to say the total cost to offer junior kindergarten is projected to be $7.4 million annually. The cost will be absorbed by education authorities. On another page, the School Funding Framework page...

Thanks to my colleagues. I must point to the British Columbia Women’s Campaign School held annually with high-powered presenters, expert women speakers, drawing participants from all over BC and even across Canada. The school is open to women running for any office and to women interested in working on or for a political campaign. The NWT Status of Women Council could be mandated and funded to reach out to do work to increase the participation of women in elected positions, something that happens in Newfoundland. They could establish a mentorship program and/or set up online resources for...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move we report progress.

---Carried

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Minister’s commitment to give me the information on resources, but again, I am hearing that schools will not get funding in 2014-15 when they start the program and I didn’t hear an answer from the Minister on that.

The Minister talks about the pupil-teacher ratio and, yes, we are still under the 16 to 1 pupil-teacher ratio in most cases.

I would like to know from the Minister: What is our current pupil-teacher ratio and once we have implemented junior kindergarten and after all three years, what will our PTR become following the budget cuts and the...

To the Minister, thank you. I thought I heard the Minister say the funding will flow when the program first starts. I would appreciate him reconfirming that in his next answer. If that’s the case, that’s great, that’s what it should do, but I have been hearing from more than just the Yellowknife boards that they will not be getting any new dollars, and this is coming from their schools as well. They will not be getting any new dollars for junior kindergarten when it starts, for instance, in this next school year, September 2014-15.

So, Mr. Minister, why am I hearing from schools that there will...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. You’ll notice we have a group of young people in the gallery today. I’m very pleased to welcome the Grade 6 social studies class from William McDonald School. Ecole William McDonald School, pardon me. I’m going to ask them to stand when I read their names so you can be recognized. Your name will go into our Hansard, which is a recording of our proceedings for the day, so you’re going to be forever marked in our register. My apologies if I get your name wrong, but I’m trying very hard to follow the rules in front of me. Chasity Atigikyoak, Kameron Burt, Dustin Caisse...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Not too long ago the Premier made a public proposal presented to the NWT Status of Women Council to establish a mock women’s parliament, similar to the Elders and Youth Parliaments that we currently have every second year.

The Premier’s intent was to provide an event that would create interest in and motivate women for territorial politics, and heaven knows we need more women to be elected to this Assembly.

The idea has generated a lot of opinion and discussion since. Many people, both men and women, have expressed their disappointment and, yes, disgust at the idea of...

Thanks to the Minister. I guess I would ask the Minister if he could provide me and other Members with a written summary of this practice and convention that we’ve been following for however many years he mentioned.

I have great difficulty in seeing a similarity between what we’re talking about here with iPads, which are branded, presumably, and putting money into, for instance, Arctic Winter Games. I don’t see that these are equated quite the same.

It’s one thing to take funding and to put a logo on a program or put a logo at an event on a sign. It’s another thing, in my mind, to take a piece...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, who is also responsible for the Giant Mine Remediation Project. I would like to follow up on some of the questions that were asked by my colleague Mr. Bromley the other day about the environmental assessment agreement for the Giant project.

In the fall of 2013, there were some excellent hearings held by the Mackenzie Land and Water Board. They produced a very well thought out decision and a whole bunch of recommendations. There was a really good response from the responsible Ministers in...

Thanks to the Minister. I think distrust is too strong a word. I think it’s a concern for the accountability of the money. The Minister mentioned the business planning process, but the business plans, we didn’t have business plans for the ’14-15 budget year. The business plans coming up are for ’15-16, and if I understood the comment earlier, it was that this $10 million is going to be spent in this year, ’14-15. I appreciate and accept the offer from the Minister to get reports on how this money is being spent, but for me and other Members to feel like we are adequately monitoring how this...