Kieron Testart

[English translation not provided.] He has laid out clearly what the group has produced to date. How long did it take them to come up with these principles, principles which have basically been around since the 2015 Liberal party platform announcement? There might have been crib from that platform, but I will leave to the Minister to answer. How many times has the working group met? These are well established principles behind this. I'm wondering if they have done anything else. How many times have they met?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As with all things we do in this great institution of democracy, compromise is essential to ensuring we make good decisions for our people, and I am very thankful to have the support of Cabinet on this amendment. I am also thankful to the honourable Member for Yellowknife North for showing his support, and to the concerns raised by the honourable Member for Frame Lake.

Merci, Monsieur le President. [English translation not provided.] We have 78 per cent for Yellowknife and 95 per cent for this one school. Clearly the Minister can see that there is a problem here. If we are going to keep pushing grades onto our school boards, we need to have some flexibility here so these schools can meet the needs of our families and our parents. I will ask again if, in the rollout of the new junior kindergarten funding in the fall, when these needs are assessed, will there be additional money provided to the schools to provide for temporary accommodations or retrofits to...

Merci, Monsieur le President. I move that Bill 16 be amended by adding the following after clause 4:

4.1. The following is added after subsection 126(4):

(5) The Department of Education, Culture and Employment shall review the hours of instruction prescribed under subsection (4) within six months following the conclusion of the 2019-2020 academic year.

(6) The review shall consist of an examination of the hours of instruction, the effectiveness of the administration and implementation of the hours of instruction, and the achievement of the objectives behind the hours of instruction.

(7) The...

I am glad that the Minister is looking into this, but this isn't a new issue. I would like the Minister to commit to a timeline if he can, today, on when we are going to have a sense of when this needs assessment work has been completed.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would just like to thank my Honourable friend, the member for Nahendeh, for laying out some of these considerations. I, too, have consulted with some people on this issue. The crux of it is, the NWT students graduate with an NWT senior secondary diploma, and not an Alberta education diploma; and although there are some course equivalencies through the NWT senior secondary diploma such as the Alberta 30-1 or 30-2 language arts course, ultimately, the NWT's diploma is standalone. Universities do not require 1,000 hours when they are considering the NWT's senior secondary...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise again to recognize Mr. Fraser Oliver, Kam Lake constituent and president of the NWT Teachers' Association. I know he has been here every day so far this sitting, and eagerly awaiting the debate on Bill 16, which is today. I am sure he will be very pleased with our proceedings. Thank you.

On that point the intention of this move is to have that separation with government to create a more client-friendly atmosphere. The previous operators of this program had very good relationships with our many, many clients. I may not have heard the response to this question that has been asked, but what is being done to retain their expertise for the nationally recognized program they developed? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in accordance with Rule 36(3), I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, that Minister's statement 186-18(2) be moved into Committee of the Whole for consideration. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that response. The Minister acknowledged the community partners that the honourable Member for Hay River North brought up in his line of questions and further recognizes the hard work done by the clients to heal themselves, but at the same time we know that the RFP was not taken up; that it was a rejection of that by those community partners and that as much as we, the Minister, has given kudos to these individuals who have worked hard to rehabilitate themselves is the recognition that only a small number of men. The message is a bit confusing, but does the...