Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Mr. Speaker, thanks to the Minister’s commitment there. I look forward to that information, but I can say that it hasn’t been done yet. That is again a huge frustration and so much for interdepartmental efficiencies that supposedly have been worked on. I am wondering, Mr. Speaker, given that, again, the role this NGO plays is critical and we continue to have people go missing when they are released from the hospital, the Centre for Northern Families ends up being the last stop of last resort. It is really critical to get this result. This has been going on for years now. Will the Minister commit to getting that resolved before the end of this term? Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, we do have an agreement here that that organization has an important function to deliver and it is an important part of the spectrum of services that we provide for the homeless and those who need our support in the community, not just for Yellowknife but for many people that come to Yellowknife. But the Member is also aware that we have had long-term structural issues with the financial situation of that organization. We have been working, the department and ECE. I just do not have the most recent update, but I will commit, once again, to follow up on that and see what our options are. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I talked a bit about family violence and particularly violence against women and girls in my statement. I would like to follow up with some questions to the Minister of Health and Social Services about the Family Violence Action Plan. The first phase of the Family Violence Action Plan is done. We are now into phase two. I would like to ask the Minister some questions on the progress of this plan. One of the goals and a component of a goal is to increase funding to two shelters with their own buildings to compensate for O and M costs that are not experienced by other shelters. The deadline for that or the timeline on that was October 2008. I would like to ask the Minister whether or not that evaluation has been done and, as a result, whether the increased funding has actually occurred. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In fact, it was. The increase in funding did happen. The increase was as a result of the recommendation from the action plan. The increase was provided under the Shelter Stabilization Enhancement Funds.
I have sat with the operators of shelters in Hay River and other communities. They have thanked us and the government for enhancing the funding. It was also part of the action plan that recognized that there are only five shelters in the Territories and that there are a lot of communities where we needed to support families and victims of family violence and it was for that reason that in 2010-11 five non-shelter region projects were funded, one in Fort Providence and then Fort Liard, Fort Simpson, Norman Wells and Behchoko. The program included prevention and outreach educational workshops, the implementation of community-based awareness campaigns and the hiring of a community services coordinator to assist victims. Mr. Speaker, yes, we are moving under that plan. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, thanks to the Minister for that summary. I appreciate that the department is providing funds and that they are doing what they can to develop shelter services in other communities beyond where they actually have bricks and mortar. It is something that we absolutely have to do. If it is a priority for this department to make sure that shelters are running and are actually operational, I have to go to Mr. Bromley’s comments about the Centre for Northern Families. This centre is struggling. If it is a priority for this government to provide shelters and make sure they work, why is it the Minister can’t seem to get the Centre for Northern Families on a stable financial footing? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that we are talking about... While lots of clients of the Centre for Northern Families, have to do with victims of family violence, the Centre for Northern Families is funded in a different way and they serve also different clientele.
I can assure the Member that, under the action plan, a number of things have been accomplished. We have conducted a territorial attitude survey on violence. A territorial family violence consultation was held under this action plan. We have also developed a training program called Supporting Northern Women, a Northwest Territories shelter worker training program which has been delivered in all shelters.
The existing family violence shelters outside of Yellowknife have been better funded and stabilized, and services have been enhanced in communities where there are no shelters. Protocol development has happened in Yellowknife and Sahtu. We have funded YWCA on Child Recovery Program for children who witness abuse. We also have developed a video on non-violence, a strength-based community inquiry, and a lot more work has been done to research and develop a program for men who use violence.
Also, I would like to advise the Member that evaluation of the first five years of the Protection Against Family Violence Act will be completed by March. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Short supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will try to be short. Maybe I should sit down. No.
I would like to thank the Minister for that summary of all the wonderful things that we are doing, but it did not go to my question. If it is a priority for this government to make sure that shelters are funded, then why is the Minister not making sure that the Centre for Northern Families is financially sustainable? They are funded differently and that is the problem.
Mr. Speaker, as I indicated, the Centre for Northern Families has a unique challenge that the Department of ECE and I have been working on. We are committed to working with the organization and to support the organization to the extent possible. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My last question has to do with a part of the action plan which talks about a community consultation in Inuvik to develop a strategy for the implementation of changes that are required, and the timeline on that was February 2009. Can I ask if that is done?
I am aware that a lot of work has been done and is being done on that, so I will follow up to be able to confirm that to her, seeing as it’s going back to 2009.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to follow up on my Member’s statement where I mentioned that the community of Wrigley is travelling for hand games and supporting an important cultural aspect of our Dene heritage. I’d like to ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment what kind of support is out there in his department that could support the initiatives such as this.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Within the traditional and cultural activities, and pertaining to that is also language, we provide over $12 million specifically in those areas. The funding is allocated to the school boards, as well, and at the community level to deal with the cultural preservation and promotion of the culture. The money is available in that respect. It is a group that deals with the funding as well.
When it comes to hand games tournaments that are happening in almost every region, there have been a lot of requests that have come to our attention. We always refer them to the community level, the school boards or cultural agencies that we work with.
It has been the case where they have been turned down with their requests and they have had to fundraise on their own. Especially for a small community that has little or no income, it’s very hard to fundraise. They did manage to support their culture and I’d like to ask the Minister if we can design some type of programming or be flexible with our program to include hand games cultural activities just to get people travelling around.
This could be part of the discussion. We haven’t heard much in the regions. The forum on Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative, that is part of the cultural preservation, as well, and deals with the language. This could be part of the discussion that we will have with the group. As we move forward where we could, identifying within the $12 million I’ve already identified, maybe we could work with that. I need to get some feedback from the language expertise at the community level that we deal with at the forum.
Sounds like some hoolay for the specific initiative. I’d like to ask the Minister if he can look in his department at the different types of programs to see what can fit to support this type of initiative. It’s very important to the community of Wrigley, very important to all our communities in the North, and interactions amongst the different communities is something that we should support as a government.
One thing that we can possibly look at through the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative is the training aspect where we’ve had some requests in the past for training. We’ve provided in-kind contributions. This is an area we could possibly look at. But when we talk about the huge regional hand games tournament, it’s very difficult to put money towards that where it’s much broader. We want to focus on the youth that are getting involved in the hand games demonstration, hand games training. That’s an area we could probably explore.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.
I’m certainly glad that the Minister is looking to the youth aspect of it. I think that’s a huge component of what’s happening in Wrigley.
Can I also ask the Minister if he can work with the Department of ITI? I know that we sponsor hand games at the Olympics and national events. Just an extension of this and that’s what the communities want. If we’re funding it anyways, can we bring it home? Can we bring it to the small communities?
Whether it be the tournaments, the Vancouver demonstrations -- and we’ve sponsored those participants to be at the function to demonstrate what the hand games are all about so we can show the world -- those are areas we can sponsor through the GNWT as a whole that we’ve done.
With respect to the Dene hand games in various regions, in the past those organizations have been very successful conducting those events with or without the help of organizations or sponsors. Like the Member has stated, they have raised money. This is an area especially with the youth that I like to focus on those areas.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I talked about early childhood education. UNESCO says early childhood education is defined by the years of birth to eight years old. They believe that it makes a remarkable difference on the brain development of young people if early education is offered early in the beginning of school years, before the traditional time of grades 1 to 4.
I would like to ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment what his government and department can do to help support schools that wish to offer junior education programs.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. We do currently provide funding to the school boards but it is at their discretion if they want to provide pre-kindergarten throughout the summers as the Member has alluded to. Last year this was successful. It was their own initiative. It wasn’t our department saying they should have that. We provide funding for that, but this could be also part of the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative because it covers all areas of the Northwest Territories, the students, and junior kindergarten has been an option that’s been identified through that venue. There is ongoing discussion. We still have two more regions to attend. I’m sure this will be part of the discussion as we move forward.
The problem with the Aboriginal Student Achievement Program, although it’s a fantastic program, it doesn’t fit all the students. I’m talking about programming that school boards can offer for all students.
We have schools that are presently taking on this role of junior kindergarten and I think it’s a significant advancement of the education of a young person and giving them the right start. Would the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment investigate the opportunities on a proposal basis trying some pilot projects of funding junior kindergarten?
Again the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiatives focus is on the sector of what’s happening within the education system. I’d like to find out the results of that discussion at the forum. That gave us guidance as we explore different areas. Whether it be junior kindergarten that the Member is referring to within the schools in the Northwest Territories during the summer as an option, those are the areas that we will likely explore once we get the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiatives finalized and then recommendations will come out. It does reflect overall on the department as well.
The Minister keeps pointing at the Aboriginal Student Initiative but it doesn’t fund non-Aboriginal students. I’m referring to junior kindergarten for all students. I see them as all students that we should give a good chance to at the beginning of their early education years. Does the Minister, in his leadership of the Department of ECE, see a way that all students could be funded under this initiative, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal?
All students are funded. We provide funding to all the school boards, and at their discretion they can provide various programs as they have done in the past, like last year for example. So we do provide funding for all students.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That’s not quite correct because the Education Act says that students aren’t funded unless they’re age five by the end of the school year. They are not counted under funding per basis. The issue is drawing in early children who can use the literacy and numeracy development over the long haul on those early years. Would the Minister look at and consider the position and proposal that I’m putting forward, which is redefining the act or redefining the mandate of the department that can provide junior kindergarten by accepting those students as students and funding them?
This is, as I stated, the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative is a great strategy that’s out there and is getting a lot of positive feedback from the community members. Again, it’s for the whole Northwest Territories. It will reflect on how we deliver programs in the Northwest Territories on the education factor, whether it be junior kindergarten or other areas. It will give us some guidance within our department to move forward on various initiatives.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last week and earlier this week there’s been a lot of talk in the House about northern students, particularly in the areas of nursing, teaching and social work, and the grad placement programs that are in place. I believe these programs are funded out of a fund called Maximizing Northern Employment which is part of Human Resources. I’m wondering if the Minister can confirm whether that funding is going to continue to exist in 2011-2012 and where that funding comes from. Is it federal or GNWT funding? Are there any plans to cancel the program in the future or is it fairly secure at this point?
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Minister responsible for Human Resources, Mr. Bob McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Maximizing Northern Employment program still exists, I’m happy to say, and I expect it will continue for some time. We’ve had this program for quite a few years. It’s gone through a few iterations but it’s probably one of the most successful programs that we have. It provides students and graduates with work experiences within the government. We have three principal programs within the Maximizing Northern Employment program: the Graduate Internship Program; the Graduate Placement Program, which is focused primarily on teachers, nurses, and social workers; and of course the Summer Student Program. My expectation is that we’ve been very successful so it’s going to continue for some time.
To the Minister, thank you so much for that response. I think it’s important that people know that this program is going to continue to exist. I know there are a lot of people who are accessing this program who are very pleased with the supports they’re getting. Could the Minister tell me how much the program is and how it’s administered within the Department of HR?
Human Resources administers this program and some of the programs are funded by Education and Health and Social Services. We work very closely with those programs. In total we spend $1.85 million for the Maximizing Northern Employment program. Just to give you some of the details of what makes up the Maximizing Northern Employment: the Graduate Internship Program has $1.3 million; the Graduate Placement Program for teachers, $125,000; Graduate Placement Program for nurses, $640,000; Graduate Placement Program for social workers, $200,000; the Summer Student Program Progressive Experience Program for non-health students is $200,000. The total is $1.8 million, of which the Department of Health contributes $1.04 million.
In addition to that we spend $594,000 to support the Graduate Placement Program and $110,000 to promote the program, and approximately $2.6 million to place the graduates and students. Thank you.
It’s a great program and thanks for that information. The last question I have relates to some questions that were asked earlier this week and last week. A lot of this program depends on some promises that were made by a previous Premier, that all northern graduates in teaching, social work and nursing would be guaranteed an offer of employment. Is this government still committed to that promise and can the northern graduates in nursing, social work and teaching continue to expect that they’ll have some support to obtain employment in the Northwest Territories upon their graduation? Thank you.
For both nurses and teachers, this government guarantees an offer of employment to all northern graduates. I should also indicate that if a job offer has been made and it has not been accepted, then we consider the guarantee as being fulfilled. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
