When we talk about the early childhood spaces, we do have some throughout the Northwest Territories. We have roughly... I have a number here of 1,800 as a number. But it does fluctuate, the population on these spaces that we have. But I can certainly provide that detailed information for the Member that we have on hand on the early childhood development programming and the needs of these individuals in the communities. That can be available to the Members.
I appreciate that commitment to determine how many child care spaces are needed compared to what we now have. The other question I have is, our birth rate in terms of annual numbers is fairly predictable. Is the capacity in place to provide healthy pregnancy, infant health, and parenting skills programming to all who are likely to need these services? I realize some of those are Health and Social Services but, as I say, I’m impressed with the coordination. Is the capacity in place to provide healthy pregnancy, infant health and parenting skills programming to all who are likely to need those services now?
I was just chatting with my colleague here. Yes, the health centres do provide those services. Not only that, within the early childhood space the Member is referring to, capacity, we do have the capacity. If not, then the funding that’s been identified is available to organizations that would like to maybe open up a space in that area. Yes, there is a collaboration and cooperation by Health and Social Services and our Department of Education, Culture and Employment on providing more services in this area.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for that response. I would like to ask the Minister, a particular need is for spaces for infants. That seems to be the bottleneck and perhaps understandably. It’s very challenging. Is the Minister supporting the provision of child care spaces for infants and where are we at on that? Is there sufficient provision of those spaces out there? I understand there isn’t. What is the Minister doing to provide that?
That infant provision is part of the ongoing discussions that we’re having, whether it be the expansion of the area. But within the early childhood spaces, we do have infants in our spaces. Within the five regions, as I indicated, the 1,800 spaces available, they also have a child care area and nursery school, after-school program and family day home. So they do take in infants as well. So we’ll continue to work with that with those organizations that we sponsor.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are addressed to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. He’s getting his exercise getting up and down today. I was going to ask him what progress has been made and ask for an update on plans that ECE has for phase two expansion of Ecole Allain St-Cyr. He’s kind of referred to that in answering questions from Mrs. Groenewegen. He’s mentioned that discussions with the board are ongoing and he’s also mentioned there was a need for board assistance. I’m not exactly sure what that means. I know the board is onside with this project, so I’d like to know from the Minister what he thinks needs to be done in order to get this project going.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. We did send off another letter to the federal Minister of Canadian Heritage in January, this last month, reminding them of the critical stages we’re at to expand the phase two of this particular school. Not only that, but we’re trying to expedite the process. As I highlighted earlier, gymnasiums and other additional administration and learning support and the building services area, that’s the phase two that we’re talking about. At the same time, we are waiting for them to give us the go-ahead.
When I said the discussion is ongoing, we are continuing the discussions with the federal government and at the same time are having an open communication dialogue with the French school and the superintendant that is actively involved in this area with my department.
I don’t believe I heard the Minister tell me what he thinks is required. I appreciate that a letter has just recently been sent to Heritage Canada, but I am still looking to know what it is that we need to do. I have another question, though, on a bit of a different tack.
I’d like to know whether or not the Department of Education, Culture and Employment has facility standards for NWT schools and do we have facility standards that provide for a gymnasium in any school that the department builds.
In the past even the current stages, the schools are being built with gymnasiums usually built in the past through MACA in partnership and also with the community. There’s always been a partnership approach, because it does reflect on the recreation aspect of it. We continue to have those dialogues with the new schools as we move forward.
Thanks to the Minister for the answer, but it really didn’t get to my question. At one time there were facility standards for schools. There were things that were required such as certain classrooms of a certain size, open areas spaces of a certain size, office spaces of a certain size. I want to know whether we have facility standards now which require a gymnasium to be encompassed in the building plans for any new school.
With the specific plans of the school specs, we do go through with PWS and also other departments as required. But I can get back to the Member on the specific gymnasium that she’s referring to. Those are the discussions that we continue to have with other departments that are actively involved in this area.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I still didn’t hear that we have those standards. I’m presuming that we don’t. This expansion will provide gym space and I mentioned in my statement that I think there’s a need for the GNWT to show the feds that we’re committed to this project. I think that is also going to put pressure on the federal government and force them to be more supportive of the project than they are at the moment. I’d like to ask the Minister why the government, the GNWT, cannot commit our portion of the capital costs for this project in the 2011 budget. If we show our commitment I think the feds will produce the money that’s required, so why can’t we show the way?
I do believe we are committed to having the school expedited, the second phase. So that’s why we continue to pressure the federal government to sponsor us as they did in phase one. They provided the funding to the schools and we’re hoping that they’ll continue to do so. Those are the discussions that we continue to have to put more pressure on the federal government. We’ll continue to do that.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment questions on my Member’s statement on absenteeism. This is not an opinion. I’m seeking from the data that the Minister has access to, if the Minister agrees that there is a direct correlation between absenteeism and graduation rates.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, throughout this session and in the previous session, as well, we did share the highlights of the graduation among the aboriginal groups or even the northern students. It has been very successful to date. Yes, we are currently dealing with a challenge on enrolment and absenteeism in the schools, but we are developing a plan of action to deal with those matters. I did highlight some of the key areas we’ve initiated with providing worthwhile investment into the school boards so they can deal with those enrolment and absenteeism challenges before us. There has been some progress being made since September until today, Mr. Speaker. So we are making progress in this area. Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, again, from the information that the Minister does have in the department, does the Minister agree that the more education a person has, the greater the potential a person has for employment and higher income?
Mr. Speaker, most definitely I agree that the more an individual has education in their back pocket, high school graduation and on to post-secondary and even to higher education. Of course, we want them to come back to the Northwest Territories and work for whether it be our government or aboriginal governments or municipalities. So we continue to invest into our SFA Program, our Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative area. So we continue to invest in those areas. Early childhood that we talked about earlier, we continue to invest in those important factors. Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, aside from the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative and more money being put into SFA, is there anything specific, anything strategic that’s happening with the district education authorities and the department to address the issue of absenteeism? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, there are different education councils and also education authorities initiating their own practices to deal with the absenteeism. We just came from the South Slave school district where they had certain pilot projects that have been very successful and they are almost meeting the Canadian standards on the grade level. So I’d like to see in the next year or two the final results, hoping that we’re beyond the Canadian standards. Yes, Mr. Speaker, there are successful programs underway within each of the five regions. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Your final supplementary, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I was on the literacy tour in the South Slave with the Minister. I think that all indications are that if the students were attending school better than 90 percent of the time, we would probably be higher than functional grade level, actually. Would the Minister look at re-profiling some money to address the absenteeism issue with the district education authorities, from the department to the district education authorities? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I do believe this will be part of the discussion that the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative will certainly take into consideration, because they are dealing with the absenteeism, the enrolment issue, the functional grade level and the also the high school graduates we’re upgrading. Those are the discussions that are before them and they will certainly take those into consideration. If not, we can certainly discuss it as we go forward. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today in my Member’s statement, Mr. Speaker, was the operation of fire departments in the local communities that I represent in Nunakput. Mr. Speaker, considering the volunteer firefighters are risking their lives for the service and protection of the communities, will the government develop a comprehensive checklist, whether it be proper valves functioning, breathing apparatus, heated truck facilities, proper safety training, a listed checklist to each community? Will the Minister commit to that, Mr. Speaker?
Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Robert McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have an assistant fire marshal in the Inuvik region that would be more than willing to go and visit the communities and work with them to do an inventory of the type of equipment they have and some of the training that they need. He’d be willing to do that and that would help the community identify some of their priorities. Thank you.
In the community of Tuk -- I’ve been a firefighter there for over 20 years, Mr. Speaker -- we have no breathing apparatuses. We have six units that were there from the 1980s. The bunker gear is outdated, Mr. Speaker. We were at a fire about a month and a half ago. I’m asking the Minister if he could commit to find the funding and the financing to address these issues in all of Nunakput. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the allocation of money, we give all our money to the communities now and the communities will then do their capital plan and do their priority list. We’re having more and more communities now identifying some firefighting equipment, and their fire halls, they’re identifying those as part of their capital plans. So the Member’s communities up in Nunakput, I’m sure, once they work with the assistant fire marshal and realize what their priorities are and what equipment they need, I’m sure that they’ll take it upon themselves to identify those and start putting some money towards purchasing those. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, during the transfer of the New Deal, it’s difficult for the smaller communities to catch up on these. There’s too little capital dollars given to the communities. Mr. Speaker, all we’re asking for in the communities that I represent is that the fire marshal goes up there and does a proper check, a checklist in regard to the safety of the firefighters and not only that, for the safety of the people. Can the Minister commit to me that a fire marshal will go to every community and check the facilities that are in the communities? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I have had some discussions with the assistant fire marshal and he’s aware of some of the community demands. He’s more than willing to meet with the communities, identifying some of their equipment, their priorities, what needs to be improved. They’re also planning on having regional workshops, where they bring the firefighters in from the communities and have a regional workshop in Inuvik. I think that’s a great idea instead of sending them a long way. I think we’d be able to accommodate more people by having it in the region. These are initiatives that he’s got on the go and I think they’re very good initiatives that would benefit the communities in the Beaufort-Delta. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Your final supplementary, Mr. Jacobson.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That’s all good news to hear from the Minister. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to ask the Minister if we could do a joint letter to that fire marshal from myself and from him to get him into the communities to get this issue sorted out before a fire does occur. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I will communicate to the assistant fire marshal in the Inuvik region the member’s desire to have him go into his communities. I’m sure that he will be well aware, after our discussion today, that he is needed in Nunakput. But I will communicate to him the Member’s desire and we’ll make sure that he gets up and works with the communities in identifying their firefighting equipment. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today in my Member’s statement I was trying to talk about the issue of solving some our housing problems. We’ve got one arm of the government trying to attract people; we’ve got another arm of the government of housing that likes to talk about how they work to increase the adequate supply and sustainability and, certainly, the affordability of housing, but we just don’t seem to have a conductor organizing this whole thing. Then comes along this committee called the strategic investment for cost of living. I think they could be the real focus of this and certainly the solution to this issue.
Mr. Speaker, speaking to the Construction Association, I think they are really onto something, a solution to some of the housing problem and certainly attracting people to the North and giving them the opportunity to an adequate supply of housing. I would like to ask Minister Lee, who is chair of that committee what is that Cost of Living committee doing to address the land costs to help provide adequate housing that is affordable here in the North? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister who is in charge of the committee on Reducing the Cost of Living, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I indicated earlier, the committee was set up to do work across different departments to advance the objectives that were laid out by the 16th Assembly when we first met. We have been working on investing. We have invested in improving infrastructures, winter roads, highway improvements, airports. We have invested in energy initiatives, and the work of electricity review as well as hydro has come out of this committee. Those are some of the initiatives we worked on to reduce the cost of living in the North. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate those elements. They sort of speak to the overall bottom line of the cost of living. I certainly won’t ignore the fact that the Minister is correct that the budget does attempt to glaze over these issues. If anything, the reality is nothing really changes on the bottom line.
Mr. Speaker, the fact is, I think the Construction Association again is on the right issue. They believe addressing some of the cost of living factors are let’s tackle one of the pillars which is housing. So, Mr. Speaker, to the Minister, has the Cost of Living committee ever thought about addressing some of the costs to housing, such as land development, to help stimulate a bit of a housing boom here in the Northwest Territories that could help bring in new residents to our North? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I am aware that MACA has been working on land development issues and some of the challenges faced with land over the years. Having said that, Mr. Speaker, I am aware that the NWT Construction Association sponsored this gathering last Friday. I could not attend because I went to a fundraiser for Haiti, sponsored by the Native Women’s Association. I am interested in hearing what this Construction Association has to say based on their gathering. I understand that they are seeking to speak to us. I am more than prepared to work with other colleagues on the Cabinet and Members from the other side to see what they have to say and how we could work together. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to see if the Minister will commit to developing a policy that could help stimulate a housing boom here in the Northwest Territories that does not disrupt market costs or market value in the Northwest Territories but stimulates it through some kind of a bursary program that could work through our individual municipalities again to help them with the infrastructure costs and the land development costs. Mr. Speaker, would the Minister be willing to look at a policy of that nature to help kick off our economy after this recession? Thank you.
