Thank you, Mr. Chair. My question has to do with board reform. I mentioned it in my remarks earlier. I’d like to know from the Minister whether or not the department has any plans over this next fiscal year to make any changes in terms of the makeup of education authorities or if there are any plans, if it’s not changed in the makeup, what sorts of things are in the works that the department is planning to work on. Thank you.
Minister of Education.
Mahsi, Mr. Chair. I guess the reason why it’s not reflected in this budget is that work is still being collaborated with the regional boards, whether it be the schools, the health, the housing, but nothing has been changed at this point. As we move forward, as I stated earlier, there will be more discussion that will be taking place. But, Mr. Chairman, the Member is asking if there have been any changes. No, there has not been any change. Mahsi.
My question was not so much whether there has been any change to date but what is being contemplated for this next fiscal year. This issue was extremely volatile and piqued the interest of many residents and particularly the education authorities. So the Minister states that they are working on it. I wonder if he can tell us what sorts of things they are working on and what changes might be contemplated that they are going to be working on. Thank you.
We will be asking the boards to provide to the department a summary of the current system that they have and just an ad hoc process, the practice that they have done for years; some of the activities that allow greater collaboration between the boards and agencies in the regions. With that in mind, we will be seeking input into areas of collaboration from our department to the regional boards and also case management to strengthen in that regard. We are also very interested in identifying ways to improve the overall accountability and reporting by the boards. Mahsi.
One other question. The Minister mentioned earlier today when he was talking about Ecole Allain St-Cyr, I think, that there is a 10-year education plan that is underway that, I think, is being developed now at this point in time. I wondered if he could advise if that is the case and if he could advise when this 10-year education plan or facilities education plan will be available and complete. Thank you.
Part of the plan will be to have that package... We are hoping to have it available April 2010. So we are looking forward to that so we can start thinking about the future capital plans. Mahsi.
On Page 10-13, Education, Culture and Employment, activity summary, directorate and administration, operations expenditure summary, $10 million. Agreed?
Agreed.
Moving on to page 10-14, Education, Culture and Employment, information item, directorate and administration, active positions. Agreed?
Agreed.
Page 10-17, Education, Culture and Employment, education and culture, operations expenditure summary, $181 million. Mr. Bromley.
Thank you Mr. Chairman. A couple of things. First of all, I am wondering, I spoke earlier in the House, and the Minister did, about what our actual need is for child care spaces and particularly for infants, but certainly for all child care needs territory-wide. I believe the Minister is going to work on that, but I just want to stress that this would be a useful statistic to have and to help evaluate how this program is going. We are doing some good work to build on this program and I am very happy to see this. It is time that we started to have some good evaluation happening and one thing that I think would be very useful would be the development of needs. How many child care spaces do we need in the entire Northwest Territories and where are we at in providing those? That is just a comment.
On the official languages side, I understand that the Standing Committee on Government Operations requested a comprehensive response to their review of the Official Languages Act for the May sitting. I am wondering if we are on target for providing that. I will just start there, thank you.
Mr. Minister.
Mahsi, Mr. Chairman. When we presented that in the fall time to provide a comprehensive response to the recommendations that are brought forward, we continue to work with different language organizations, language groups in the communities, just looking forward to this Aboriginal Language Symposium. Out of that we will produce a strategic plan to deal more in-depth of the discussion that needs to take place on recommendations. So I would say yes, at this point we are on par, but there is more work to be done. So, Mr. Chairman, those are the areas that we continue to have our priority in place. Mahsi.
That is really good to hear that we are on par, that we are on schedule. I look forward to that at our next sitting here. I know in the response that was provided, there was quite a number of recommendations that the Minister agreed to and that there was a commitment to providing updates on those as they worked towards achieving them and I don’t recall seeing any updates on that. I am wondering if I have just missed those. Are they reflected in some of the budgeting that I see before me on aboriginal languages here and if there is some updates that could be provided, I think that would be much appreciated. Obviously the Standing Committee on Government Operations worked very hard, did a tremendous amount of consultation Northwest Territories-wide. I see the government wants to do even more, but I am concerned that at the rate we are losing some languages, at least we want to be moving forward with these. I would appreciate any comments there. Thank you.
Clearly it is a priority for our department to follow through with all recommendations that are brought forward. Even though we have responded to some of the recommendations in the fall, we want to have a comprehensive package plan of action after the Language Symposium that we are going to be having in March, the end of March. So once that takes effect, then the plan should be available for presentation to the standing committee at that time. Mahsi.
Yes, I will be happy to see that and I see that commitment, too, in your response. Is there funding identified for developing the full response that will be provided in the fall session? Is that part of the funding that is here or is there specific funding for that, or is that just part of the department’s general funding here? Thank you.
In order to provide a response on the recommendations and move forward, we did identify some in-house funding to offset the costs, because we feel that this is an important factor and we need to follow through with and in an on-going forward basis, if we need additional funding on a long-term basis, because some of the recommendations will take longer than just a year or two. So those are the areas that we will certainly consider as part of the next years’ business planning cycle. Mahsi.
Okay, I know that won’t be exciting news to the language communities that are out there waiting for new dollars to come forward here, although I am sure they will appreciate the conference that is happening and so on, and will participate. I am just wondering will the funding program, the proposals, fall out of this update that we will receive in the fall session? Is that where we’ll learn what the plans are and progress on that? Thank you.
Mr. Chair, those are the avenues that we need to work. Not only that, but the federal government, we’ve invited two federal Ministers to come before us, because they need to realize that this is an important factor. So we’re hoping that there will be some commitment. We are getting some funds from them at this point in time, but the funding will be increased, of course. But we will continue to pressure them. Mahsi.
Next on the list I have Mr. Menicoche, Ms. Bisaro and Mr. Beaulieu. Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I just wanted to raise the library services line item here. I know that it goes to some of the regional libraries. Fort Simpson has been without a functioning library for a couple of years now. I’ve raised the issue in the House and raised the issue with the Minister. I’d just like to know what has been done to date and what is planned to assist the community of Fort Simpson in re-establishing a full library there, Mr. Chair. Thank you.
Minister of Education.
Mahsi, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I did indicate that the Fort Simpson John Tsetso Memorial Library does get funds from our department. They did receive, in 2008-09, $16,500; sorry, $21,000, and we increased that funding in 2009-10 to $53,000. So more than double. Mahsi.
I’m pleased to see the amount of resources that are going towards the John Tsetso Memorial Library. However, the fact remains that I’ve been asking about additional resources. The issue is the lack of suitable space to have the storage of library books, et cetera. I’d just like to know what current efforts to date has the department been working towards resolving this issue in Fort Simpson in assisting it to re-establish a library. Earlier I spoke about one of the ways that I saw to fully resource that library was, of course, to declare it a regional library. In all fairness, it is a region and it is without a library. So short of working towards that, I know that the government is aware of the needs of the community and the children of Fort Simpson in establishing a library. Just once again, what is the current status of GNWT involvement in re-establishing the library? Thank you.
Mr. Chair, the library issue has been brought to our attention. We had the discussion with the superintendent of the Dehcho Divisional Education Council and there was supposed to be a meeting set up this month in the community. There has been talk about the school, the Thomas Simpson and Bompas Elementary School to accommodate a library program. So they do have the capacity right now. Those are the discussions. There is talk about structural engineering submission for review on both schools and the location of it. So, Mr. Chair, there is supposed to be a meeting scheduled and we’ll certainly follow through with the superintendent to see what the status is on that. Mahsi.
Thank you very much for that update and I’ll be looking forward to any future update, especially when that meeting happens.
Just with respect to the official languages, once again, there was, of course, a concern of mine of lapsed funding. I know that the Minister was talking about a lot of that official languages money is given to the divisional education counsels. I’m very concerned that in this coming fiscal year that there may be more lapsed money and especially, like I said, I was supporting a proposal from the Deh Cho Friendship Centre in developing a Slavey CD-Rom project, which was quickly refused by the department saying that all the funds had been allocated. But at the same time, I know that the Minister is very aware of the almost $1.4 million over the past couple years. What mechanisms are in place for this fiscal year that we’re talking about, 2010-11, of preventing that and, in fact, if the Minister can answer what mechanisms or what are they looking at so that this kind of huge lapse of much needed aboriginal funding won’t happen for this 2009-10 fiscal year which ends March 31st, Mr. Chair? Thanks.
Mr. Chair, one of the mechanisms would be, of course, we need to closely monitor the funding that’s been allocated and making sure that it is fully expended. There has been some improvement over the last several years with the schools. They have expended their funds to the best of their ability. Unfortunately, there are some funds that lapse. But those are areas that we’ve identified where we can improve. My deputy will be meeting with the staff to deal with the matter at hand because this is of importance to us. It’s a very serious issue. Mr. Chair, we will continue to monitor as part of our mechanism to deal with this matter at hand. Mahsi.
I’m still not convinced that we will not lapse any money in this coming fiscal year and I’m not too sure what mechanisms the Minister speaks about ensuring that it doesn’t happen in the future. Of course, the amount of emphasis and efforts and concern that we as MLAs have with regard to our aboriginal languages is something that we have to ensure that we’re doing our best to get those resources out to the communities. At the same time, my concern is that we’re saying no to grassroots proposals that are out there saying all the money is spent, but I’m still not convinced that’s the case. I don’t want to get into too much detail, but certainly there are probably organizations or groups out there that are hanging onto their money until the last minute but they cannot spend it. So there’s got to be a way of monitoring it, of redistributing those resources as quickly as we can before the fiscal year ends, or even have the ability... The Minister can have the ability to ensure that the funds get out the door by March 31st, the end of this fiscal year. At the same time, there’s got to be… I know that sometimes funding is just rolled over into another organization from one year into the next. But if these organizations aren’t performing, why are we just rolling over yearly funding contributions if they’re not performing? So that’s what they actually should be looking at. Who’s getting the money and who’s not spending it is my concern and should be the Minister’s concern as well. It’s something that he should track. If they’re historically not utilizing the funding, we have to find out why and ensure that there’s redistribution for the people that have the good projects. It’s probably not only my region, but the frustration of many other communities that have community-based projects that probably have the same letter as my organization did, like, all the funds are expended. So there has to be flexibility there. There has to be monitoring. There has to be full assessment of who is getting the money and who is not using it on an annual basis, because over a couple of years there is certainly a trend developing.
That is, once again, the Minister can comment on that there, Mr. Chairman, in his best efforts not to lapse any money for 2009-10 year and then to develop a good streamline mechanism for the budget year that we are talking about today there, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.
Mr. Chairman, we will have a good streamline process as we move forward. As indicated, this is an area of interest to me and also concern. There has been some work on the way. We have identified a couple of positions that we highlighted; aboriginal student coordinator. That initiative will deal with this matter at hand as well. We want to have a mechanism in place where most of the money expended to the regions, but at the same time there are unique circumstances that are beyond our control at times.
Mr. Chairman, as a department we will do our best to fully utilize the funding that is available to us on to the language groups and various organizations. We share the Member’s concern. We will certainly take that fully into consideration. Mahsi.
Next on the list I have Ms. Bisaro, Mr. Beaulieu and Mr. Bromley. Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have a couple of questions on this section. I would like to first off state that I am -- and I have mentioned it in my comments earlier -- very pleased to see that there is an increase in the funding to arts and culture. It is the way that we should be going. I am very glad to see that the department continues to increase the funding in this particular area.
I have a concern with the early childhood and family literacy funding. It is a strategic initiative, I believe, in this particular section of the budget. I am glad to see that we are increasing the funding for early childhood and for family literacy. They are both areas that are extremely important. I echo the comments from my colleague, Mr. Bromley, earlier. I am a little bit concerned, though, that this funding may only be one-time funding. I would like to ask the Minister whether or not the funding for early childhood and family literacy is going to be an ongoing funding and it will continue year after year after this fiscal year. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Minister.
Mr. Chairman, this is an area of focus, as well, with our department, investing more into the early childhood development area. Yes, this particular area will be ongoing funding. Next year we will be faced with that again. It is important to note that it is a worthwhile business, so we will continue to fund that. Mahsi.
Mr. Chairman, it is good to hear that this is going to be ongoing. I am presuming that it will be added to base funding for the fiscal year 2011-12. Also, in terms of child care, and I think that the Minister referenced that there is going to be some research done, some investigation done in terms of what child care facilities do exist in the NWT, and I think it is a very valuable research. I believe that we need to be putting an awful lot more money into child care spaces, assisting child care with both physical facilities, capital costs and with providing more daycare spaces for people who happen to be working and that is in all of our communities. It is difficult enough here in Yellowknife, but I know in the smaller communities it is probably almost impossible to get a daycare space.
One of the statements that was made when we were discussing the business plans was that there was going to be an investigation of the School Community Counsellor Program. I wondered if there is a problem with this particular program. What program is it that is being reviewed and, perhaps, why? Thank you.
Mr. Chairman, with the child care spaces, we do have approximately 1,810 spaces that we support. Out of that, there are roughly 117 programs across the Northwest Territories. With the School Community Counsellor Program, it has been delivered through, as you know, the college for a number of years. There has been some interest, of course, in restarting that. Those are the areas that we are looking at as we speak. We need to have more discussion in that field. Mahsi.
Mr. Chairman, thanks for the answer to the Minister. I just would like to suggest that, when this is being investigated, when it is being looked at, the Minister and the department seriously consider the effect the lack of school counsellors has on students in schools, particularly high schools and their inability to actually fully understand the impact that particular course will have on their post-secondary education. The Minister full well knows it has been an issue that has come out a fair bit in the last several months. I think if there is an opportunity for us to train school counsellors, that this would certainly be a valid program. If it is not counselling the kids, if it is something different, then my remarks don’t apply to this particular item, but I still feel that it is imperative that every school that has students in high school grades needs to have someone in that school who is counselling those kids on which classes they should be taking to achieve the goals they want to achieve in order for them to advance to the secondary education level that they want and that they need to get to. That is just a comment. I don’t have a question there. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I will leave it up to you, Mr. Minister. You can respond to the comment or we can move on. Mr. Minister.
Mahsi, Mr. Chairman. The School Community Counsellor Program in the past has been very successful through Aurora College. We are starting our annual programs and service proposal discussions with the college. Those are discussions that we need to have and working closely with the college president with my department. Mahsi.
I just have one more and it has to do with the issue of funding for inclusive schooling. When we did the business plans, we were advised that inclusive schooling funding was being reduced from 19 percent to 18.5 percent. I think, as well, somewhere along the line since business plans and now, I have been advised that it doesn’t mean a reduction in the cost to individual education authorities. I guess if I can get an explanation as to how the reduction in the percentage of funding to schools is going to give them the same amount of money that they need to deal with their inclusive schooling needs children. Thank you.
Mr. Devitt.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The department currently funds schools based on a funding framework. It varies with enrolments, collective costs such as collective agreements. The formula for inclusive schooling will not be changed. There are no plans to change that formula.
What the new approach means is that the department will be no longer be adjusting the formula to match a particular percentage of overall school funding. This will avoid having to change the formula every year and it also avoids potential difficulties in determining a percentage in overall school funding when the approach or when there are transfers to other departments such as utility transfer, so it simplifies things in that area. Thank you.
That was kind of clear as mud. I guess if I understood correctly, it’s now being tied to students within an authority as opposed to being tied to a percentage of costs within the authority’s budget. I didn’t fully understand how this dollar amount is being determined. Secondly, is the dollar amount that is going to individual authorities going down this year for inclusive schooling? Thank you.
We’ve always used a formula to fund schools. In the past, though, if the relationship or the percentage difference between inclusive schooling and other parts of the formula change, we’d adjust the formula. So the change is that we won’t be adjusting the formula for changes in other areas. The formula itself or the amount for inclusive schooling this year is changing to reflect changes in enrolment which have gone down, but it’s also being increased for collective agreements, which have gone up. So there are some changes in the formula, but they’re relatively minor. Thank you.
I will try one more time. The funding that education authorities are going to get for their inclusive schooling needs for their inclusive schooling students, is that going to go up or down in this next fiscal year? Thank you.
It’s decreasing somewhat. Thank you.
Next on the list I have Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, M. Chairman. Just a couple of questions I have here. I notice that the early childhood development budget has gone up quite a bit, quite substantially, actually. I am wondering if the Minister could advise me if there is any of the extra money going to support daycares in Tu Nedhe communities of Fort Resolution and Lutselk’e. I talk about the students and even the absenteeism and then I get information from the schools and I am aware that kids going through a good daycare program have better success early when they start school, better success K to 12, especially better success in the lower grades like K to 5 and so on. I am wondering if there is extra money to support the daycares. Extra money is badly needed in both of those communities. I will start off with that, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Mr. Minister.
