Agreed.
Total department, not previously authorized, $219,000.
Agreed.
Page 10, Justice, operations expenditures, service to the government, not previously authorized, negative $91,000.
Agreed.
Legal aid services, not previously authorized, $4,000.
Agreed.
Court services, not previously authorized, $5,000.
Agreed.
Community justice and corrections, not previously authorized, $24,000.
Agreed.
Total Department, not previously authorized, negative $58,000.
Agreed.
Page 11, Education, Culture and Employment, operations expenditures, directorate and administration, not previously authorized, negative $46,000.
Agreed.
Education and culture, not previously authorized, $364,000. Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just wanted to ask, the student information system that we failed to implement last year and we’re proposing to bring the money over into this year to implement this year, I understand that this is an important program. There is, you know, sort of an urgent need to get this done.
Can I get a little more information on that? What is the urgent need to get this done? What are the challenges to getting it done, and how are we going to work on this differently to make sure we complete this this fiscal year?
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Mr. Aumond.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The student information system is used to track information such as student demographic data, report cards, support plans from K to 12. The department undertook to implement the system last year, but for some reason due to delays was unable to complete the training. The $306,000 that is being requested to carry over to this year is to complete the training for the new system. Replacement of the new system was required because the vendor who was supporting the previous system no longer was able to provide that support.
Again, I’m not totally clear yet on what the system does. I understand that we don’t have a system because the other one hasn’t been maintained. Report cards, I think, was mentioned. Obviously, that sort of information, following students and making sure we capture information on them seems pretty critical from year to year.
Could I just get a little more in-depth explanation of the student information system and what it is that we don’t have in place at this moment?
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Minister Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think the key point is the system that was previously there has been discontinued and the service for it stopped last June, basically a year ago. We have a non-functioning system that contains all the basic data we have about students across the land, grade K to 12 in all the schools in the Northwest Territories, as well as the specific information for report cards, all the plans they do, the student plans and the demographic information. We have a fairly mobile population, so there are people, families, children moving around. That system that provides all that information that can be moved and track all the key elements of our education system, which is our students, is non-functioning and we need to get it replaced and a new system up to date and in place to fill that gap.
Mr. Chair, again, it does seem like critical information to know when we’re talking about our students here. The Minister mentioned a couple of things why we want to be tracking our students. We have a lot of special needs students, as we know, across the Territories. I assume this means we’re not tracking these sorts of things, because we have a non-functioning system. When will this be up and running once we approve this budget? Thank you.
Mr. Chair, the intent is to carry on with the work and get it done as soon as possible. They have another school year coming up in the fall. The anticipation is they’d like to have this system functional by then. I would point out one of the other purposes of the student information system of course is tied to the funding for DEAs and DECs which is based on enrolment as of October. The plan would be to get it done and hopefully to be up and ready by the upcoming school year in September.
Mr. Chair, thanks to the Minister for that additional information. That does sound like important use of this system. I don’t know whether the Minister is aware or knowledgeable in this area, but covering the bases and this information obviously sounds so important that I don’t think we can really exist without it somehow. How are things being handled in the meantime until we do get a new electronic system in place?
Mr. Chair, I am going to turn to the Minister of Education and see if he can speak to the system issues as they now exist. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. Lafferty.
Mr. Chair, regarding the student information system, there have been some changes to our current system. In order to be trained on a new educational system, we need to have that mechanism in place. We are tracking the students, as the Minister alluded to earlier, because everything is based on enrolment. We have to monitor the student progress, attendance and so forth. The conversion from one system to another does take time and that’s the reason why we had this training mechanism in place to convert to another system. That is what is before us today. It is continually improving that system. We are hoping that by fall it will be up and running fully. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Education and culture, not previously authorized, $364,000. Agreed?
Agreed.
Advanced education, not previously authorized, $41,000. Agreed?
Agreed.
Income security, not previously authorized, $9,000. Agreed?
Agreed.
Total department, not previously authorized, $368,000. Agreed?
Agreed.
Page 12, Transportation, operations expenditures, corporate services, not previously authorized, $3,000. Agreed?
Agreed.
Airports, not previously authorized, $2.512 million. Agreed?
Agreed.
Highways, not previously authorized, $13,000. Agreed?
Agreed.
Marine, not previously authorized, $1.398 million. Mr. Dolynny.
Mr. Chair, last week, through another supplementary appropriation, we approved capital upgrades to the Louis Cardinal to the tune of about $380,000. Now this week we are seeing another infrastructure amount for almost $1.4 million. Can we get some clarification as to why we are seeing such extra costs moving forward? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Mr. Miltenberger.
Mr. Chair, there are capital upgrades of $380,000. The annual ongoing operation costs are estimated at $1.377 million plus $20,000 of one-time operation expenditures for training costs in 2013-14. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The operation of any ferry service usually follows a fairly preordained path. I mean, water freezes, water thaws, there is a week or two here and there, the trips are pretty much consistent. Can you give an explanation of why we are expecting to see that almost $1.4 million more?
The single biggest operation cost is going to be the crew compensation for the extended season in the neighborhood of almost $433,000. We have fuel for the ferry and the backhoe at $182,000, and we have shop supplies and mechanical/electrical at $187,000. We have ice removal from the hull done twice at $40,000. We have props and shafts at $20,000. Wood chips for the deck are $20,000. If you add it all up, it comes to the cost of $1.37 million.
Thanks to the Minister for the detailed list. I guess my question is – and I know the Member for Mackenzie-Delta is going to be more well-versed in this than I would be – the Louis Cardinal is a much smaller vessel and I know we have the Merv Hardie, a class 2 icebreaker which is way more efficient in design in terms of moving at capacity and yet I suspect not as fuel efficient as the Louis Cardinal. Was there any thought or design to moving the Merv Hardie in lieu of the Louis Cardinal position to get more maximum use and possibly more capacity of use in terms of size, in getting all these extended ferry services during that freeze-up period? Is there any rationale except maybe the efficiency of the motors that went into play here? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Mr. Ramsay.
