It actually includes a number of programs. Over the years we had given out a significant number of bursaries and there is limited data as to whether we were actually getting any return of service on those bursaries and whether we were getting good value for money, so we have continued the bursaries for those individuals that are in nursing programs and other allied programs now, so those individuals that are in are covered, but we have suspended any future intake until we have an opportunity to do a comprehensive analysis to make sure that we are getting value for money.
The Community Health Nurse Development Program is a program that we’re very, very committed to in the department, and it is actually fully subscribed at this point, but we have suspended any future intake until we have an opportunity to review that program to make sure that we are getting good value for money. It is a very expensive program and there may be ways we could partner with authorities to get better effect and get better value for money. We do have people in it, but we have suspended intake until we can actually make sure this program is giving us the value for money that Members regularly ask for.
Can the Minister inform us: Is the department in the habit of putting a halt on its public initiatives whenever it has to get its own homework done? How long has this moratorium been in place? How long is it going to be intended to be in effect?
It has been in effect for a couple months. I’ve been the Minister of Health and Social Services for four months now and it was one of the things that I looked at when I came into the department, because health human resource recruitment is one of the areas that’s obviously important. I’d like to have a strong workforce here in the Northwest Territories.
However, I will check the letter I sent to committee to confirm the date that we did actually suspend these programs temporarily. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. How is the public, specifically people trying to seek careers in the health field, supposed to understand what programs they can apply for and when, when it’s clear even the Members on this side of the House don’t even understand what the heck is going on here? Can the Minister offer some clarity, not only to us but to the people out there holding resumes for the health care sector? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Recruitment is ongoing on a regular basis for the positions we have in the health and social services system across the Northwest Territories. Every day we’re hiring nurses and other allied health professionals. The division that has suspended some programs is more in the planning area around providing incentives for Northerners to pursue careers, and we have provided significant numbers of bursaries. We have had programs like the Community Health Development Program and the intent is good, but we need to make sure that we’re getting value for money. If we’re spending money on bursaries and getting no return for service, we need to make sure that we look at those programs, stop spending or giving out the dollars until we can have a program that meets the needs of our residents and provides an opportunity or incentive to actually return the service that we were hoping to get. An initial review shows there is clearly some question as to whether or not we’re getting value for money for those programs.
We continue to recruit daily. We continue to fill positions across the Northwest Territories. We are committed to the health and social services system and we will continue to recruit. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It has just been over a year now since we’ve had commitment to get a licenced practical nurse in Tsiigehtchic. Yet, to this day, we don’t have a licenced practical nurse in Tsiigehtchic.
I would like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services, has there been any progress in getting an LPN in Tsiigehtchic on a full-time basis? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I’ve said previously in the House, I have directed the department to do a review of the ISDM to see what make-up of professionals would be appropriate in the smaller communities. I have committed to doing that. I note the department has had some discussions with the Beaufort-Delta, specifically around Tsiigehtchic and the options that have been presented by the Member, but we have not hired an LPN for Tsiigehtchic. We need to finish the other work before we figure out what would be the appropriate course of action. I’d be happy to work with the Member, happy to work with committee. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I’d also like to ask the Minister if the department is making any policies to make it possible to have a full-time licenced practical nurse in Tsiigehtchic. Thank you.
I think it’s important to finish the analysis first so we can figure out what the appropriate make-up would be. It may not be an LPN, it may not be an RN. It may be, it may not be. We need to do that work and we have committed and I have committed to do that work and sharing the results with the Member, so we can have an informed discussion on how we can provide quality care for the residents of Tsiigehtchic and the other small communities in the Northwest Territories.
I’d like to ask the Minister, when is the analysis going to be complete and when will the community have a licenced practical nurse, or a nurse, for that matter, in the community? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I don’t have a timeline, but we do plan on doing this review in the 2014-15 fiscal year. We will get to the Member before the end of that fiscal year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do not want this to be a drawn out process. Will this be complete within the 17th Legislative Assembly? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The review, analysis and direction will be completed within the 17th Assembly. It might take a bit of time, but I will continue to work with the Member and committee. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have questions today for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. I would like to follow up on some questions that were asked earlier in the week by my colleagues from Hay River, particularly Mr. Bouchard, who spoke about some of the potential impacts on junior kindergarten, sorry, the impacts of junior kindergarten on other preschool programs. In both Hay River and Yellowknife, we have viable preschool programs and the one I want to specifically refer to is the Aboriginal Head Start program. The Junior Kindergarten Program is going to have a huge impact on Aboriginal Head Start. They’ve recently been advised, not in so many words, but they pretty much have understood that their program, which is for three and four-year-olds, when junior kindergarten starts is going to become a program for three-year-olds. This is a very active program. It’s a very well recognized program and it’s a very successful program and the department itself has told them that.
I’d like to know from the Minister, first off, why are we killing off one program for the benefit of junior kindergarten? Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Clearly, junior kindergarten is optional to the parents. It’s up to the parents to choose where their kids should be going. Obviously, we support the preschoolers who are out there in the communities such as Hay River, Yellowknife and other communities. We continue to support that. We provide funding through various programs we have within ECE and the Health department and other areas and we continue to sponsor those.
This is just an enhancement for the preschoolers who are out there and it is an option for the parents. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
To the Minister, I don’t believe the Aboriginal Head Start program receives any funding from the territorial government. They are a federally funded program and it doesn’t cost anything for parents for their children to attend the Aboriginal Head Start program.
Maybe there’s a miscommunication between what the Minister is telling Members and what the department staff are telling the Aboriginal Head Start staff, but from what the Aboriginal Head Start people are telling me, I don’t understand why the two programs cannot co-exist.
Why does Aboriginal Head Start have to redesign their program for only three-year-olds? Why can they not continue to provide programming for three and four-year-olds?
When I say subsidies for the operators such as preschool, Aboriginal Head Start program is another successful program in the communities funded through the federal government. We continue to enhance those programs in the communities and develop more options. That’s what our main focus is. Some of the communities do not have those options. They have the Head Start program. Some have preschool, some don’t. So, junior kindergarten would allow more flexibility in the communities that do not have licenced child care programming. Those are just some of the areas that we’ve been discussing for a number of years now. Now it’s before us and we’re moving forward.
An early childhood development consultant is also working very closely with those operators, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi.
To the Minister, I am not saying that junior kindergarten is not a good program and I’m not saying that it shouldn’t be implemented. What I am saying is we have eight Aboriginal Head Start programs in eight communities in the NWT. The impression that is being given to both school boards and to the Aboriginal Head Start Council, from my understanding, is that junior kindergarten will be in the schools. The four-year-olds will go to school; the four-year-olds will not go to any other programming. This is not daycare, Mr. Speaker. This is a preschool play program and it is an extremely valuable program. I need to understand from the Minister when he says his department is assisting with the Aboriginal Head Start program and helping the council with their programming, what does he mean by that, because they are not feeling like they’re being helped. Thank you.
As you know, we haven’t really rolled out the program yet. It will be this September. We’re at the point where we are working with those operators such as Head Start programming and also the preschools and other licenced early childhood development programs in our communities and those communities that do not have it. As I stated, we have an early childhood consultant who is working very closely with the communities. We want this program to be very successful. It’s a three-year phased-in approach. We want this Head Start program, preschool obviously, enhanced as well. We will be working closely with them, hand-in-hand. We’re not going to just ignore them. They have been very successful. We’ll continue to support that as well. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There’s a lot in there, but to the Minister, I understand that the department doesn’t want to ignore the Aboriginal Head Start. I understand that the department wants to go into communities where there is nothing, but in these eight communities where Head Start is a well-established, successful, viable program, don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater. I want to say to the Minister that I appreciate he wants to work with Head Start, but the communication is not working.
To the Minister, I want to know, will he go back to the department and discuss with the department the communication that he’s having with the Aboriginal Head Start Council? Because they certainly are not feeling they’re being helped; they feel like they’re being shut down. Thank you.
Mahsi. That’s the whole idea of what we’re doing in our department. I just met with my senior staff last week because we talk about the planning, the rolling out of the program of junior kindergarten and how we can work with the preschoolers, how we can work with the Head Start programming. So those are just some of the discussions we’ve been having.
Mr. Bromley also raised that issue last week, I believe it was. Since that time, we’ve been discussing this particular area, how can we improve our communication, our working dialogue with operators. So those are discussions we’ve been having. We’re going to improve those areas for sure. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As Northerners aspire to further their education, there becomes different trails that students take, especially in regard to Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students. We all want, in the North here, to ensure that we have enough doctors, lawyers, management professionals, teachers, just to name a few, so our students can aspire to those positions.
In small communities there has been a trend in terms of our schools not doing well, especially our students compared to larger centres. Four out of 10 of our Aboriginal students compared to the non-Aboriginal students don’t succeed.
Recently, Education, Culture and Employment has been working on the Education Renewal. So my question to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment is: Will your department’s Education Renewal Initiative eliminate the achievement gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The Minister of Education, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The whole education renewal innovation, the whole purpose is to deal with that, the education achievement gap with the NWT students. We’re responsible for all students in the Northwest Territories. So there are Aboriginal students and non-Aboriginal students, but we’re responsible for all of them. So this education renewal will capture that. Those are the discussions that we’ve been having. Since the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative, the Early Childhood Development Framework and now Education Renewal Innovation. So this is a particular area where we’re focusing on small communities, why are they not succeeding in school. It is one of the pillars that we’re going to be looking at formula funding, we’re going to be looking at how the whole structure hasn’t been succeeding in their schools, the small communities. So this is an area that will be covered and offset through education renewal. Mahsi.
I’d like to thank the Minister for his response. They’re still at the discussion stage, which is reassuring that there’s time for input. However, going back to our students, again, there are always barriers in terms of some of the obstacles that our students have to go through. It’s not very common that you have students that are making the choice to basically separate themselves from their social friends and then make that choice to go back to school. We need to ensure that this government has the support mechanisms in place. Aboriginal youth are more likely to delay the transition to post-secondary studies. That means they are more likely to have children, yet a student getting financial assistance isn’t eligible for daycare. Why is that?
Mahsi. Student Financial Assistance supports the students that need financial assistance going back to university or college. There are subsidy programs through ECE, Education, Culture and Employment that do offset the cost of child care programming because we have to support those students. We want them to succeed and come back to our communities to obviously develop professional backgrounds, so to become a professional.
It may not be covered through SFA, but there are other subsidies within ECE that will offset the cost of daycare. Mahsi.
Thank you. The Minister indicated that part of the efforts to address the need for daycare subsidies is that it’s something that quite possibly could be expanded.
Why doesn’t this government provide a financial aid package that matches the real costs of education? Mahsi.
Mahsi. The SFA program that we deliver in the Northwest Territories, as I’ve stated so many times, this is one of the best benefit programs for student financial assistance across Canada and internationally. So, this will continue to push that forward. Those are some of the areas that may not offset the overall costs of the student achieving their tickets or their diploma, certifications or degrees. There are other subsidies, the scholarships are out there and other benefits that are out there. Some, obviously, work part time as well. There are various venues that individuals can access. So SFA, again, is one of the best programs that we deliver to students and it has been a success. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister has indicated that the Education Renewal Initiative is underway and primarily to try to address the achievement gap between the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students. That’s the main purpose of the Education Renewal Initiative.
Could the Minister, by this spring’s session, commit to giving an update to this House and indicate to us how and what kind of performance measures he will undertake to ensure that his department addresses that gap? Mahsi.
Mahsi. That is part of our discussion we’re having now. As I’ve stated in the House, an action plan will be coming by this spring, late spring and it will be delivered to the Standing Committee for their input as well. So that is the process that we’re going through and yes, I will be informing the standing committee. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When mortgage costs are certainly eclipsing the costs of running a household when it comes to heat, power and certainly water, something has to be done. Furthermore, we have to find a way to help our northern people because there’s just, frankly, no way we’re going to ever attract anybody and it’s hard enough to keep the people we have here.
My first question to the Minister is: What can he do, as Power Corp Minister, to help reduce our power rates that continue to rise at the direction of the NWT Power Corp?
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’ve committed as a government in addition to what the Power Corp’s generating through rates of $33 million to cushion the rate increase since there’d been no rate increase for five years. That’s a distinct investment. As well, we are working into all sorts of areas right to alternate energies. We looked at ways to try to address some of the energy costs. Part of the hope of the grid build-out, as well, is more efficiency and economies of scales that would connect the north and southern grids. We would look to try to continue our investments in solar and those other areas combined with batteries and wind.
So, the costs of energies around the world continue to rise and we are there definitely doing our part. Thank you.
The Minister talks about all great and wonderful things in the fullness of time. Global warming is coming sooner than some of the results of these initiatives, and quite frankly, I think we should wait for global warming over those initiatives because they will solve our problem at the speed they’re flowing through.
Has the NWT Power Corp ever done any type of analysis on the burden of the everyday ratepayer in comparison to other cities? So, in other words, have they taken any analysis of what the city of Yellowknife ratepayer would pay on their power bills versus their income versus other cities across Canada?
There are rate increases going on across the land. Pick a province. We are all challenged with the cost of energy. We are very cognizant about the impact of the cost of energy on the cost of living in the Northwest Territories. We are designing ourselves as a corporation and a government to try to address that issue. We want to work with individuals, businesses, corporations and communities to do all the things necessary when it comes to energy efficiency, conservation, building standards, alternate energy. But there is no doubt that the cost of energy is continuing to rise, especially as we continue to rely so much on diesel.
The Minister continues to talk about these wonderful platitude solutions. At the end of the day, they’re wonderful. Yes, I agree. But, frankly, they do nothing for the everyday taxpayer and certainly working families trying to get by. The Economic Opportunities Strategy, again, recently said that the power rates are holding Yellowknife back. It’s a negative, not a positive.
What is the NWT Power Corporation doing to ensure that we can keep our power rates low, because right now, as we all know, there’s a new application before the PUB to further increase them. We should be working to push these power rates down not increase them. We will never attract 2,000 people if this is the direction the Power Corp thinks is the only way to go. Can the Minister do anything to help the everyday working family?
