Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am going to keep the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment going up and down for another few minutes yet. I would like to return to the issue that I discussed with the Minister yesterday and that’s the impact of junior kindergarten on the Aboriginal Head Start program.
Yesterday I mentioned it was a federally funded program fully funded by the federal government. The Minister, in answering my colleague’s question, I didn’t really get a sense that he understands. He referenced a number of communities that don’t have daycare; he referenced the need to put junior kindergarten into 29 communities, and I do not disagree. Junior kindergarten is a good program and, yes, we should be implementing it. However, we have Aboriginal Head Start in eight communities and I think we could already say we have junior kindergarten in those eight communities. Aboriginal Head Start services three and four-year-olds. Junior kindergarten is four-year-olds.
First, I’d like to ask the Minister why Education, Culture and Employment does not openly endorse the Aboriginal Head Start preschool programs in the eight communities in the NWT where it is operational. Why does the Minister not endorse these programs and use them as junior kindergarten? Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Minister of Education, Mr. Lafferty.
Mr. Speaker, I’ve already answered that question for Mr. Bromley. This is federal programming, the eight communities the Member is referring to. We’re working with them. Junior kindergarten is a prime example as part of enhancing the program. Again, it’s optional. We’re not forcing parents to send their kids to junior kindergarten; it is optional for parents. At this point, I’ll have to take that question as notice. Mahsi
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, have a few questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. As junior kindergarten moves forward, we had a presentation earlier this month on what they plan to roll out. I would like to commend the Tlicho Government in taking over junior kindergarten and offering it in their language. I would like to see a lot more of that in the other regions as well.
Will the Minister work with other regions to ensure that happens? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. The honourable Minister of Education, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The Tlicho language is one of the prime examples, along with Fort Providence and the immersion programs and other communities who have initiated their own immersion programs as well. That’s part of our overall goals and objections in introducing junior kindergarten. They can work very closely with the learning communities, as well, when it comes to culture and language preservation. I agree with the Member that we would like to see all 33 communities deliver similar to what Tlicho have initiated. I support that. We need to work towards that. I believe the three-year phased approach for junior kindergarten will cover all 33 communities. That will offset part of the initiative as we move forward to touch on the Tlicho immersion program in the Member’s riding and other Members’ ridings as well. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you. There’s been a lot of talk these last couple days about junior kindergarten and there doesn’t seem to be much support from here in Yellowknife and I can understand that. It will affect a lot of the daycares here in the city and my biggest concern is the education in the North. It’s quite clear that we’re well behind other provinces and jurisdictions. We need to do something and I believe junior kindergarten is a good start.
Will the Minister ensure that they follow through with the plans that they’ve had to implement more programs this fall? Thank you.
Mahsi. That is our overall plan, starting 2014, the new school year, we’re going to be reaching out to 29 communities, especially those 10 communities that are without licenced child care programming. The Minister’s riding is a prime example. He’s part of a community that would benefit once we roll out the program, and other communities as well. This has huge potential, very beneficial to the communities, especially those isolated communities that do not have this programming. The Member is quite correct that some of the communities are not in the same position as the larger communities. I totally understand that. So this is an area that we’re moving forward with and it will capture that. Mahsi.
The Minister must know something that I don’t, because last time I looked, I’m a Regular Member.
---Laughter
But I would be interested in being a Minister down the road. To the question. There doesn’t seem to be support here in the larger centres for junior kindergarten, so will the Minister look at possibly not rolling that out into the larger centres and focus more on the smaller centres? Thank you.
Mahsi. Our role is we want to capture all students, all children as best as we can and that means covering all 33 communities, small communities and larger centres. As the Minister responsible for 33 communities, I want to capture those students, even the unborn students as well.
So we are going to be rolling it out to 29 communities and then the following year we’ll be in Hay River and the last phase will be to cover the Yellowknife sector. So this is an area that has been the prime focus. We are going to be rolling out this fall for the next three-year approach. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m rising on the heels of my Member’s statement, which I want to continue the questions about working for the everyday family, which, of course, cost is pretty tough on them. Speaking to the question of gasoline, payday loans and cell phone contracts, heavy scrutiny needs to be put on these things.
So my question is to somebody over there in Cabinet, I’m not sure to who we will direct the question to, but the question is: What powers and opportunities avail themselves to the consumer affairs division to deal with these types of problems to demonstrate there is transparency when it comes to fuel pricing, payday loans and cellphone contracts for Northerners? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Minister of Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the fundamental question is what type of government or what kind of society does the Member envision. He’s calling for government regulation quite regularly in all areas of people’s lives and there is some free market characteristics here that we have in our country that are important. There are things we can do with gas, there are things we can do in some areas, but the fundamental question is what type of society is the Member proposing? What level of government regulation does he expect this government to create so we don’t exist in every facet of everybody’s lives? Thank you.
Thank you. I guess it’s my job to answer my questions and not be posed them by the government, I guess.
My next question, if the Finance Minister wishes to answer rather than pose a question back to me is, of course, what powers of investigation does the consumer affairs division have in their own ability under the Consumer Affairs Act to go out, scrutinize some of these particular issues as I’ve highlighted, which are gasoline pricing, payday loans and cellphone contracts, in the public’s interest? Thank you.
Thank you. We have authorities, two in fact, that go out under the consumer affairs bill to look at areas where there are complaints, where there may be concerns. When those are brought forward, they’re dealt with appropriately. Thank you.
Thank you. I really wish we had an expert on the act here today because the act only gives a reactionary power. What is the government willing to do to provide proactive powers to do investigations that protect consumers, protect working families, especially in the area I’ve highlighted, such as gasoline, payday loans and cellphone contracts, that put Northerners first? Thank you.
Thank you. This government does put people first when you look at the amount of money we spend on social programs, the type of infrastructure we have, the services to people at all levels and ages in our communities. When it comes to protecting them in the marketplace, that’s an area where we’d have to look carefully. Once again, the Member makes strong statements about wanting to know what we’re going to do. I’m not sure if he wants some type of police state. It’s not clear to me. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I could sit here and point to the loopholes provided by the Minister’s answer about our customers, and certainly our everyday families that are working to get by, but the question is: What proactive powers can be put into place for consumer protection to ensure that they are being protected over the pariah of poaching, whether it’s high fees, lack of transparency or certainly being held hostage by being the only retailer? We want to put Northerners first. What powers can be put into the Consumer Affairs Act to protect our citizens, not leave them at risk? I would like the Minister to actually answer the question. Thank you.
Thank you. We’re back to the position where I do answer the questions and the Member doesn’t like the answer. So if the committee has specific suggestions in terms of regulatory reform that will address the concerns of the Member, then let us see them, and as we move forward with the business planning process and when we look at the time we have left in our legislative agenda, if there are changes that are agreed to, we’d be happy to consider those. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to ask questions and let the Minister of Education and my constituents know that junior kindergarten, despite questions and concerns from Yellowknife Members, is a good thing for our small communities.
So, what I’d like to ask the Minister firstly, which communities currently do not have any licenced child care programming? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The Minister of Education, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. After our engagement with the communities, numerous discussions that we’ve been having, especially the small communities, it’s been identified that there are 10 communities without licenced child care programming. First are Colville Lake, Enterprise, Jean Marie River, Lutselk’e, Kakisa, Nahanni Butte, Norman Wells, Trout Lake, Tsiigehtchic and Wrigley. Those are the communities without licenced child care programming. Mahsi.
Thank you very much. So, the plan to roll out junior kindergarten, is that coming this fall?
Mahsi. The plan is to obviously roll out the program this school year, 2014, covering the 29 communities, which will offset the 10 communities that are here before us without child care programming. The following year will be, obviously, regional to Hay River and then the following year, the last phase of approach will be to cover the Yellowknife area. Mahsi.
Certainly, there will be a role for early childhood workers. I’d like to ask the Minister what the plan is to assist education with early childhood workers as we move forward with junior kindergarten.
Part of the plan will be to work with existing professional staff that we have currently, and we’re going to be providing specific training to deal with the early childhood as well. This will be happening prior to the summer and also in the fall time for those individuals that may have missed their training. Not only that, we are in the process of topping up the wages for those child care workers as well. Then we have scholarships for those individuals that want to pursue their higher education. We want them to come back, so we will be providing an incentive for them to come back to work for us, so we want to top up their wages so at least they’ll be comparable to across Canada.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary. Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. In our small communities there’s a potential of increasing employment with early childhood workers and the junior kindergarten. Can the Minister confirm that?
We have to look at all angles, how many professionals that we have in the communities that can deal with… We currently have some of the preschools and we have junior kindergarten being rolled out as part of the kindergarten program because some of the communities are very small, the facility themselves as well, so it will be part of the kindergarten and also junior kindergarten, part of the play area. Those are areas that we’re still identifying as we move forward, but it will be offset by those professions that are in the system and building on that.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ve said repeatedly on the record that I support on-the-land treatment programs because I believe that there’s certainly a need and a role for them. I even had a great discussion with an elder from the Sahtu, Ms. Besha Blondin, the other day and we talked greatly about the wonderful things that they do. One of the things of concern with them is the quality of on-the-land treatment programs when they come to treating heavy alcohol and drug addictions and that type of problem where, really, you need experts. I’d like to hear more from the Minister of Health and Social Services where things like on-the-land programs or even mobile treatment programs have been proven to work and what statistics can he provide that point to that direction where they’ve actually helped over the long haul. I believe there’s a place for them when it comes to spirituality and working with the community, but when it comes to hard drugs and hard alcohol problems. I’d like to hear how they will help solve our problems over addictions.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Minister of Health, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Based on recommendations from the Minister’s Forum on Addictions, we have been pursuing options for on-the-land programming as well as mobile treatment. The on-the-land program may not be the most appropriate locations for specific hard core or hard drug addictions, but we do have some facilities in the South that we are contracted where that might be more appropriate. We’re working with a number of different groups who have come forward with a bunch of different opportunities for on-the-land programming. Some of them are for more after-care follow-up, some of them are more preventative and some of them are more about giving families an opportunity to heal after people have returned from different facilities. There are a lot of different opportunities out there. We are pursuing each of these opportunities and we are following the direction that was outlined by the residents of the Northwest Territories and the Minister’s Forum on Addictions.
Is the Minister able to speak to actual results of these types of programs where they have worked and cite any examples, because as I understand it, Nunavut shut down their mobile treatment program because they didn’t think it worked or solved the problems they were striving for.
I would ask the Minister what success he can point to these two particular programs where they demonstrate they’re worth investing in and, again, solving alcohol and drug treatment problems.
In the Northwest Territories we want to make sure that our residents have options and choices, which is why we’ve gone with contracts in some southern facilities that provide some high quality programing. We are looking at on-the-land programming for, as I said, things like after-care or for prevention, support of families, and we are looking at a mobile option.
The Member is right; there was a pilot in Nunavut that didn’t work out around mobile treatment, but we are working with some of the southern institutions as well as there are institutions here in the Northwest Territories who have expressed an interest in exploring different models of a mobile treatment program. We are exploring those and we will have an evaluation framework put in place to make sure that we can assess them appropriately to make sure that they are providing positive results.
Now, I’m going to continue to speak in favour of doing business differently such as these things, but I would hope that the options and choices before us would be known as successful ones.
Would the Minister be able to point to where these have been seen as successful options so our Northerners are getting the best treatment for them available?
With respect to the on-the-land programming that we’re currently piloting with the different organizations through the Northwest Territories, each one is radically different, and each one has been designed by communities and Aboriginal governments with clinical partners to suit some specific needs they’re trying to address within their communities. Each one is different. We will have evaluation frameworks around each one. In many ways, each one of these approaches are unique to the Northwest Territories as well as anywhere else, so we are going to put evaluation frameworks in to make sure that we can get quality assessment on these different pilots so that as we move forward and consider future on-the-land programs we make that we’re supporting programs that work for the people of the Northwest Territories.
We heard clearly from the residents of the Northwest Territories that they are interested in these as an option in addition to facility-based as well as community-based programming.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Mr. Speaker, I would think Northerners would want to know, especially the Department of Health and Social Services, that we can point to that these programs have been successful in some form or matter in other jurisdictions through their implementation when trying to deal with alcohol and drugs. Is the Minister able to point to anywhere that these types of programs have been successful? Because I believe we need to provide options. I’m not against them. I just want to see that they’re working in the right, appropriate areas.
Is he able to point to any successful indicators whether they’re stats, through numbers, whatever the case may be? Provide the House some examples where they’ve helped alcohol and drug treatment.
We’re definitely breaking new ground in this area and we are working with our partners in the communities as well as across the Northwest Territories and they are working with clinical professionals who have provided more standard, typical type programming in other jurisdictions, as well, in the North. We are going to put a solid evaluation framework around this particular program to make sure that we can assess the on-the-land programs that are being delivered to make sure that as we move forward that any on-the-land program that we are supporting here in the Northwest Territories is providing positive benefits to the people of the Northwest Territories and to those individuals utilizing those services.
