Debates of March 24, 2004 (day 7)

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. When will the Minister be determining which school board this new Yellowknife school will be directed to? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Minister.

Mr. Chairman, I haven’t set that up. I have been approached by three boards in Yellowknife who have an interest in a new school. We have quite a challenge ahead of us working with all of our partners here to determine how this money can be used to serve all of our needs.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just to leave this with one last question, has the Minister investigated potential locations for this new school yet to be determined under which school board? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Minister.

Mr. Chairman, there’s been nothing but some general discussion about where it might fit. Some of that will depend on some program decisions and the overall discussion we have to have with the three boards in Yellowknife.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Hawkins.

I can’t help but ask one last question. Will the Minister be engaging any of the Yellowknife Members with regard to this new school yet to be determined under which school board? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. I would hope so. Mr. Minister.

Mr. Chairman, if experience serves me, I will have no doubt that there will be a significant amount of involvement by Yellowknife Members as this decision works forward. We are going to have to try to find some way to work collaboratively to deal with the needs of our constituents.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Pokiak.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I, too, will have to talk with regard to the Mangilaluk School addition. I know it is way back to 2006-07. Can you move that up to next year? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Pokiak. Mr. Minister.

Mr. Chairman, every year we go through a process of evaluating the needs in the capital plan and every year there will be some movement because we will sometimes find that the piles are rotting on a school somewhere that we weren’t aware of and have to move some project forward, or we discover that the population has dropped in a community in the school, therefore it isn’t quite as urgent to deal with the project. I will certainly keep the Member’s request in mind as we are looking at the capital projects next year. It’s difficult to make any promises. It’s impossible to make promises at this point. We will have to assess things as we are preparing the capital plan for next year.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Pokiak.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I understand the process in terms of the requests for the numbers in the schools, but again there is a situation in my community. The classes are crowded and there just isn’t enough space. Also the fact that I mentioned earlier at some of our meetings that the younger kids have a tendency to see what’s going on. Inuvik is a good example in terms of the high school. They have SAMS and they have Samuel Hearne. They are divided from grades 1 to 7 and grades 8 to 12. It’s a good example of what the younger students can see what’s happening with the older students. Having said that, in my community of Tuktoyaktuk, this is what they are requesting. This is one of the problems they are encountering and issues they raised with me. I would just like to bring that forward, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Pokiak. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have heard often from Mr. Pokiak and his concerns about the school in Tuk. I know it was one of the first issues he raised with me. I am aware of the Member’s concerns and I will do my best to work with him and the community to see what we can do. We face though some significant challenges in terms of the needs we have out there for schools where there is significant overcrowding or structural safety issues we have to deal with. That all has to be taken into account as we figure out the mix for each year. I will continue to discuss the issue with Mr. Pokiak and we will have to see how things shake out as the next capital plan gets developed.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Villeneuve.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. One last comment on the subject of schools. I wonder where this school wood pile remediation is going to be of $2 million. I have a lot of constituents that would be qualified as instructors in any school that deals with wood piles.

---Laughter

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. Mr. Minister.

Mr. Chairman, this might be a different kind of wood pile than the Member is used to seeing in Fort Resolution. Most of the expenses for this year are planned for the Beaufort-Delta region and the Sahtu where we have a number of schools where the piles underneath them are rotting out much more quickly than had been expected.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. To the topic of schools and planning schools, especially in Yellowknife. Now that we are on the record, I would like to add another comment that is becoming more and more evident. I think the Minister has mentioned that he has heard from three school boards in the city that are anticipating new schools. I count four. Then I would add the Arctic College campus for many years, I think since its inception, there has been talk of a campus. I guess my suggestion there is because we are looking at so many different institutions, potential institutions at such a cost and such a large land quantum that I would like to suggest the department take a lead role in doing a city-wide, all-inclusive board survey of the city’s needs, perhaps a 10 or 20-year period because I don’t know that planning various schools on a one-off basis really serves the community in the best way. We seem now to have so many things coming to the table at the same time that more of a comprehensive review would serve us well. I will stop there if the Minister wants to make a comment; I have one other point I would like to ask, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Braden certainly raises a good point and we can certainly take a look at what we can do. It’s complicated by the different numbers of boards we have in town and trying to predict where the growth is going to be in relation to each one becomes more difficult and makes planning an overall response a lot more difficult. It would certainly be advantageous if we could find some way to do that. We will certainly raise that with our partners here and see what the opportunities might be.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Braden.

To the inclusion in the capital plan here, Mr. Chairman, of K’alemi Dene School replacement and, as we have already discussed, a new potential high school in Yellowknife, are these new additions to the capital plan? I am wondering at what point did these items get added to the plan, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Minister.

Mr. Chairman, these were in the 20-year plan, but each year we go through the plan and a lot of it depends on population. What has happened is that Yellowknife has gotten to the point where we can predict when the schools will reach full occupancy, and so that caused that one to get moved into the system. So they are always identified as somewhere in there being needs. But every year we go through the plan and some communities are going to move around depending on the occupancy load of the schools, on the physical condition, the safety issues that we have to deal with. They aren’t new projects but this is their first appearance in the five-year plan.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. We will now go to Education, Culture and Employment, CAP-17, total advanced education and careers, $3.749 million.

Agreed.

Then we go down to education and culture, total education and culture, $9.681 million.

Agreed.

Total department, $13.43 million.

Agreed.

Does committee agree that consideration of the Department of Education, Culture and Employment is concluded?

Agreed.

What is the wish of the committee? Mr. Braden.

Mr. Chairman, I move we report progress.

The motion is in order. To the motion. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.

---Carried

I will now rise and report progress.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Minister, Mr. Devitt, and Mr. Cleveland. We appreciate your time today and this evening. Thank you, Sergeant-at-Arms. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, your committee has been considering Bill 1, Appropriation Act, 2004-2005 and Committee Report 2-15(3) and would like to report progress with two motions being adopted and, Mr. Speaker, I move that the report of Committee of the Whole be concurred with.

Do you have a seconder for that? Mr. Braden. The motion is in order. To the motion.

Question.

All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.

---Carried

Item 22, third reading of bills. Item 23, Mr. Clerk, orders of the day.

ORDERS OF THE DAY

Mr. Speaker, there will be a meeting of the Board of Management tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m.; a meeting of the Accountability and Oversight committee at 9:00 a.m.; and, a meeting of the Governance and Economic Development committee at noon.

Orders of the day for Thursday, March 25th:

Prayer

Ministers' Statements

Members' Statements

Reports of Standing and Special Committees

Returns to Oral Questions

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Oral Questions

Written Questions

Returns to Written Questions

Replies to Opening Address

Replies to Budget Address

Petitions

Reports of Committees on the Review of Bills

Tabling of Documents

Notices of Motion

Notices of Motion for First Reading of Bills

Motions

First Reading of Bills

Second Reading of Bills

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

- Bill 1, Appropriation Act, 2004-2005

- Bill 4, Supplementary appropriation Act, No. 3, 2003-2004

- Committee Report 1-15(3), Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight Report on the Review of the Draft 2004-2005 Main Estimates

- Committee Report 2-15(3), Standing Committee on Social Programs Report on the Review of the Draft 2004-2005 Main Estimates

- Committee Report 3-15(3), Standing Committee on Governance and Economic Development Report on the Review of the Draft 2004-2005 Main Estimates

Report of Committee of the Whole

Third Reading of Bills

Orders of the Day