Mr. Chair, I’m not sure we have that information here at this point, but we can certainly provide it. Actually, I do have some information that we will provide to the Members as well. Since 2007 it’s roughly 2,800 cases. In 2008 it increased a bit. In 2009 it increased. It has been gradually increasing over time. From 2007-2008 it was 2,800 roughly. In 2011-2012 it was just over 3,000. There has been some incremental increase. We will provide that to the Members.
Mr. Chair, maybe just a question here in terms of the Productive Choices Program itself. Has that program ever been reviewed and taken maybe a harder stance in terms of what type of choices would be guaranteed in terms of receiving your income support, such as job applications or resume upgrades on a timely basis? Say instead of somebody going and shovelling snow and getting their income every year, that they come and they show that their resume and cover letter has been upgraded every three months, or else either they have a letter of support from a business for a job or that they have applied on a few different jobs looking at trying to get back into the workforce.
Right now we do have some… As he mentioned earlier, there are some people that know how to play the system and it actually affects those people who are actually trying to continue on income assistance but they can’t get into any voluntary positions because all of the voluntary positions are being taken up by everybody that is already doing the productive choices and taking that voluntary sector, taking all of those voluntary positions away. Has the Productive Choices been reviewed? Would the Minister be willing to review it and come up with a more comprehensive plan to add some of those suggestions that I had made such as updating resumes, job applications, those kinds of things? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Chair, the Productive Choices, we obviously review it on an annual basis. We made a lot of changes in that area, adding to what kind of chores that those individuals should be doing, individual meaning without dependents, and with dependents and so forth. We will continue to make those changes. I am always on the look-out to regional representatives and also Aboriginal organizations and even from Members. What kind of improvements should we be making and in what areas? If there’s an area that the Member just referred to, resume writing or updating, definitely we’ll take those into consideration. I’d like to make changes where it benefits the communities, and part of the regulation is we have to provide some accountability and oversight.
Just a final comment, but when I was reviewing the Budget Dialogue 2012, Living Within Our Means, there was a lot of suggestions there in terms of personal responsibility, and I think Productive Choices could take that first step in helping our residents of the Northwest Territories learn, give them life skills, give them the information that can start helping them make those productive choices and start taking on some of that personal responsibility to become part of society and help in that way, rather than just having some residents depend on government. As it was stated in the budget dialogue, it was heard quite a few times, actually. Just more a comment and I look forward to possibly being of some assistance in reviewing these productive choices and giving some of my insight and some feedback. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. I know the Minister took notes down for that. Good point. Moving on with questions on 10-27 I have Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just have a question under the seniors home heating subsidy. I’d like to ask the Minister if the department has been doing any plans to actually increase the amount elders could make. I’m getting a number of concerns from the communities I represent. As you know, the cost of living is almost double up in the Mackenzie Delta riding, and for five gallons of gas it’s between $40 and $50. We have elders that like to go out on the land and also to buy groceries. It’s double what we pay here in Yellowknife. I’d like to ask the department, are they planning to increase the amount elders make and still be eligible for the seniors home heating subsidy. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. For that we’ll go to Minister Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Chair. This is an area that we’ve been tackling for quite some time now. When it comes to subsidizing the seniors fuel subsidy, that’s one area that I’d like to see some changes. The Members have raised that issue in the House already, that their kids or grandchildren are living with them and how we’re still penalizing the seniors. So I instructed my department to look at options and I believe we’re at the final stages of looking at those options, and I want to move forward to present to standing committee and that will make some changes to how we subsidize the seniors fuel subsidy, which will benefit the seniors, obviously. That’s my goal. It will be before standing committee soon enough.
With the high cost of living that’s an area that, again, we’ve been exploring. With the fuel, it’s based on the litres or a cord of wood and so forth. So what the Member is referring to, of course, is the small communities and the high cost of living. So it does reflect on that, as well, but any increases we monitor and make changes along the way like we did in 2007, and if there are changes coming, then it will be reflected on our budget. I will be before standing committee. Mahsi.
Thank you. I’d just like to ask the Minister, will we see those changes this year. Thank you.
I, like the Member, so direct. I knew that was coming. Currently, we are going through the ‘13-14 budget. As I stated, the options are coming. They should be on my way to my office soon enough. Unfortunately, one of our senior staff is on personal leave right now and I’ve instructed him to do a bit more in-depth work in this area.
Within a few weeks I’d like to see those options and I want to make those changes as part of the next business planning cycle. So because it’s not before me yet, I can’t really make a commitment within this budget, but I’d like to make those changes in the next few months. Mahsi.
Thank you, Minister Lafferty. Committee, 10-27. Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just one quick question. I understand the Auditor General report may be out soon, in the next week or so. What will be the lag time for when we see it or do we all see it at the same time? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Minister Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Chair. It gets tabled, I believe, this coming Thursday in this House. So Members will have the opportunity.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Again, committee, 10-27, Education, Culture and Employment, activity summary, income security, operations expenditure summary, $41.591 million. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Page 10-28, Education, Culture and Employment, activity summary, income security, grants and contributions, grants, $11.136 million.
Agreed.
Page 10-29, Education, Culture and Employment, information item, income security, active positions.
Agreed.
Page 10-30, Education, Culture and Employment, information item, Student Loan Revolving Fund. Any questions?
Agreed.
Okay, 10-33, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. If I could get an update here, I note that Yellowknife District Education Authority No. 1 includes funding for K’alemi Dene School in Ndilo and I know the Minister is well aware that they’re looking for their own educational authority. Actually, they have their own, but it’s sort of been on hold and they agreed for some period of time to be under the umbrella of the Yellowknife District No. 1 and now they’re striving to be on their own. Will that be happening this fiscal year? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Minister Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Chair. This is an area we’ve been exploring for quite some time now with the Ndilo K’alemi Dene School, the DEA and so forth. So the Member is asking if it’s going to be part of this year’s budget. My staff is telling me yes.
That was my basic question. I appreciate that straightforward answer, that’s good to hear. Will it be as straightforward for carving out the budget from YK1 for this DEA or are we anticipating that to be a challenge and what are the issues? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. For that we’ll go to Mr. Devitt.
Mr. Chair, the budget for Ndilo is already separated. They’re contracting with school district 1. So I don’t believe that will be an issue. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Devitt. Moving on with questions on 10-33 we have Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I wanted to ask a question with regard to the numbers on this page. We see funded positions from ‘12-13 and ‘13-14 go down 23 positions. My first question would be do we have a corresponding reduction in student enrolments. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. For that we’ll go to Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Chairman. I’m trying to find that information here. The information we have, of course, is based on projection and the enrolment, if it goes down, reflects on the actual budget. Unless my director has more detailed information that he can follow up on.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. Devitt.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As the Minister mentioned, this particular information item, because of when it was done, is based on projections. I believe the projects were for about a little more than a 2 percent decrease in enrolments. Enrolments have actually gone down about, I think very close, but about 1.7 percent and we’re just completing the actual contribution calculations for next year now. The amounts here are fairly close but enrolments have actually gone down 1.7 percent as opposed to just over 2 percent as projected.
Thank you, Mr. Devitt. Ms. Bisaro.
Thanks for the information. So if our enrolments have gone down, I note that the total funding to schools has actually gone up by about $1 million. If enrolments are down, we have fewer staff from one year to the next, why is the budget going up?
There are actually Collective Agreement increases that cover, actually, two school years because there’s some from the past agreement for northern allowance and then the new agreement. There are also some other increases associated with growth in other areas such as cost.
Thank you to Mr. Devitt for that information. Just one last question. This is almost $150 million that we are allocating to our education authorities. We turn this money over to them, and I think the Minister’s referenced it a bit previously, but what do we ask of the authorities to have them justify to the department that they’re spending the money the way we think they should be spending it?
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Chairman. Obviously, there has to be a financial accountability. On an annual basis we receive financial statements from them. I believe it’s audited financial statements from them on an annual basis. That clarifies where expenditures happen and in what areas and so forth, staff, administration, the schools, student programming, all of that. That’s how they base it on annual expenditures, through audited financial statements.
Thanks to the Minister. That accounts for, sort of, the actual money that they’re spending, but they’re spending the money to achieve certain results and standards, I would hope.
I would like to know from the Minister, he’s heard a lot from Members about the inequality of graduating students, the level of education that students graduate with. I want to just ask this question because I often wonder about it. Who is responsible for the quality of the results in our K to 12 education? Is it the education authorities or is it the department?
The quickest answer would be everyone. We’re all responsible. We provide funding to the school boards. Even the parents and grandparents have to play a part. The school programming, there is an accountability framework that happens where my department and I work closely with the divisional boards to make it a success for the students. When we say who is responsible, I believe that we are also responsible. We have to make sure that the school boards are following the Education Act and the money that flows to them goes to the direct cause of student success. Those are just some of the areas that we closely monitor.
We have heard over and over about some students not successfully completing Grade 12. We have heard that. Due to that we are doing an education renewal that will capture the small community schools and professionalism, and also the systems. Even the student assessments are part of that. We are dealing with it. We are very serious. We want the education system in the NWT to be the best of the best. That is what we’re pushing for.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Page 10-33, Education, Culture and Employment, information item, details of funding allocated to education authorities.
Agreed.
Page 10-34, Education, Culture and Employment, information item, education authorities, active positions. Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just one really quick question here. Something that I’ve noticed is the decrease in active positions for the Beaufort-Delta. There is a loss of seven positions here. I also see that is also a trend with the Deh Cho and Sahtu. Specifically for the Beaufort-Delta region, what positions are those and how will it affect the running of the organization?
Thank you, Mr. Moses. For that we’ll go to Mr. Devitt.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The funding formula works on a regional basis, although we do look at community data. The reduction would happen at the regional basis and it would be up to the division education council to allocate that funding by community and school.
So just for clarity, the Minister and staff today wouldn’t know what positions are going to be lost under this formula.
