Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Auditor General of Canada’s Report on Child and Family Services was tabled in this House. The Auditor General’s findings indicate that the health and social services system is not adequately meeting its key responsibilities for the protection and well-being of children, youth and families. This is a serious concern for all of us.
The conclusions in the report confirm the findings of the 16th Legislative Assembly’s Standing Committee on Social Programs’ review of the Child and Family Services Act. As a participant in that review, I care deeply about ensuring that we take aggressive action to improve our supports to children and families. The department has accepted all of the Auditor General’s recommendations, and in many cases work has already begun. Although the Auditor General’s findings tell us that we have not made enough progress, nor moved fast enough, there has in fact been substantial foundational work already done to respond to the 16th Assembly’s report.
Mr. Speaker, that report recognized that most cases of child protection do not involve abuse, but involve neglect of children due to factors such as addictions and poverty. It emphasized the need to build stronger supports for communities and families and, in this spirit, provided eight essential recommendations that were seen as foundational for improving the system. We have made significant progress on some of these:
We have completed an updated Early Childhood Development Framework and Action
Plan that emphasizes support to families. The Healthy Family Program has been expanded to every region of the territory and work is underway to adapt it for smaller communities. We are funding early childhood programs at transitional housing in Yellowknife to support the most vulnerable families from across the territory. We will establish an early intervention service to provide direct support to families.
We have made significant new investments to address addictions by expanding the options available to our residents. We have listened to the communities and are putting in place on-the-land healing options. We have put in place a system to fast-track referrals to addictions treatment.
Based on recommendations of both the 16th and 17th Legislative Assemblies, we have developed an Anti-Poverty Strategy, and completed an action plan that includes supports for child and youth resiliency and programs to provide nutritious food.
Recognizing that 90 percent of children in care are Aboriginal, our new Aboriginal health and community wellness division is focusing their efforts on working with communities to support inter-agency committees and develop community-based solutions for supporting families.
Mr. Speaker, taken together, all these initiatives will help us to reach our ultimate goal of ensuring that no child needs to take advantage of child protection services.
But we know that day is a long way off, and the department has also worked hard to respond to many of the recommendations from the 16th Assembly that speak directly to improving our child protection programs.
Tremendous effort has been put into working with communities to try to establish child and family service committees over the past three years. Staff were dedicated to this project, and explicit direction was given to health and social services authorities to make this a priority. Mr. Speaker, I am sorry to report that, despite years of effort, there are no child and family services committees currently operational. What we heard from communities is that the model proposed in our current legislation simply will not work. Communities are concerned about financial and legal requirements, about capacity and about the difficult task of engaging in making tough decisions about the lives of friends and family. We need to find a better way to achieve the goal of giving communities a role in supporting families in need.
But many other recommendations of the report have been addressed:
Plain-language materials have been developed and are available in Aboriginal languages to explain to families what services are available and how they can access them.
Statutory training programs for child protection workers have been updated to reflect best practices, and a new training program has been developed to target senior managers in health and services authorities, including chief executive officers.
A business case was completed for a new child and family information system, and funding is included in the 2014-2015 Capital Estimates. This project, estimated to be complete within three years, will greatly improve the authorities’ and department’s ability to monitor compliance with policy and regulation and ensure appropriate follow-up on individual cases.
The report included recommendations for numerous amendments to the Child and Family Services Act. A legislative proposal has been completed, drafting is underway and we intend to bring forward this legislation in February of 2015.
Revisions to the Child and Family Services Standards and Procedures Manual, which provides guidance to child protection workers across all regions, are nearly complete and will be distributed this summer. These amendments will include a new approach to child and family services committees, and potentially an expanded role for committees.
Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General’s report speaks to the lack of accountability within the health and social services system. This is a bigger issue and affects our ability to guarantee consistent and effective program delivery in all our mandate areas. As I have informed this House, I intend to bring forward legislation to improve and enhance accountability.
Mr. Speaker, there has been progress, but I acknowledge that it is not enough. Since becoming Minister four months ago, I have directed the department to take immediate action to designate chief executive officers of authorities as assistant directors of child and family services under the act. This appointment will make them directly responsible for ensuring that our system does not drop the ball on any child welfare case. I will be directing the chairs and public administrators of authorities to ensure that this is included in the CEOs’ performance objectives and that improvements are monitored.
I have directed the department to fill the gap with respect to annual reports which, as the Auditor General noted, have not been provided to the Minister for over a decade. Beginning this year, I have directed that I receive a report by October of each year, which can be tabled in this Assembly.
Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General’s website tells us that the purpose of their reports is to achieve positive change. I intend to use this report and recommendations to do just that. I intend to work with the Standing Committee on Social Programs not only to build on the recommendations in the Auditor General’s report but to build a system of supports for children and families that ensures every child in the Northwest Territories is safe and that their families are supported. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Minister of Justice, Mr. Ramsay.
Mr. Speaker, our Legal Aid program is one of the best in the country. We are pleased that the Department of Justice and the Legal Services Board have expanded their scope of coverage to provide legal support for civil law matters through the services of a legal aid outreach lawyer. We realize people in need require additional support to deal with family or other civil law matters to reach their full potential.
Mr. Speaker, the Legal Services Board started the Legal Aid Outreach Program as a pilot project in 2010 and it has run continually since that time. Outreach services address legal issues that can affect someone’s livelihood, physical or mental health. It’s a streamlined, simplified service that provides direct support and appropriate referrals.
These services may be accessed by anyone in several ways. In Yellowknife, clinics are run every Tuesday for anyone who needs to receive some free basic legal advice. Additionally, the legal aid outreach lawyer travels to NWT communities in order to allow people to have access to justice through clinics or information sessions.
The legal aid outreach lawyer helps residents with issues relating to employment and disabilities, preparation of wills, housing and landlord-tenant disputes, mental health and guardianship applications as well as child protection and elder abuse.
Working closely with court workers, sessions are tailored to take a community’s interests and needs into consideration. For example, we have heard from the court worker in Fort Good Hope that the elders there are very interested in the preparation of wills and powers of attorney. The legal aid outreach lawyer will be delivering a presentation on wills and then scheduling individual appointments for those who are interested. A general clinic will be scheduled for people who have interest in other legal issues. That trip is planned for the last week of this month.
Earlier this year clinics were provided in Fort Simpson and Wrigley. Services will be available in Fort Smith next week and the legal aid outreach lawyer is planning a visit to Deline in the near future.
We are committed to improving access to justice. Through this program, we are providing support to those who need it the most and building on the strengths of Northerners. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This morning I received some sad news from the Sahtu. I stand here with a heavy heart with my people in the Sahtu.
I guess I’m trying to say something that’s in my heart that’s so sad it’s hard to be written down. We have lost two people in the Sahtu who are very good people, two men, one from Colville Lake and one from Norman Wells. These two men were very loved by their people. They did a lot of good things in their communities.
One fellow is from Colville Lake and he grew up on the land, he knew the land, he came from the land and now he has returned back to the land. He provided for his family from the land. With skill, he put food on the table for his children. He taught his children. This young fellow will greatly be missed in Colville Lake. I ask Members to help with the prayers sent to Colville Lake. I saw him last Friday in Norman Wells. His name is Michael Kochon.
Also, I want to say to the family and friends in Norman Wells, we lost a very good man also, Mr. Craig Scott. He also provided for his family from the oil and gas industry. He was well loved and we send prayers to his family and to the people of Norman Wells.
We’re in mourning right now because of our great loss. We may be few in the Sahtu, but when we’re together as a family we’re very powerful. I want to say, also, that the Legislative Assembly Members, I know from time to time you go through these hard and difficult times and send prayers to the people.
I asked my wife what’s different between these two men. One lived on the land and one worked in the oil and gas industry. They both did well to provide food for their families and they were good people. Mr. Scott always teased my wife and always asked my wife, why did you marry that old man. He had that kind of humour and he will be thoroughly missed.
People of Colville Lake and Norman Wells are in shock. Please send prayers out to them in their time of mourning. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last night there was a public meeting held in Hay River. It was sponsored by the local district education authority, our DEA, which is elected members of our community who are mandated with overseeing education issues.
A number of months back, my colleague Mr. Bouchard and I were brought into a briefing with the Department of Education to talk about how the Government of the Northwest Territories was going to solve the issue of there not being a gymnasium at the Ecole Boreale French school.
Ecole Boreale is a French first language school that was built in Hay River, and at the time that it was developed and planned for, there was no gymnasium associated with it. It does introduce another dynamic option for education in the community of Hay River, but the fact is that these students, as other students, require a gymnasium.
There are some different scenarios. We agreed to step back and let the Department of Education deal with the DEA and talk about options. So the MLAs stood back and let those communications go forward. They have gone forward and there has been offerings back and forth, but it would appear by the public input that was acquired at that meeting last night in Hay River that there is not support for the concept of swapping one of our other public schools for the French school. It still leaves a school and a body of children at a disadvantage, unfortunately.
This government places a lot of emphasis on healthy choices, healthy living and activity. Physical education is an integral part of the education system. So today, now that we have heard from the DEA and they have had these discussions, as MLAs, I and Mr. Bouchard, we would like to start to begin a dialogue, including what we’re saying in the House today, on this very important issue.
It puts Ecole Boreale in an awkward position as well. Certainly, people are very attached to their school facility, that’s where their children go to school, and it puts them in an awkward position, but we certainly do understand the input of all of our residents and all of our constituents.
I think our government has spent a fair amount of money, fighting having to build a school at Ecole Boreale, in the courts. I think that money would be better spent into some planning to get a gymnasium built for that school.
Later today I will have questions for the Minister of Education of other options of how we can move forward to address this very important need in the community of Hay River. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Like my colleague, last night I attended a meeting on the Hay River school swap. I’d like to thank the DEA for hosting this meeting; it has been a meeting long time coming. The community was glad to hear all the information.
I can probably sum up the message that should be sent to the Department of Education and maybe my colleagues across the way. From Facebook, a comment from one of my constituents: “It’s a bad idea, just a quick fix, but it puts more students out without a gym. They should just pony up the dough and build a French school gym.”
The whole concept of the meeting was to discuss the percentages; if they made the swap; do they swap; if the DEA takes over Ecole Boreale will they put their JK to three there; will they put six and seven there; some of the occupancy levels of when the French school takes over, if the French school takes over Harry Camsell, what the percentages would be, so it was very informative. But I think the message was clear that the community would like to see other options and other considerations being done.
Obviously, Hay River wasn’t just there to complain, they rallied together and said, as a community we can do this, we can find the solution here. They talked about doing fundraising; they talked about – you know, we put a bid together for Arctic Winter Games – if we received that money and we won the bid, maybe some of those funds could be used there to have a gymnasium for the Arctic Winter Games, also any other ideas, such as federal funding.
We would like Cabinet to reconsider their process of what they’re doing with the French school gym and reconsider what they’re doing to the community of Hay River. They’re dividing up the two organizations, two great organizations in Hay River. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Today I stand together with my band of small community brothers and we will be asking for attention and asking questions for our poor, outdated schools in the small communities.
Our constituents are mainly Aboriginal people. We’re calling on the government to ensure the quality of small school facilities are on par with the likes of the new East Three in Inuvik and the rebuilt Mildred Hall in Yellowknife.
The quality of small community schools is pitiful compared to the quality of schools in the regional centres. It is time for a change.
Our constituents are fed up with the double standard. Numerous times I’ve declared in this House that my constituents in Trout Lake need a stand-alone school. Officially known as Charles Tetcho School, it is currently housed in the multi-purpose community hall. The school portion essentially consists of a single classroom. The school is overcrowded and the facilities are inadequate. The Minister of Education toured the school and he witnessed the problems firsthand.
Trout Lake has grown in size in recent years and school enrollment has grown with it. Enrollment is expected to rein steady or even increase in the coming years. Recent upgrades were made to the community hall, but that was just a band aid solution. Upgrades don’t address the fundamental problem. The school isn’t big enough and it has no autonomy.
According to the department’s capital planning schedule, improvements are likely to be made to Trout Lake’s school by 2018, but we have no assurance of that. In any case, four years is too long of a wait.
The quality and feel of a school facility has enormous impacts on student morale and the calibre of their work. Indeed, the quality of school facilities should be a consideration of government’s well publicized goal to eliminate the achievement gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students.
Every single NWT student deserves a quality education regardless of where they live. Planning studies should be undertaken to guarantee a level playing field across the Territories. Indeed, with the Education Renewal Initiative on the horizon and junior kindergarten, now is the right time for a concerted territorial effort to enhance school facilities for Aboriginal children in our small communities. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last week I spoke about the timeline for replacing Moose Kerr School in Aklavik. Moose Kerr School was constructed in 1969, exactly the same time as Samuel Hearne Secondary School that was built in Inuvik and now replaced.
My constituents would like to know why Moose Kerr School is still standing. At 45 years old it’s overdue for replacement. I believe that Moose Kerr School is the oldest school in this territory at the moment.
The Minister of Education stated last week that Moose Kerr School is slated for replacement or renovation in 2019. That is five years from now. Safety is also an issue with traffic and parking at the present location. Also, the school is right next to the airstrip in the community, another hazard.
We also need to have available trade facilities in our schools to give our students an idea of what they would like to be once they are finished school. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. The Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As many Members know, I’m pretty familiar with many of the rules around the House and I can easily say that many of the rules are black and white. But there is area that I often refer to as grey areas and, of course, they’re not tied to a specific rule or a breach, but sometimes more of an error of opinion or insight. Sometimes we can refer to them as someone has gingerly strolled away from the spirit and the intent of consensus government.
I’m having trouble personally putting a specific finger around what rule may have been breached, but I can tell you once I’ve stepped back, like an onion, when you peel it away it starts to make your eyes water and you start to wonder what has truly been revealed.
Pray tell, what am I talking about? Well, guess what. The Minister of Health and Social Services just over a week ago did, in my view, a pre-emptive strike on what was released yesterday tabled by yourself, the Auditor General’s report. On February 25th he read a Minister’s statement in this House as innocent as the day and seemed to try to paint the picture of child and family services that things are all okay.
I think this was a result of an effort to downplay the results that were pending. Was there a freight train coming and they thought let’s throw something to put a twist in the tracks?
I draw this House’s attention to the Minister’s statement on page 3 where they refer to procedural manuals, updating, major revisions, and by the way, they’ll be done next year. There are very similar responses of the spirit and intent of what was on chapter 39 of the AG’s report. Did the Minister get ahead of the report? I’m starting to notice a trend. The trend continues on page 4 of his statement. The Minister goes on and talks about detailed training, and the Auditor General report as well talks about training, not just once but on chapter 19, 41, chapter 42 and even 80. Was the Minister trying to get ahead of the report or, as he said on CBC last night, well, there are just a few things they need to tweak, I think he said.
This is a serious moral breach. It’s not a technical breach. There are no rules in our green books to tell us what rule has been broken, but I can tell you, getting ahead of the Auditor General’s report and trying to play it down, I think is a moral breach of the spirit and the intent of consensus government that we live and run every day in this building.
I will continue on this trek of saying, why did he do this? We need to have a serious discussion about the way we do business here.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s hard not to take a moment to discuss the recent scathing Auditor General’s Report on the Child and Family Services in the Northwest Territories. Unfortunately, what is an embarrassment to the Minister’s office and senior management of Health and Social Services is equally troublesome to every legislator in this room. How did we allow this to proceed under our watch in a consensus government? Clearly, this gold standard in auditing pointed out areas of concern that were discussed, debated and allegedly resolved by Members of the 16th Assembly, so why did we not see a paradigm shift in thinking for our most vulnerable in society? What were the barriers to making the required changes for monitoring, proper reporting and, ultimately, protection of our children?
This is merely not as simple as the Minister has commented publicly as tinkering around the edges. There is much more behind this story than the statistics. The concern is accountability. According to the report, there appears to be zero guidance and no tools to support delivery of these services. Furthermore, the report mentions time and time again that under the act, the director of child and family services is the one accountable for all decisions made by child protection workers. Furthermore, this same director is required to report annually to the Minister of Health on the performance of the child and family services system. Shamefully, according to the report, no reporting had taken place for the past 10 years. Ten years! Without any dashboard indicators, I question what the senior management and Ministers of the day used to assure themselves the system was adequately meeting the needs of children and families. They must be using a Ouija board or fortune cookies.
We know the Auditor General’s report is now before the Standing Committee of Government Operations for a formal review, but until the committee comes back with their recommendations, I hope the Minister and the department think long and hard on what they’re going to do today for those who breach accountability and put our children at risk, because lip service ain’t gonna cut it anymore. Not on this one.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we’ve heard, the Report of the Office of the Auditor General on Child and Family Services was tabled in the House yesterday. I read the report last night and again today. There is so much in it it’s hard to know where to start. The assistant auditor general, Mr. Campbell, called it troubling, and considering the contents of the report, I see that as an understatement.
After reading the report, there was a mixture of emotions for me: gratitude to the office of the Auditor General for their work. As always, they were thorough, fair, in-depth, to the point, and extremely helpful to us as legislators. But I also felt disappointment and despair. Despair because I was part of the standing committee of the 16th Assembly which invested many, many hours in 2010 doing an in-depth review of the Child and Family Services Act. The report from that committee included over 70 recommendations, and the committee members had high hopes for change, high hopes for improvement in a system which we had heard was not working.
Now, three years later, the Auditor General’s report indicates little change occurred; few recommendations were heeded. In fact, this review points out that similar recommendations from a report tabled way back in 2000 have yet to be acted on. Right now our child and family services system is operational but dysfunctional. Using the Health and Social Services department’s own guidelines, and that’s the Child and Family Services Act, as a measure, the system can be said to be in crisis.
Here are just some of the observations from the office of the Auditor General’s report:
There is no accountability framework; therefore, a huge lack of accountability at the health and social service authorities and at the department.
Concerns brought to the attention of workers and some necessary investigations were not acted on.
Plans of care for children have not been followed up on.
Foster homes have not been properly vetted or monitored.
There are still no services for youth 16 to 18 years old.
There is an identified need for the department and the authorities to provide greater guidance for child and family service workers, to assist them with prevention activities so they can, in turn, assist families in trouble.
There is a lack of both financial and human resources to adequately deliver child and family services in the NWT.
The Minister and the department have responded swiftly to the report, as we have heard.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
The Minister’s response indicates either genuine concern or an attempt to douse the flames. I sincerely hope it is the former. I look forward to working with the Minister to enact some real and positive change for the children and families of the NWT who use the child and family services system. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It has been about 30 months since we’ve been in this government here, and recommendations from the 16th Legislative Assembly specifically on the report that was tabled in the House yesterday with the child and family services, which I believe the current and the previous Ministers of Health and Social Services where very strong advocates on, and yet we see this report in front of us today.
As stated from some of my colleagues, there are many areas that we can focus on with this report, but I would like to talk a little about the accountability. In the report it states that the Department of Health and Social Services is responsible for the overall management of the child and family service system. It also states that the Minister has authorized southern health and social services authorities to assist the director in the management, control and operation of child and family services.
That director also has many of the rights and responsibilities of a parent when children are receiving services. In turn, these responsibilities are passed on to the child protection workers, and the child protection workers then exercise many duties and powers of the director but are employees of the regional authorities, so this accountability is all mixed up in there somewhere. However, the director does remain accountable for all decisions made by the child protection workers.
I am going to talk a little bit about these child protection workers. There are 93 of them in the Northwest Territories. They work with children and families on a daily basis. Some of the things they have to deal with are they are exposed to traumatic and stressful situations, other duties include they manage children’s cases, prepare legal documents, appear in court while dealing with child protection situations that require immediate attention. There are a lot of problems there, a lot of work.
Last year, ‘12-13, 1,042 children received services with only 93 child protection workers. That is a concern. When you look at measuring success results, it states that the percentage of children receiving services in their own community was 87.5 percent. That means that there are more children receiving services in their own community, putting more stress on our child protection workers. So, when we are going forward, we are not only looking at the children but we have to look at the employees that do services on behalf of the government.
The Minister did state that he is going to be working with the Standing Committee on Social Programs and I look forward to those discussions and dialogues and how we can address this problem. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to continue looking at our income security system and how it has created a series of poverty traps. You may remember I was telling a story about Charles and his three children. Charles is not a real person, but his story will be familiar to many people.
Let’s imagine that Charles lives in Fort Good Hope, because the Nutrition North Program keeps track of food costs there, allowing us to see how much it costs Charles to feed his family.
Nutrition North, what used to be called Food Mail, reported on their website last March that in Fort Good Hope it costs $440 to feed a family of four for one week, or about $1,750 a month. But when it comes to food, clothing, school supplies and everything else, income support only provides Charles and his family a grand total of $1,300, a figure from the department’s response to a written question tabled earlier this session.
Using the government’s own numbers, Charles is at least $500 short every month just to be able to buy food. Fortunately, Charles’ housing, power and heating bills are covered separately, but Charles is stressed to say the least. How is he going to put these growing children through school when he is struggling to feed them? They’re going to need clothes, school supplies, they should be involved with sports, and these days they will need Internet just to do their homework.
Charles has done his taxes and is surprised to see that he qualifies for a GST rebate and a child tax credit. These payments come in every three months, and when the first one shows up, he goes out to buy some clothes for the children. But guess what. On his next visit to income support, they tell him that the extra income from the tax rebates means he made too much money and his income support payment will be reduced.
So now Charles has to really struggle to get to the end of the month. Fortunately, a company from down south comes into town and needs someone to do a few days of work in the bush. Charles drops his children off at a friend’s place, saying he’ll pay them for looking after his kids. After three days, the work is done and the company puts 600 bucks in his bank account. Charles figures he’s got a good chance to get work with them again.
But we all know what happens next. Income support finds the money on his bank statement and reduces his income support again. Charles now owes money for child care and still does not have enough to feed his family.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement. Mahsi.
---Unanimous consent granted
Charles now owes money for child care and still does not have enough to feed his family. I wish I could say this story has a happy ending, but Charles is having a hard time seeing a way out.
This is what I mean when I talk about poverty traps. Our Income Security programs are inadequate and the built-in clawbacks create a disincentive to work. I must point out again, that rather than providing the stable home children need to succeed, living in a poverty trap means toxic stress, leading to delays in early childhood development that will, sadly, be costly for all and for lifetimes.
This morning I heard CBC’s Lorne McInnes asking the Auditor General’s office what the story was behind his devastating report. Poverty traps are part of the story behind the Auditor General’s long list of failures in the way this government, of which I am currently a part, are fulfilling our fiduciary duty to look after the children.
I will have questions. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Standing committees of the Legislative Assembly are where the Regular Members of the Legislative Assembly roll up their sleeves and get down to work on behalf of the people of the NWT.
As the chair of the Standing Committee on Government Operations, I’m pleased to advise the public and the House of the work that is underway in this committee. The committee just completed an extensive public review of the GNWT’s public accounts for 2012-2013 and tabled its report on that review in the House just a few weeks ago.
We have also just completed our public review of the Annual Report of the Northwest Territories Human Rights Commission for 2012-2013 and we look forward to tabling a report on the review before the end of this session.
In the coming weeks, the Standing Committee on Government Operations will be undertaking two more reviews that members of the public will be invited to participate in. The first, we will be holding a public meeting to prepare a review of the 2012-2013 Annual Report of the Northwest Territories Information and Privacy Commissioner and we look forward to tabling the report in the spring session.
Similarly, plans are underway to publicly review the Report of the Auditor General on the Department of Health and Social Services Child and Family Services Program in April 2014.
The Standing Committee on Government Operations is also prepared to undertake the five-year review of the Northwest Territories Official Languages Act. The standing committee will be meeting with members of the public and interested parties on this important review, and we look forward to updating the public and the Members of this House as this work progresses.
Standing committees work hard to hold government accountable for its spending and its performance, with the intent of improving services provided to NWT residents. I invite anyone who is interested in the work of the standing committees to keep their eyes open for notices of standing committee meetings that are published in the newspaper, or to take a look at the reports of the standing committees which are published on the Legislative Assembly’s website. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. I’d like to welcome all the visitors here in the public gallery here today. Thanks for taking an interest in our proceedings.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ll follow up with questions from my Member’s statement about the Hay River DEA and the school swap. My questions are for the Minister of Education. In the meeting some people had some questions about the financial rationale behind the school swap.
Can the Minister indicate to me what they expect this school swap to cost the Department of Education?
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. The Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. We first initiated the discussion with the Hay River DEA and, of course, the Commission scolaire francophone on the whole idea that we have yet to go through the appeals process with the court. It was just exploratory discussions that we’ve had, and obviously, my officials met with the chair of the DEA and the parents that represented the Hay River DEA. So those are the discussions we’ve been having.
From the board’s perspective, we’ll work with the community and my department. To date, we’re compiling the information on what the expenditure would be on the school swap because it would depend on the facility itself, the spaces. So that is information that we are currently compiling from the DEA with my department. Mahsi.
I would like the Minister to also include some of that analysis of the costs, I guess the cost of the whole process. What have they put into legal fees, what are they going to have to put into the school swap? We know the cost, $28 million for both schools in both communities, $13 million for Hay River.
Would the Minister commit to giving us a full analysis of what the government has spent on this whole fiasco, I guess?
Mahsi. The Member is correct about the $28 million. That’s, overall, the target that we are working with between Hay River and Yellowknife. Again, we are compiling the financial background on how much we’ve expended on this particular school swap and then also the court appeals and so forth. So, I can assure the Member that they will receive that information. Mahsi.
Obviously, our Hay River DEA and the French school were concerned about the repercussions now.
Now that the DEA has said that they’re not interested in signing the MOU, what will the Department of Education do going forward, what are the expectations of Cabinet and what are the expectations of the GNWT to go forward? Thank you.
