Thank you, Mr. Nadli. To the motion. Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I said in my Member’s statement today, clearly there are a lot of examples of how early childhood education can be implemented and certainly it’s a program that can start a phenomenal difference into a young person’s life. If we build that foundation it means a lot.
I say to this McLeod government, don’t just heed the warning from us. I mean, there are many parents and experts that will tell you this is such a critical part for the development of our children and the future of our children in our education system. We all know good education is the backbone of a solid foundation going forward in someone’s future. There are a lot of researchers that have often pointed out about the fact that a good education gives people more opportunity which keeps them away from at risk.
It would be nice, of course, if we could develop a universal early childhood education program, but the fact is we know it won’t be like that. The reality is we could stand up here today and get behind this type of initiative to say we’re going to make sure we have some type of program that is invested and involved in every community. So our kids, just like the old American saying goes, no child left behind. We could take on that attitude, the positive attitude and can-do approach which says in the Northwest Territories we’re going to try real hard and make sure that no child is left behind by serious intervention and investment by our territory.
Earlier today I also pointed out the fact that there are different domains or certainly different pillars recognized under early childhood development: social development, physical development, intellectual development, creative development, and certainly emotional development. Each in its own way is a pillar to the future that these kids are moving forward on. It’s important that we invest in ways to recognize some kids need more help than others in certain areas. It’s these early assessments that are so critical because let’s invest at a time when we can truly make a difference on the longer term outcome of people. By sitting here ignoring this possibility or opportunity, if I may say, what we’re doing is setting them up for a long-term failure. By all means, we’re not just failing them, we’re failing ourselves.
Children living in low-income households are sometimes those who need this most. I don’t want to get down to the nitty-gritty of describing one household or the other, but there are certain elements of kids coming from homes that don’t get the support that they need and this is where government needs to step in and help play the role. It doesn’t mean if you’re coming from a family that’s well to do or not. Any kid could struggle with these types of burdens. Certainly this is our chance to invest. Our educators are asking for this and we need to make sure that we provide not only the stuff that I talked about, but we need to provide a nurturing and stimulating environment that helps reward and invest in these kids to bring out their best. We need a plan and a strategy that works on language development. We need to look at the uniqueness of these children through assessment and say, you know what, they may need a little strength in certain areas.
Recently I was at a school board meeting with a couple of my other colleagues and they talked about one child which is one of many that showed up and couldn’t speak for the longest time there when they entered school. That was only one example of several examples they had provided. This is the type of resource capacity that the schools need to make sure that our kids get the best start. If they show up in our education system, we can’t expect kindergarten to solve all the problems going forward. Some of this early intervention is highlighted already by my colleagues here. It has to start at age three or even, in special cases, earlier.
There are so many elements to early childhood education and I’m sure I’ve said some of them. Certainly not all of them. My colleagues are doing certainly their best to highlight the importance of this particular program. The fact is we have to make a territorial program that’s understood and implemented in all regions. Not just Yellowknife or the big centres such as Hay River and Inuvik, but into our communities because they’re so critical.
That’s all I really want to get down to on this particular subject today. It’s a passionate subject not just of myself but all the other colleagues here. If we have recognized one important thing, it’s about the value that we have recognized that we’ve placed on our youth and how important that particular issue is. There is no better investment than investing in our children. It doesn’t come down to anything more complicated than that. We can hope all we want, but today we can make the right type of investments. A solid early childhood education program, as I talked about earlier today, is the type of investment that we need to do. That would be the foundation, truly a hallmark of our North.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. To the motion. Mr. Lafferty.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This government agrees that early childhood development is important and also it is one of the priorities of this government. I would like to thank the Members for raising the significance of the early childhood development, because Education, Culture and Employment has already made it a priority and is researching the best way to proceed.
ECE is working closely with the Department of Health and Social Services to revise and renew the existing Early Childhood Development Framework for Action. The chief medical health officer has recently been identified to lead the development of the revised draft framework. A working group has been struck for renewal of the framework with representatives from the Department of Health and Social Services and Department of Education, Culture and Employment. The consultation will be an important part of the process and will be taken across the Northwest Territories in the fall of 2012.
Early learning and care is a component of the framework. Education, Culture and Employment is planning the following developments under the early learning and care component of the revised framework:
The expansion of the early childhood education and care programs using the Aboriginal Head Start model and a new Northwest Territories-developed curriculum.
Initiation of a two-year on-site early childhood development and care diploma through Fort Smith Campus of Aurora College. The transition year will be 2013-2014. The first graduates will be in May 2016.
The development of trial territorial early learning framework through partnership with Yukon and Nunavut to be completed in April 2013.
Once this final stage of the review is completed, a renewal of the Early Childhood Development Framework will be put forward for consideration during the 2013-2014 planning cycle.
We have already begun working with the leaders of the Northwest Territories on this particular topic. On May 4, 2012, Health and Social Services and Education, Culture and Employment hosted initial discussions with the stakeholders on the development of child and family resource centres. The departments are working on an action plan to develop two such centres in the current fiscal year.
On May 8th and 9th I held my first annual meeting with the school boards and leaders of all major Aboriginal organizations in the Northwest Territories. The four pillars of Aboriginal Student Achievement were discussed at this high-level education and Aboriginal leadership meeting. Of course, early childhood education and child care is the first pillar of ASA. The regional leaders broke into regional groups and discussed and made recommendations on early childhood education and child care. The results of both meetings resulted in revamping the Early Childhood Development Framework for Action.
As this is a recommendation to our government, Cabinet members will abstain from voting.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. I’ll allow the mover of the motion for closing remarks. Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ve done a lot of work in my time in the communities within my governments. I’ve participated on the front line with a lot of community workers, teachers, parents, concerned Members, leaders in our communities. What it always comes down to is everybody sees it in their communities. The social issues that impact our community can be addressed by putting money and investing into our early childhood development. Like I said when I was talking earlier, I thought this government was working on this already. I had the assumption and confidence that our government was working to make our communities and economy a lot healthier and safer. To come into this government as a new Member and to see that eight months into this Assembly we’re actually asking the government to invest money into early childhood development that’s going to our population and our residents for years to come. I’m very proud that on this side we get the chance to vote in favour of a motion to support our families back home, to support our constituents, to support our communities and our families, to support our educators, our health practitioners, the people in the justice system, all the departments that are affected by the lack of investment into this initiative, which is early childhood development.
It’s stated that every dollar you invest in early childhood development, the returns are about $6 to $8. That alone should say that we should be investing more money in there. As we go through the budget, some of the line items that I’ve been seeing are very shocking to me and the lack of funding in some areas is even more shocking. As this government, we have the opportunity so that when we invest today, that in years to come we’re going to start to see a healthier, more educated group of youth, a healthier, more educated generation of adults in our Northwest Territories and in our communities so that we can start to see the benefits of what we do today in years to come.
I thank all Members here for their comments, for their passion, their concern for our people of the Northwest Territories. I’d also like to give the Premier an opportunity to allow his Cabinet to vote freely on this, to allow their Members back home, their family, their communities, show them the support that they need for this early childhood development.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. The Member is seeking a recorded vote. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour, please stand.
Mr. Moses, Mr. Bromley, Mr. Yakeleya, Mr. Bouchard, Mr. Blake, Mrs. Groenewegen, Mr. Dolynny, Ms. Bisaro, Mr. Nadli, Mr. Hawkins, Mr. Menicoche.
All those opposed, please stand. All those abstaining, please stand.
Mr. Abernethy, Mr. Miltenberger, Mr. McLeod - Yellowknife South, Mr. Lafferty, Mr. Ramsay, Mr. McLeod - Inuvik Twin Lakes.
Thank you, colleagues. All those in favour, 11; all those opposed, zero; abstentions, six. The motion is carried.
---Carried
Motion 3-17(3), Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d prefer to bring that motion forward tomorrow, with your permission. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that Bill 2, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2012, be read for the first time. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Bill 2 has had first reading.
---Carried
Item 20, second reading of bills. Item 21, consideration in Committee of the Whole of bills and other matters: Tabled Document 2-17(3), Commissioner’s Opening Address: Creating the Conditions for Success; Tabled Document 3-17(3), Northwest Territories Main Estimates 2012-2013; and Bill 1, An Act to Amend the Student Financial Assistance Act, with Ms. Bisaro in the chair.
I’d like to call Committee of the Whole to order. We have three items for consideration. Tabled Document 2-17(3), Commissioner’s Opening Address: Creating the Conditions for Success; Tabled Document 3-17(3), Northwest Territories Main Estimates 2012-2013; and Bill 1, An Act to Amend the Student Financial Assistance Act. What is the wish of committee? Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Committee wishes to resume consideration of Tabled Document 3-17(3), Northwest Territories Main Estimates 2012-2013, with Education, Culture and Employment, Transportation, and possibly Environment and Natural Resources.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. We will resume after a short break.
---SHORT RECESS
I call Committee of the Whole back to order. We are dealing with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. Minister Lafferty, do you have witnesses to bring into the Chamber?
Yes, Madam Chair.
Does the committee agree to bring witnesses in?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Sergeant-at-Arms, would you please escort the witnesses into the Chamber?
Mr. Lafferty, if you could introduce the witnesses for the record, please.
Mahsi, Madam Chair. To my left is acting deputy minister of ECE Gloria Iatridis, and to my right is Paul Devitt, director of business strategic services within ECE. Mahsi.
Thank you, Minister. Committee, we are on page 10-17, Education, Culture and Employment, activity summary, operations expenditure summary, $192.575 million. We have a list from yesterday. I will start with Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Obviously we are discussing issues regarding page 17. Inclusive to this page is the line item under culture and heritage. I want to spend a few minutes here on that note, knowing full well that ECE and ITI work jointly with the arts.
The other day tabled in the House by the Minister of ITI was a supporting statement which basically talked in favour of supporting of the arts. Such statements as an NWT artisan make positive economic and cultural impact on our territory and others. I’m not denying the fact that the department or the Minister, obviously, support these areas.
Given the budget item that I see here, we are seeing a very small, modest increase in the delivery of cultural and heritage which would include promoting NWT arts. Can the Minister or his designate indicate what these extra monies are in the budget? Where is that money going to be allocated to?
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Minister Lafferty.
Madam Chair, the culture and heritage, as the Members would know, there has been an increase over the years. We will continue to promote that within our department. This time around the difference is basically to offset the costs of Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre. There was a fire there, so it is a repair to the building, so approximately $520,000 in that area. Mahsi.
Madam Chair, thanks to the Minister for clarifying where that overage is going to be spent.
Most recently an organization here in the Northwest Territories – and I refer to them as the Artists Run Community Centre, or ARCC for short – unfortunately lost their facility due to an expansion of a building or construction of a new government building in the downtown corridor. We know that, as I say, the statements that we have heard in the House with respect to supporting arts and the culture regarding arts is a priority. However, this organization, which really is a backbone or a facility that helps support and nurtures and fundamentally creates the baseline for art in the Northwest Territories, are now without a home. Can the Minister indicate to us why nothing in this budget – knowing full well that this has been an ask by this Member as well as Regular Members here on this – why given the fact that there is lots of support for the arts, that this organization who had lost their home due to one of our own expansion buildings and, again, nothing in this budget reflects that. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Madam Chair, this is an area that we have been monitoring closely since it first came up. Currently we don’t have capital funds to build or have an establishment for those types of facilities, but we do provide funding through the NWT Arts Council and working closely with ITI because they do have other sources of funds as well.
Within my department, we provide funds to various organizations. We can provide this organization through the Members as well. When it comes to capital, we haven’t allocated funds to offset the costs for capital infrastructure on this specific topic.
Madam Chair, again I appreciate the fact that the Minister does have a list of supporting organizations that are recipients of funding. My specific question is for the Artists Run Community Centre. What does the Minister intend to tell this group of artists – and they are a fairly large group of artists – what kind of support can we provide them and facilitating and fostering their field so that really it goes in line with what this government is doing, trying to promote the work of artisans and yet there’s no facility for them to be promoted in? Thank you, Madam Chair.
At this point we can provide information to the Artist Run Community Centre and the programs that we currently have within ECE. Most of the applications and the proposals go through the NWT Arts Council as well. They make decisions based on the needs of those arts and the performance in the Northwest Territories. So I can commit that within my department I’ll be working closely with ITI to identify those programming dollars that they can potentially access, this organization that we’re speaking of. Mahsi.
I appreciate the Minister’s support. I will take the Minister up on his offering with the Minister of ITI. I will make that invitation out hopefully to other Members to hopefully be participants in that in order to support NWT art, specifically for the Artist Run Community Centre. So I’d like to thank the Minister for his indulgence. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Mr. Minister, did you wish to comment?
No, I’ve already made a commitment. So I’ll definitely do my part with the Minister of ITI and also the NWT Arts Council that we provide funding to. Mahsi.
Thank you. Next on my list is Mr. Menicoche. Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I’d like to follow up a little bit on the questions about inclusive schooling. I know this is an area that’s been evolving. I have two concerns. One is, as I understand it, we have hooked the amount of inclusive schooling funding to the total amount the school gets and it’s a proportion. As budgets have soared, so has inclusive schooling. That does not allow the increase or the changes in inclusive schooling funding to be tied to actual need. So that’s the first aspect of it.
The second is an expression of the need for change from school boards that recommend that there be a base provision of inclusive schooling funding provided and then an additional amount based on an assessment of the needs of the children in that school for special consideration. So as a result, our inclusive schooling obviously, according to the budget here, has soared and I’m wondering how are we going to be managing this in a more effective way and hopefully at the same time improve the effectiveness of our programs through the inclusive schooling needs. Thank you, Mr. Chair, two questions.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Minister Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Chair. The inclusive schooling is tied similar to the school formula, based on enrollment of the school as well. The Member is asking if there needs to be a change using base formula based on a student assessment, the child assessment, the needs. So those are the areas that I already committed that I want my department to explore and to review the overall inclusive schooling.
There have been a lot of issues raised on this particular topic. So I’m looking to the Members, and I want to have an overall review of this particular topic and I’ll definitely keep the Members in the loop as we move forward in our discussion. It will take some time, as you know, because it does involve the communities and the regional groups. It doesn’t just sit here. We provide funding to all communities on this particular subject.
So, again, I’m committing to have an overall review on this particular subject and I will be considering, as well, the base provision on the student needs assessment that the Member is alluding to. That will be part of the discussion. Mahsi.
Thanks for the Minister’s commitment and reminder that he’s already committed. I appreciate that. It is difficult, because obviously schools have to be funded ahead of time as to what they’re doing and so on. So I appreciate that there’s a bit of a need for some advance.
Obviously this has been under discussion before and I’d hoped that some thinking had been done on this, but I’ll look forward to working with the Minister on this and seeing if we can increase our effectiveness, and perhaps with fewer dollars and it being done and tie the funding to real needs in each school. Obviously a formula doesn’t work when the number of students with special needs is going to vary quite a bit from school to school and year to year. So I appreciate that commitment. That’s all I have, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Would the Minister like to respond?
Mr. Chair, I did commit to it. So I’ll definitely follow through and work with the Members on this. Mahsi.
Thank you, Minister Lafferty. Next on my list I believe I have Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Just a follow-up on the theme of early childhood education. Today I’ve got several questions. I’m just wondering how Education, Culture and Employment would encourage and help communities to start early childhood programs like the Open Door in Fort Simpson, and if they answer yes, then how is that being done. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Minister Lafferty.
