Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I note that there is an increase in positions in Yellowknife under education and culture. Could I be advised what two positions have been added? Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Minister Lafferty.
Mr. Chair, when this first came up I did ask the same question as well. It is an existing position but it is in Hay River for both positions, library order clerk and library technical services clerk for headquarters for libraries.
I’m sorry. I couldn’t hear the Minister. Could he repeat that?
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. If I can get the Minister to just repeat that last part of that answer.
The two positions are based out of headquarters servicing Hay River library services such as the library order clerk and library technical services clerk. Two positions. Mahsi.
That is all. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Education, Culture and Employment, information item, education and culture, active positions. Any questions? There are none. Page 10-23, Education, Culture and Employment, activity summary, advanced education, operations expenditure summary, $46.568 million. Agreed? Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I do have a few brief questions here. I note that the division provides immigration supports through the Canada-NWT Agreement on Territorial Nominees. I just wonder what activity we had on that file and how many Canada-NWT Agreement territorial nominees we have had in the past 12 years or whatever measure the department has handy. I guess associated with that, do we monitor what areas these immigrants work in, if they are associated with a particular field? If so, I would be interested in that breakdown, as well, if that is handy. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Mr. Minister.
Mr. Chair, up to May 2012, ECE has approved 43 nominee applications in critical impact worker category and also 13 nominee applications in skilled worker category. Those are just some of the numbers that we have had to date. Maybe I will just get Ms. Iatridis to elaborate more because she is more focused in this area.
Ms. Iatridis.
Just to clarify, the critical impact worker category is below skilled and the focus is on the hospitality sector. In the skilled worker category, it is the professionals. It could be trades or other professional areas.
Thank you, Ms. Iatridis. Mr. Bromley.
That’s very good to have those stats. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So these people have become residents of the Northwest Territories. I am wondering if we know where roughly, by region or something like that, if we have that sort of information and are monitoring that. Thank you.
The numbers of applicants that were approved were approved as a nominee, and through the nominee process their application for permanent residency is fast-tracked. We don’t have knowledge of whether or not these individuals have gained their permanent residency. The process allows them to do that in a faster process.
I guess I would hope that we would be able to find out eventually. I would be interested in having that information reported back to committee, if that’s possible. Thanks for that information.
I know the Minister is aware that, over a number of years now, I and committee have been interested in Aurora College programs, as many people are, and particularly seeing programs developed in the area of Sustainable Communities Administrator Program and in the area of Renewable Energy Technician Program. I was wondering if I can get an update on those.
Just for efficiency of time, I also know that there is work to put a new or revised early childhood development worker program in place. I am not quite sure that I got the timing on when that’s going to be happening in a revised way.
Also associated with that, will we be graduating nationally people that meet at the national standard for qualifications for early childhood development workers? Thank you.
In regard to the Early Childhood Diploma Program, currently the department is in discussions with Aurora College. We haven’t finalized the details.
Thank you. Is that in terms of timing or whether they would be qualified on a national, meet the national standards for qualifications? Thank you.
In terms of timing, we are still discussing what the program would look like and once that is determined whether or not it’s affiliated with another university or college in another jurisdiction would determine whether or not it meets national standards.
One of the other areas that we’ve been having some discussion on with other leaders across the NWT is occupational standards, because there are early childhood workers now in the communities and many of them take the distance learning that is offered through Aurora College on a part-time basis, but there has been some interest by some of the local community groups for us to develop occupational standards as well. So one of the things that the department has done this past year is a review of the Aurora College certificate program and there have been a number of recommendations that were made through that review. So we’re just at a discussion stage now of what the next steps will be, whether it’s a diploma program, occupational standards or other opportunities for training.
I appreciate that information. Just as a follow-up to my other two on the Sustainable Communities Administrator Program and Renewable Energy Technician Program, if I can get an update on where we’re at on those two programs. Thank you.
I would have to get a more detailed update for you. The last time we had discussions with Aurora College, some research was being undertaken and so we would be able to get you an update on that.
That’s it for now. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I’ll look forward to that update. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Education, Culture and Employment, activity summary, advanced education, operations expenditures, $46.568 million. Does committee agree? Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. A couple of questions here, and my first question has to do with Aurora College. I mentioned in my opening remarks that I have some concerns about the college. I talked a bit about ALBE and I think I’ve kind of covered my concerns in that area, but I do have some concerns, major concerns with the reorganization that the college seems to have undergone in the last little while, and as a result of that reorg it’s my understanding that it is a result of the reorg that we have a lot of people, long-term college staff who have left the employ of the college.
I guess I would like to first start by asking the Minister how often he reviews the college operations. What kind of oversight does he give to the college operations? Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Minister Lafferty.
Mr. Chair, I feel the same way as the Member does, especially when we’re hearing things from the perspective of those individuals. Concerns have been brought to our attention as well. We do have a quarterly meeting with the board chairs and the college chairperson is part of that discussion, and any concerns or issues are brought to our attention and this will definitely be one of the case subjects when I’m meeting with the Board of Governors in June, I believe June 18th or 19th in Inuvik. It is a concern to us, so this will definitely be addressed at that time. We’ll be closely monitoring the events that are happening now until then, and we are getting a lot of concerns that are being brought to our attention that will be shared with the board chairs as well. Mahsi.
I’m glad to hear the Minister is concerned as well. I guess I would like to know if the Minister would agree to provide information to Regular Members after the meeting with the Board of Governors in June, whether it’s a verbal report or a briefing note of some sort, but I know that I certainly would be interested in knowing where things stand after that meeting. I imagine, and I’m pretty sure, that there are other Members, as well, who’ve heard the same concerns from their constituents. So if he could do that, that would be much appreciated.
I also wanted to ask about minimum wage. I think it belongs on this page in terms of employment, I think. We have had a couple of increases in our minimum wage and I know I’m grateful and I believe there’s a number of our residents who are, maybe not our businesses, but I think it’s a good thing in general. At the time that we last raised minimum wage, there was some talk about setting in place a mechanism for automatic increases to minimum wage based on something and that was going to be investigated. I believe that that investigation was started. I haven’t heard the results of it. So I’d like to ask the Minister, as well, whether or not the research that was required into an automatic increase to minimum wage has been done and, if not, when it would be done. So two questions there: a report on the board meeting and minimum wage increase. Thank you.
Through our department we’ve been considering the information that we’ve gathered, as the Member alluded to, from other jurisdictions and providing some options for consideration this year. There’s an options paper that will be discussed next week by deputy ministers. Ms. Iatridis is part of that discussion and she’s kind of the driving force on this. It will be considered at that time and then brought forward to Cabinet. Once that happens, then I’ll be sharing that with the standing committees and the committee members. Mahsi.
To my other question about reporting on the meeting with the Board of Governors?
Sorry about that. Yes, most definitely. Once I meet with the Board of Governors at the college in Inuvik, we’ll provide a briefing or a memo to the Members of the outcome of our discussion. So Members can share with their constituencies those concerns that are brought forward and there will be basically a general discussion that we’ll be having with them. At that time I guess we’ll find out what kind of decisions need to be made. So I’ll be working closely with the college on that and I’ll keep the Members up to speed as we move forward on this particular subject. It is a concern to us as well. Mahsi.
Thank you, Minister Lafferty. Education, Culture and Employment, activity summary, advanced education, operations expenditure summary, $46.568 million. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. Education, Culture and Employment, activity summary, advanced education, grants and contributions, contributions, total contributions, $34.133 million. Is committee agreed? Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have a quick question here under small community employment. I’m not questioning the contribution, but I am wondering why – I believe this existed in the previous budget year in ‘11-12 – it’s showing up in ‘12-13 but it’s not there for ‘11-12. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. To respond we’ll go to Mr. Devitt.
Mr. Chair, the Member is correct; the funding was there in previous years, but it wasn’t set up as a contribution. Because they’re contributing to community groups this year, part of the money for that program has been identified as a contribution for the first time. Thank you.
So if this is only part of the funding for small community employment, what is the total amount? I presume the rest of it, whatever it is, is in another place in the budget. Is that correct?
Yes, there’s an additional $841,000 budgeted in operations under career employment and development underneath this activity. Thank you.
Thank you. That’s all, Mr. Chair.
Education, Culture and Employment, activity summary, advanced education, grants and contributions, contributions, total contributions, $34.133 million. Is committee agreed?
Agreed.
Thank you. Page 10-25, Education, Culture and Employment, information item, advanced education, active positions. Any questions? Seeing none, page 10-27, Education, Culture and Employment, activity summary, income security, operations expenditure summary, $39.668 million. Does committee agree? Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’m wondering if there are any plans for review of our income security programs specifically this fiscal year.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Chairman. The last review that was undertaken was back in 2007 and we made some changes to income security. We’ve increased in some areas. It’s been five years now so if that is the wish of committee, then we can certainly look at those areas as well.
I think there certainly is interest in that, especially in association with development of our Anti-Poverty Strategy. I think there’s a real opportunity there to have a good thorough review in the normal way plus other ways. I appreciate the Minister’s expression of openness there. I think that’s something we should do. I’m just wondering, is there a set time that we would normally review our income security programs.
I’m not sure if there’s a set time on a review basis, but since we’ve done the review back in 2007, I just got word from my acting deputy that we are still making some changes since 2007 following through with the recommendations that are brought forward. It is at the somewhat early stages still, but we are going to look at what’s out there now and what should be changed. I’ve already committed that we’ll look at it and see where we can make some changes, if we need to consult with various organizations as we’ve done before.
Just drilling down a little bit, the Seniors Home Heating Subsidy, obviously fuel rates are up quite a bit. I think it’s 54 percent, if I remember the number right – something like that – from 2007. Are there automatic adjustments? I suspect there are in that, but I’m wondering if there are automatic adjustments for those costs. Is it a number of litres as opposed to a value?
Yes, it is based on quantity. We pay for the base price. If there are any changes in fuel costs, it’s also adjusted into our subsidy. There is no impact on certain individual clientele. We continue delivering the program to those individuals, especially the seniors.
