Just the other part of that question, I’ll repeat it here, was: Has the Minister made decisions on these recommendations as to whether to reject, accept or modify them specifically?
What we were talking about in the House today, as I just indicated, was I was responding to questions related to the letter that has been posted and written to Mr. Spence, and that is the extent.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister responsible for the Social Envelope Committee of Cabinet, the Honourable Glen Abernethy.
What is the current annual cost to administer each of the 16 income assistance and other income security programs mentioned in point 2 on page 5 of the recent Auditor General’s Income Security Program Review? For the purposes of this question, “cost to administer” is defined as GNWT salaries, overhead for office space, travel, per diems and other program delivery-related expenses.
What are the current total annual payments made to clients under each of the 16 income assistance and other income security programs mentioned in the recent Auditor General’s program review?
How many clients do each of the 16 income assistance and other income security programs mentioned in the recent Auditor General’s program review assist annually?
Could the Minister provide a copy of the latest Market Basket Measure of poverty for each NWT community or, if not available, a commitment on when this will be available?
Prior to the Income Support Program reviews associated with the Auditor General’s report over the last few years, when was the last comprehensive review of income support programs and what was the title of the report produced on that review?
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following, entitled Aboriginal Tourism: Recommendation for a Strategic Action Plan.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document, entitled 2012 Public Service Annual Report, Government of the Northwest Territories.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document, entitled Achieving Our Priorities: Believing in People and Building on the Strengths of Northerners.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister of the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document, entitled Northwest Territories Housing Corporation Annual Report, 2012-2013.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a number of documents here in support of the notice of motion I gave yesterday on strengthening municipal enforcement liquor laws. I also have a number of letters of support of that same motion from Yellowknife city councillors Niels Konge, Rebecca Alty and Linda Bussey.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Item 15, notices of motion. Item 16, notices of motion for first reading of bills. Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Tuesday, November 12, 2013, I will move that Bill 7, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 1, 2014-2015, be read for the first time.
I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that, notwithstanding Rule 4, when this House adjourns on November 7, 2013, it shall be adjourned until Wednesday, February 5, 2014;
AND FURTHER, that any time prior to February 5, 2014, if the Speaker is satisfied, after consultation with the Executive Council and Members of the Legislative Assembly, that the public interest requires that the House should meet at an earlier time during the adjournment, the Speaker may give notice and thereupon the House shall meet at the time stated in such notice and shall transact its business as it has been duly adjourned to that time.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The motion is in order. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called.
---Carried
Mr. Ramsay.
WHEREAS Subsection 15(1) of the Official Languages Act permits the appointment of a Languages Commissioner by the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories, after the approval of the appointment by resolution of the Legislative Assembly;
AND WHEREAS the Legislative Assembly considers the appointment of a Languages Commissioner essential for ensuring recognition of the rights, status and privileges of each of the official languages and compliance with the spirit and intent of the Official Languages Act;
AND WHEREAS the term of the Languages Commissioner has expired;
AND WHEREAS the Legislative Assembly is of the opinion that the appointment of a Languages Commissioner should now be made;
NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, that pursuant to Section 15 of the Official Languages Act of the Northwest Territories, Snookie Henrietta Catholique of Yellowknife be appointed as Languages Commissioner;
AND FURTHER, that the appointment be effective December 1, 2013.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The motion is in order. To the motion.
Question
Question has been called.
---Carried
Mr. Menicoche.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to deal with Motion 5-17(5), which I gave notice of yesterday.
---Unanimous consent granted
Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you, colleagues, and thank you, Mr. Speaker. WHEREAS, the Education Renewal Initiative represents sweeping and significant change to the delivery of kindergarten to Grade 12 education in the Northwest Territories;
AND WHEREAS testing shows that more than 25 percent of NWT students are not at the academic level they need to be for their age;
AND WHEREAS the Grade 12 graduation rate for the NWT is 52 percent and may be declining;
AND WHEREAS many students emerge from NWT schools without the tools they need to succeed in life, and without sufficient knowledge of the core curriculum;
AND WHEREAS an increased focus on early childhood development is known to improve learning performance throughout a person’s life;
AND WHEREAS many of our youngest students enter school without development of the communication and learning skills needed to succeed in school;
AND WHEREAS more than 35 percent of NWT children in kindergarten are significantly behind in their development (including as many as 60 percent of five-year olds in some communities), as measured by the Early Childhood Instrument;
AND WHEREAS changes to the education system will have a substantial impact on students, parents, teachers and administrators;
AND WHEREAS public and community involvement are critically important to the success of the Education Renewal Initiative;
AND WHEREAS in considering the areas of the NWT school system requiring improvement, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment consulted widely with its partners in education, carrying out 30 “engagements;”
NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, that this Legislative Assembly recommends that the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment (ECE) set and publish concrete targets for early childhood and student achievement within a prescribed time frame, and describe actions to be taken to achieve the targets;
AND FURTHER, that ECE and the Department of Health and Social Services substantially increase and improve community-based, GNWT-supported early childhood development programs and resources to support them;
AND FURTHER, that ECE now involve more communities, parents and teachers in implementing education renewal, and to promote greater understanding of this initiative;
AND FURTHERMORE, that the Government of the Northwest Territories provide a comprehensive response to this motion within 120 days.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. To the motion. Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. You saw Members of this side of the House rise one by one yesterday to express their deep concern about this Education Renewal Initiative put forth by our government. Throughout the day it became clear that it was a government initiative with consulting their partners, but it’s not the people’s initiative. That’s what I heard when I did my tour in the fall time, is that people were excited, they want to be involved in the education renewal. They pointed out to me clearly some of the shortcomings that I wasn’t able to get a good answer on yesterday. Some of the shortcomings are: top students in my small schools are failing Alberta standards; top students once again are shown time and time again that what they are being taught is not what they are expected to learn, and I don’t see that in the Education Renewal Initiative at all.
I’m urging the motion partly speaks to getting back out there to the small communities, to all the communities, to speak with the teachers, the students, the educators and the parents and get everybody involved in forming a truly Education Renewal Initiative.
Time after time in past Assemblies, we talked about changing the education system, but we want real changes and we want real results. We’re talking about devolution. We passed three or four pieces of legislation that’s going to make us our own power in this great Northwest Territories. I was talking about resources of land and water, subsurface rights, but the most important resources are people, the students and the people here. We have to educate them. We have to have the base. We have to have them well educated enough so that we can take over our own land into the future and that’s really important. It is not important for the Department of Education to roll out stuff and say this is how we’re doing it. It is more important for them to hear and roll it back and make those changes that people want.
I see a future where our children are not some poor statistics that show that we’re not learning, we are not graduating, we’re not graduating enough. We must set a standard. We must set a goal. The motion speaks about it. What is the department’s goal? One of the goals ought to be that we will never fail these achievement tests, that we will have graduates that can go to Alberta, that can go to B.C. or other institutions and not have to retake subjects or else, worse yet, have the shame of not even knowing what’s happening down there and coming home by Christmastime.
I have often said in this House we track our students right up to Grade 12, but we don’t track those that do not succeed in southern institutions and they come home. It’s disempowering when we tell them that they’re passing, we tell them that they’ve graduated, but yet they cannot succeed down south when they go to higher institutions of learning time after time. Here we have an opportunity with the Education Renewal Initiative to say, let’s do this right. We have to create a future, and our future is our children, and involving everybody and building a truly Educational Renewal Initiative. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
To the motion. Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m very happy to rise and support this motion. As people probably know, I have a bit of a passion for education. The intent of this Education Renewal Initiative is to use the most current educational research finding and promising practices of the 21st Century. That’s the intent. I’m not sure we’re getting there, but we will.
Education systems are very complex and changing them requires multiple concurrent initiatives. It requires motivation and collaborations if we are to make the change successful. Given the additional layers of complexities in the NWT, it’s even more important to ensure that we get the process right at the beginning, that we ensure that all the necessary partners are at the table, to make sure that NWT students are given the best opportunities for success, that the final product is going to make a difference, that it will be welcomed by students, staff and community members, and it’s even more critical as we move from the framework that we have now seen tabled into the action plan which the Minister tells us is coming.
From my conversation with educators on the front line, so to speak, the teachers in the classrooms, the principals, board members and so on, I hear that they have not been rigorously consulted; never mind rigorously consulted, they haven’t even been consulted in the development of the framework. That must be changed as the department goes to producing this action plan. Every teacher, every parent, every school trustee must get a copy of the framework to provide input into the action plan as we go forward. Any education renewal should be ongoing, it should be local and it should be continuous.
Most education renewal across North America is based not only on research findings, but also rely on relations with university and experts in university, professors and experts in educational reform. I don’t know, but I would hope that the NWT has engaged educational research experts to provide guidance on this huge project, to take advantage of the experience and the knowledge of education experts that are out there. I hope that the department will continue to use experts for peer review through the development of an action plan and then the implementation of that action plan. It’s extremely important that we are working on a plan, but we are also getting it reviewed by people who do this work and to make sure that we’re going in the right direction. We often say we have to get it right and we have to get it right from the start. Well, this is a case where any action plan that we put forward for the next 10 years has to be right in year one, not right in year five.
We have some examples of connections that we already have with our experts. We have a relationship between the University of Saskatchewan and our NWT Teacher Education Program. Have we engaged the people at the U of S in this Education Renewal Initiative? I don’t know. I haven’t seen that in any of the literature that I’ve seen.
A question that I haven’t got an answer to, as well, is whether or not the ERI document was peer reviewed before it was tabled and/or made public.
I have some other concerns about the Education Renewal Initiative. Where did the education authorities fit in this process? How does ECE expect to address the responsibilities that fall directly under the education authorities? How will the department ensure the accountability of the education authorities? And we heard that question from the Auditor General’s report on education a couple of years ago.
There’s mention many times in the ERI document of training of teachers and educational staff. Will the financial resources be there for these ongoing training sessions? Will the teachers be given the time away from their regular classroom and other duties in order to take the training?
There are a number of items in the ERI document that can’t be measured. Community involvement is one. There’s a fairly large section on the commitment of the department to involve teachers in the community, to involve the community and the schools, but I don’t know how ECE expects to monitor that and how they expect to encourage that. It’s a very difficult thing to tell a community that this is what you have to do.
Junior kindergarten is a concern. You heard about that yesterday, and the motion states that we need to substantially increase and improve community-based, GNWT-supported early childhood development programs and resources to support them. I absolutely believe that and I do not believe that junior kindergarten is aptly named an Early Childhood Development program.
Attendance is not addressed in the ERI document. That’s a concern for me and it’s been identified as one of the major barriers to student success. That’s been acknowledged by the Education department itself and it’s been acknowledged certainly by Members on this side of the House. That needs to be addressed better in the ERI document as we go forward.
The timing of the implementation of this major change is a concern for me. From what I understand, the department is looking at implementing this change beginning in September of 2014 and that’s a really short time frame. We have a framework and this is the beginning of November, we have less than a year in which to develop an action plan, set all the parameters in place to put that action plan into place and I think it’s a very short time frame. It’s going to have a huge impact on teachers in our schools. If you consider that it’s September 2014, we’ve got new teachers potentially in some schools, it’s the beginning of a new year, which is always a very stressful time, we’re going to have new materials for them because there are plans to change curriculum quite a bit and there’s going to be additional reporting because that’s suggested in the ERI document.
Research suggests that the biggest, most consistent factor in student success is a good teacher and I have major concerns that teachers are going to be negatively impacted by the ERI document if we implement it in haste, if we implement it sooner than what it should be.
I am concerned that if we’re not careful, what started as a genuine effort to renew education in the NWT will instead result in increased teacher workloads and increased teacher stress as the teachers try to make up for the gap that’s been caused by the reduction in services and funding. We have to be careful that this Education Renewal Initiative does not end up putting the responsibility for implementation and success on the plates of school authorities and school staff.
The bottom line is that teacher stress and burnout not only affects the teacher, but it also inevitably affects the learning environment and interferes with educational goals. From that we get kids who can’t succeed.
So, Mr. Speaker, I am fully in support of this motion. I do believe that we need to have concrete targets as is itemized in the first operative clause. I do believe that we need to improve our community-based, GNWT-supported Early Childhood Development program. I do believe that we need to involve communities and parents and teachers more in the further development of this ERI and I do believe we need a response from the government in 120 days.
With that, I urge my colleagues to support the motion. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’ve looked high and low and spent decades trying to find different solutions that will move our educational systems forward. However, recently, over probably the last decade, we’ve found exciting and informative advances in our knowledge about brain development and the development of our capacity to learn and to be healthy throughout life.
This has been exciting and it is becoming known throughout society now. It goes far to explain our failures to date in achieving our education goals. I believe our Education department is well aware of this, as are all of my colleagues. We’ve chatted about this quite a bit.
What is the crux here? First, brain development during pregnancy and the first three years of life is the biggest opportunity to ensure we have full learning capacity and health. Second, the neural pathways developed during this period largely dictate the future of a lifetime of well-being of this person. Third, if it doesn’t happen during this period, it is very challenging and very expensive to play catch-up.
What are the implications? We need to put our money into early childhood development, supporting families, communities and community-based programs towards effective early childhood development. We should not continue to gnash our teeth and throw new money at our educational system until we have made clear and measurable progress at supporting our young children prior to their entry into the education system.
Few gains will be made despite our best efforts through the Education Renewal Initiative until this has been achieved. This should not stop us from pursuing the Education Renewal Initiative with existing resources to begin implementing our new knowledge about learning and teaching in today’s environment.
Finally, we should not be putting dollars into junior kindergarten, again, until we have a comprehensive program in every community for ages zero to three. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. To the motion. Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to thank the Member for the motion and the comments of those that have spoken to the motion. It is a very critical issue, it’s a big initiative and we’ve been listening carefully, there are notes being taken and we have an obligation to provide a response in 120 days. We want the same type of things for our children in the system. Now we’re debating the best way to get there.
So, I appreciate the comments and, as this is direction to Cabinet, we will be abstaining. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. To the motion. Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m rising here today and supporting the motion. I’d like to thank Mr. Menicoche for bringing it forward.
Again, I’m always disheartened when I hear the Cabinet will always abstain on something that they truly believe in and have actually worked on in this initiative, but that’s neither here nor there.
Yesterday when we talked about this in the House, I brought some very startling information, statistics. By the time a student gets to Grade 4, they’ve missed already half of a year of school, and by the time that same student reaches Grade 10, the average NWT student misses two years of schooling.
In the terms that we use out in the public, we call that truancy, or basically lack of attendance, and it’s really disheartening when you look at the areas and the whereas’s in this motion, when it says testing shows that more than 25 percent of our NWT students are not at the academic level they need to be for their age, and that by Grade 12, graduation rates are at 52 percent and they’re declining. As they say in the Wildlife Act that we just debated here a few days ago, you can’t measure what you can’t count. The same holds true with our kids. You can’t measure if they’re not in their seats.
Clearly, all of these initiatives boil down to making sure that, first and foremost, we’ve got to have these kids in their schools. They’ve got to start being in the classroom, and that’s not an easy task.
This Education Renewal and Innovation Initiative is definitely a step in the right direction, but quite frankly, when you look at the dialogue that we had, or at least I had with the Minister yesterday, it’s clear that parents, educators, elected officials, municipalities, I’m really doubting if these people were involved with the framework of action. Unless we involve the community in trying to find ways to get our students in the classroom, it doesn’t matter what initiative we put, it doesn’t matter what we spend. That money will be for naught.
It’s critical that we also include our elders. Again, good ideas were brought here to the table, and all we heard was, “well, we might look at it.” I think we’re beyond the “we might look at it” phase. We’re beyond the framework. We’ve got to start putting actions to this, and we’ve got to, again, make sure that we can get our students into their classrooms.
That also will take some initiative in terms of money, sometimes financial in nature, and with our budget system before us here coming up here in December, and we’ll be talking about our upcoming operational main estimates in February, I’m going to be truly looking for this government, this Cabinet to put serious hustle behind the muscle. I want to see what we’re doing for education. I want to make sure those dollars are being put aside for this initiative, because if they’re not, I can tell you that I’ll be asking the Department of Transportation to give me a couple kilometres, because when roads start trumping our kids, we have a problem.
I’ll be speaking in favour of this motion. I would like to thank the Members here for bringing it forward.
