I don’t have the exact number of communities that actually have community justice committees in the Northwest Territories. I do know that it is the majority of communities. I also do know that currently 30 of 33 communities have access to the program and are accessing funding. I don’t know how active they are specifically, but I do know that 30 of 33 are accessing the funding for their committees.
That’s really good news to hear, that 30 of our 33 communities are actually accessing this funding for these justice committees.
In terms of alternative and diversion programs having our youth go out and do certain projects or do things for the community, can the Minister allude to what type of projects that these youth are getting diverted into to helping out in the community in terms of volunteering to ensure us that they are not just doing labour work, that they are actually doing some type of skill set that will help them become mature and responsible youth as well as teenagers, and eventually become responsible adults? Can he allude to what type of skill sets they are getting diverted to? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, many of the individual diversions are very specific to the individual involved in the diversion, whatever can be arranged in the community. It would be difficult to provide a comprehensive list of every specific diversion that has taken place, but I will commit to getting to the Member a bit of a summary of the types of things that are being done in the different communities as well as a little bit of a summary on what some of the communities are doing as far as prevention and individual diversion.
I do know that some of the communities have submitted applications for money to run some on-the-land programs that are open to youth so they can get them away from communities and talk about positive activities. I will commit to getting the Member some additional information. I will be happy to share that with him once I have had it compiled. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Do these community justice committees take into account possibly the learning challenges, learning disabilities, cognitive disabilities that these individuals come before them might have when actually dealing with them and dealing with the youth in terms of putting them into an appropriate type of diversion program, or that the youth understands what they are actually going to these community justice committees for? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, every community justice committee consists of representatives from the individual communities. They all come with different strengths, weaknesses and ideas. I couldn’t say whether every committee does exactly what the Member is talking to, but I know many strive to do that. Specifics would depend on the community-by-community basis and what skills they have in their communities, what knowledge they have. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to follow up on my Trout Lake school Member’s statement earlier this afternoon. During my last visit to Trout Lake and with the recent letter received, they have indicated that parents and council, the chief has indicated that the Charles Tetcho School is too small. This fiscal year alone, there are 19 students listed in the morning, and in the afternoon there are 16 students. There is a big open class. I have always said it is like the one-room school. There are too many distractions from the kindergarten class all the way up to the Grade 9 students, as well as the lack of storage room. I have been raising this issue for years. I would like to ask the Minister of Education what has the Education Minister done to get the Trout Lake school project started. Mahsi cho.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The Charles Tetcho School in Trout Lake fits the criteria that we have right now. That is the NWT Schools Capital Standards and Criteria of maximum capacity with the 33 capacity within that school. Right now it is at 61 percent. As the Member indicated, 19 for 2011-12, so the school does meet the approved standard for classroom space and size. That is what we have currently, but the Member raised the issue on numerous occasions. I did address it with my department, how we can look into those areas of small community schools, distraction and so forth. We are looking into that as well. Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, why is replacing the Charles Tetcho School in Trout Lake not a higher priority for this government? I had indicated the original school had burnt down. This is a temporary placement in the community hall. Why is replacing the school in Trout Lake not a priority? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, replacing schools in the communities would have to be based on the standards and criteria that we follow, the Government of the Northwest Territories standards that we follow. What we have before us is the classroom size, the 33 students that can be allowed in the schools. Earlier the Member indicated 19. It is a 61, a 60 percent margin right now. If it becomes a major issue where we have 30 students in the classroom, then it is a major crisis, major issue that we need to deal with. At this point the capacity is not at the maximum, so based on that, we have to follow the standards that are before us within the Government of the Northwest Territories. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I am sure that criteria works well if it is a school, but this is not a school. It is one room in the community hall. I keep impressing that on government. Why do our children deserve less in the smaller communities than others? I would like the Minister to explain that to myself and everyone in Trout Lake. They have to recognize that this is not a school. It is actually a room in the community hall. When will this government replace that school in Trout Lake? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, that is part of the long-term plan. The Member alluded to 2018-19; it could be sooner. It all depends on the situation in the communities. We are not excluding those regional, small, isolated communities. We have to treat all the schools the same. It is all based on criteria as well. We need to follow that. That is our Government of the Northwest Territories criteria and standards that we are following. We cannot break those rules.
This is an issue that we have encountered in the past where there is capital infrastructure that happens every year. These discussions happen on a continuous basis. Eventually, we will see that school, but it is the school where students are being taught kindergarten and so forth and higher grade levels.
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…recognized by our department, by our government. We are providing funding for the organization, the school board, to provide that programming. We will continue to do that until eventually there will be a new school there. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That eventual reality of getting a new school is why I am up here and been raising the issue for years and years. When will that school be replaced? You have ECE standards versus the substandard. That is my point. That is not a recognized school by that community. The government promised to replace that school. They never did. When are they going to do that? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, as I indicated, the capital infrastructure comes on an annual basis. We can definitely discuss it. This is an area that we will continue to push forward in a small community. Depending on the size, again, it is a standard and criteria that is before us based on 61 percent capacity. I will be visiting the community of Trout Lake and see for myself, as well and other small communities, what could be done to expedite the process. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today in my Member’s statement I talked about other jurisdictions that proactively take the right approach in disclosing salary ranges for civil servants. In the Northwest Territories it presents itself as a very significant challenge.
My question is to the Minister of Human Resources. What is the Minister doing to publish public service salaries over the range by way of example of $75,000 in the similar manner as BC or even Ontario does? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister of Human Resources, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Following up on the recommendations of the Access to Privacy Commissioner in the last Assembly, the government also made a recommendation that the government post all salary ranges for different categories of employment in the Government of the Northwest Territories. The Member and I were both on that committee, and since becoming a Minister I have directed the department to post all salary ranges for all categories of employment in the Government of the Northwest Territories on-line. They are all there.
As far as posting individuals’ salaries and individual position salaries, we are actually limited by the conditions of the Access to Information and Privacy Act. Thank you.
Thank you. I appreciate the Minister mentioning the last part, especially about the privacy issue. In Alberta, they recently passed through an FMB directive, which is similar to our process of the Treasury Board, that actually makes this happen that I’m talking about. Ontario, which I’ll table later today, actually publishes people over $100,000 by position, name, where the position is located, as well as their specific salary.
So what is actually stopping this particular Minister from publishing this type of information that’s being published across Canada? Thank you.
I’ve seen that information and I understand that some jurisdictions, under their particular access to information and privacy legislation, have the freedom to do that. We have our own stand-alone legislation here in the Northwest Territories which we have to comply with, and our legislation does not allow that. I am happy to sit down with committee and have some discussions around this, and if they wish for us to pursue this and look at our legislation, we’re happy to do that, but right now our legislation actually limits our ability to do exactly what some of these other jurisdictions are doing. Thank you.
There have been occasions when this particular Minister has been quoted in this House about demanding that salaries get publicized. So why would this question be less relevant when he’s a Minister now? I’d like to ask specifically as Minister what has he done, rather than asking committee to make the recommendations that you can either follow or not follow, but what has the Minister done in his capacity to bring forward the information as I’ve suggested in the manner I’ve suggested? Thank you.
I’m happy the Member brought up my past experience, my past comments. I did exactly what I’ve done already as a Minister, which is post all ranges for all GNWT positions in the Government of the Northwest Territories. I’ve said in committee, I’ve said in the House that that should be done and I’m happy to say today that is exactly what has been done.
With respect to posting individual salaries and individual position salaries, I’ve never been supportive of that, but if it’s something that committee wishes to do, I’m happy, with my colleagues, to look at that and discuss it with committee. If that is the wish of committee, we are happy to pursue that. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act in 1996 from Ontario does exactly what I’m suggesting. What does the Minister have to hide from when I’ve given numerous examples as to why Ontario does this? They specifically state the institution people work on, their specific names, their specific positions over $100,000. What does the Minister have to hide from, from proceeding with this type of information on public disclosure on our website? Thank you.
Thank you. I don’t think we have anything to hide about or hide behind. Bottom line is, our legislation is specific and it talks of this particular area. We are not in a position to release that information without changing the Access to Information and Privacy Act.
Like I said, I’m happy to go to committee, have a discussion on this and if committee wishes us to change the Access to Information and Privacy Act, that is certainly something that we are willing to work with committee on. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier I made a comment on acknowledging the National Cervical Cancer Awareness Week. I’d just like to follow up on it. Perhaps in a sense, maybe for some to talk openly about what happens, perhaps it’s an uncomfortable matter, but I think for a case like this talking about it, raising awareness is the mission, especially for the public out there in the Northwest Territories when we have lots of cases of cancer.
So my question is to the Minister of Health and Social Services. How are young people in the Northwest Territories taught the basics of sexual health, including the information on the human papilloma virus and cervical cancer? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Health does a lot of work in the cancer area, and the department has developed a cancer awareness and response strategy that was funded during this fiscal year, and we have been doing work in various areas under the chief public health officer. I guess that’s how we’re trying to respond to the cancer awareness. Thank you.
Thank you. What about adults? In our health system, how do we make sure that adults know about the human papilloma virus and cervical cancer? Thank you.
Thank you. I see the HPV advertisements on the television, I notice that they’re put on by the Nunavut government and I don’t know that the Government of the Northwest Territories has the same type of campaign for HPV. But I know that awareness of the types of cancer that we find most prevalent are the ones that we’re trying to campaign as in colorectal, prostate and lung cancer for men, and colorectal, lung and breast cancer for women. Thank you.
It is rather disappointing that we’re not making the same effort as our colleagues in Nunavut. Why are the human papilloma virus screening rates lower among Aboriginal women and lower in regional centres and small communities than in Yellowknife? Mahsi.
I’m assuming that the Member has the information that those rates of exams or tests are lower than in the larger centres. I don’t have that information here. I think the standard, when we try to do cancer awareness or try to do early detection, is to try to do something that’s standard across the territory, except for in situations where communities are considered to have a spike in cancer rates in their specific communities. We try to work with those communities to look at all the cancer rates, but the standard is that we are supposed to be applying the same across the Territories regardless of the size of the community. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are addressed to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Quite some time ago, I think it was in 2010, certainly it was in the 16th Assembly, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment advised Members that they would be doing a review of the Student Financial Assistance Program. I’d like to know from the Minister, it’s been quite some time since that announcement was made, it’s been two years down the road, plus some, I think. So I’d like to know from the Minister whether or not that review has been completed, and if so, is it available for the public? Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The SFA was under review and there was a management response to the SFA and the availability to me as the Minister responsible. Upon that, it would be available to the general public based on the recommendations brought forward. We are looking at various areas where we can focus as a priority that we can move forward. So I have to get the specifics of it. I don’t have that detailed information at this point with me right now, but I will get that for the Member on the status. Mahsi.
I think the Minister said that the report is not public. That’s my understanding, I think. I’d like to know from the Minister if the report has been received by the Minister and there has been a response to the report. I would think that there are many people in the public who would like to know what the report says. So I’d like to ask the Minister whether it is the intention of the Minister to make the report and its recommendations available to the public. Could he table it in the House perhaps, and hopefully soon? Thank you.
The recommendation did come from the general public, the students, the parents. It is public information as well. Once I get the overall review, then we can potentially table the document so that it can be opened to the general public.
To the Minister, he’s telling me that it’s public information and yet the report is not in the public realm. I’m having a little trouble understanding how he references it as being public.
So to the Minister, since the report is not yet available to the public and the recommendations are not there so that the public and Members can discuss them, I’d like to ask the Minister if he could give me a bit of a summary of what the recommendations in the report are.
There are, let’s see here, approximately 18 recommendations within that SFA that was brought to my attention. I can share that with the Members as well as the standing committee. This is an area where there is a management response to SFA, the review of the final report. I can share that information. We are focusing on which priority areas we need to start implementing and it will be brought to the standing committee, as well, as an information item as we move forward.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
