Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize a constituent, Mr. Kevin Wallington. As I spoke of small businesses, he is a small business operator, Polar Eggs. I’d also like to acknowledge a couple of other people in the gallery, Mr. Garth Eggenberger, a good friend, also a business owner; and former Hay River resident Nicole Latour. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d just like to recognize and welcome Ms. Angela Young and Sandra Ipana as well as all the other educators joining us today. Thank you for all the hard work in the communities. I’d also like to recognize Cathy Menard. I’ve had a lot of really good conversations with her since being in the job. As well, I’d like to recognize all the other coroners joining her here today. I’d just like to thank them for their dedication and their devotion to residents of the Northwest Territories. I’d also like to thank and recognize the Pages for all their hard work that they did for us Members this week. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was pleased to hear Ms. Nancy Noseworthy’s name mentioned. She’s a resident of Fort Simpson. Welcome to the gallery. I hope you’re enjoying yourself here this week. Mahsi cho. Great to see you.
I’d like to welcome my constituents George Amok and I’m bad with names for the other two people who came from Tuk. I’m sorry, but welcome to the House. Angela, it’s always good to see you here. Ms. Sandra Ipana too. When I was going to Grollier Hall in Inuvik, her and her husband, Roy, took really good care of us. I’ll always remember that. Thank you so much for being here today. Educators, thank you for doing what you’re doing for the youth of our territory. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned, I have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Last year the communities that took on Junior Kindergarten received about $45,000 each to implement that. Why are the schools only getting $15,000 today? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. The Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. When we first initiated our discussion through the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative, the early learning was a priority as part of that discussion during that engagement. That’s how we came about delivering Junior Kindergarten in 23 of our small communities. What the Member is referring to is $15,000 in one-time funding for every classroom to purchase play-based programming, so we need some sort of equipment such as a new play base, developmentally appropriate JK equipment such as mats, water and sand tables and educational tools. But there are also other investments as well.
The proposed plan is $360,000 for necessary infrastructure that we need to do some of this infrastructure into the school system and others as well. Those are just some of the areas that we will continue to invest in for our communities. Mahsi.
I agree with the Minister that early childhood is needed. Many of the communities, as Mrs. Groenewegen mentioned, already do programming for the smaller children from three to five. In the smaller communities I can agree that these are needed. For example, in Tsiigehtchic, which was one of the pilot projects last year, we don’t have daycares or early childhood programming in the communities, and that’s where I believe that those communities should be implementing Junior Kindergarten.
Will the Minister ensure that his department re-evaluates this program in the coming year? Thank you.
Mahsi. I’m glad the Member raised the profile where 10 communities are without licenced early childhood programming. It is true; we’re providing options for the parents to have access to this different programming. There are also other programs such as Head Start and other early learning programming in our communities and in our schools.
At the same time, with any new programming, any new implementation or rolling out of various programs, there’s always a re-evaluation of our situation a year after, two years.
This is a three-year phased approach and every year, obviously, we will be re-evaluating our stance, pros and cons, what we’ve experienced, where we can improve in certain areas. Those are discussions that we will have with the school boards, the DECs and DEAs as well. Mahsi.
Thank you. I would like to ask the Minister what are the plans the department has for the impacts on other programming in the smaller communities. For example, in one of the communities they’re expected to lose approximately seven jobs in the coming year. Thank you.
Mahsi. Due to low enrollment in our school system, there’s potential for cutback in those school contributions based on enrollment, the low enrollment. But we are mindful of that and this Junior Kindergarten is optional based. It’s part-time or full-time; it’s at the discretion of the school boards to decide on. I’ve provided the flexibility to move forward on this. This is an area that also compromises and works with early programming as well.
We’ll continue to monitor and evaluate our programming that we’ve initiated this past August, late August, and then next year will be the second phase and then the third phase. So, we’ll keep monitoring and make some changes along the way as well. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Earlier I spoke about the need to replace the Fort Simpson Health Centre and the planning for that.
I’d like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services, given that the engineering report dictates that we need a replacement health centre facility, exactly what stages are the Department of Health and Social Services at with addressing this situation? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As mentioned yesterday during Committee of the Whole, we’re in the process of doing a planning study on that facility. We expect that to take another couple months, and from there that will help dictate how we move forward as far as inserting this particular project in the capital planning process.
But I do agree with the Member; this is a facility that needs to be replaced, but we just need to figure out how it fits based on the planning study.
The Minister was with me in Fort Simpson in the springtime. The residents wanted to be involved in the planning study, so I just wanted to assure that the Minister has heard that, that part of the instructions of the planning study is to engage in the community, the mayor, the Village of Fort Simpson, the LKFN and the Metis local there. Engage the community and show exactly what type of facility we are building. Even as far as the floor plan, we want to see what’s in there. Thank you.
We are using a template design for the majority of the building and the functions and services that are provided, but I have committed to having our director of infrastructure go to the community, and we were actually hoping that he could get in there in the fall. It hasn’t worked out. We’ve had trouble scheduling with the community and the individuals who want to participate in those meetings. But based on conversations I did have with him yesterday, he is continuing to call the community, still trying to get in there. We’re really hoping that he can get in there before Christmas, hopefully in November, to meet with the community, share the information we have and get input from them on some of the peripheral design and things that the community would like to see in there as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Certainly the community must be engaged, because in other communities like Hay River and Providence, as they were constructing their health facility, there were some things overlooked, and something simple, more in the case of Fort Liard, was missed. Those things cannot be missed, especially that we’ve got a facility that will be there for the long term. So that’s part of the planning that community residents want to see the floor plan, and I think the Minister indicated in Committee of the Whole was a level B/C facility and we want to know exactly what that is.
As I indicated, I agree with the Member that it’s important for us to get in there and have those conversations, and obviously, input from the community and the region is critical and important. I could give an example of where that really benefited was actually in Fort Providence in the discussions with the community and the professionals in that community. It actually resulted in a holding room, a body – I hate the term – but, a body holding room, a morgue, of sorts, being included in that facility, which was something the community really wanted to see.
So, I agree that conversations are important. We’ll do that. When the staff member goes down to Fort Simpson, we’ll make sure that he brings an explanation as well as some general overviews of what a B/C facility is in the Northwest Territories.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Certainly the community is awaiting those engagements.
Just for clarity and comparison towards Fort Providence, was Fort Providence a level B/C facility as well?
The facility in Providence is a community-based facility, where the one in Fort Simpson is a slightly larger B/C facility. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In support of the business people in the Sahtu, I want to ask the Minister of ITI, given that we have we have a smorgasbord of business people in the Sahtu, some with the traditional economy, some with the wage economy, and in light of the slowdown of the oil and gas, because that’s been the economic driver for the past couple of years of committing and spending hundreds of millions of dollars in the Sahtu, has this department taken on the task of doing sort of a lessons learned from this type of activity, because we’re hoping that the companies will be coming back but also that the traditional economy is quite strong and we want to continue that.
Is there some type of synopsis, conference that maybe we can look at in the Sahtu that maybe we can get together as a region to talk about lessons learned in regards to doing business in the North?
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe there is a conference that is being planned or coordinated in the region, and that’s something that we look forward to certainly supporting. The department does have a number of business supports in place for businesses not only in the Sahtu but around the territory. With the decline in activity in the area this coming winter, things are going to be difficult for some businesses; we understand that. We want to try to continue to work with businesses in the Sahtu to ensure that they have the support necessary to see themselves through what could be a difficult winter, and we will continue to do that. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, any type of business in the Northwest Territories, there are some very good, hardworking business people, and sometimes it makes it very difficult for them to thrive and have growth in the Northwest Territories. I talk about the various businesses such as here and around the outlying area where we had the outfitters business. Because of the decline of the caribou due to a number of factors related to the mining, to transportation, to hunting of bison, the outfitters came and asked the government to have a look at some kind of consideration to offset it because their business isn’t thriving anymore. That’s what I am looking at, some type of general consideration given by this government for businesses that do very well, and due to the unexpected, beyond our control, the oil companies do not come back, just as the outfitters in the Yellowknife area are asking for.
I think what the Member is getting to really highlights the work that went into the Economic Opportunities Strategy and the fact that as a government we have to diversify our economy, we have to have those business-type supports in all sectors of our economy. You’ll see through the EOS, we are looking at different aspects, agriculture, tourism, the fishing industry, just to name a few and that’s really… We have to be putting a focus on that because resource development in a lot of ways is cyclical, it is up and down, and we need to ensure that we have those supports in place for all sectors of our economy.
Between last year and this year we are putting close to $4 million, or just over $4 million into the EOS in the various recommendations contained in that report and in our implementation plan. So we’re hopeful that this is going to have an impact on businesses not only in the Sahtu but around the Northwest Territories in helping them get the leg up that they need to be successful. Thank you.
In dealing with the small business people in the Sahtu, there are figures here that I have that show the income support rates have fallen by 50 percent in Tulita in 2012 and 20 percent in Norman Wells. It’s because of these small business people that hire people in our communities to work because of the oil and gas exploration.
I want to ask the Minister, given these kinds of stats and figures that we have produced by the government, are there opportunities for the business people in the Sahtu so that they can continue to keep their businesses alive, sort of have it on the health respirator so that their business can stay alive other than to go bankrupt.
I know business people around the Northwest Territories are very smart when it comes to trying to make ends meet and survive what is a bit of a downturn. We’re not going to see the millions and millions of dollars being spent in the Sahtu as we’ve seen in previous seasons gone past. That is taking a bit of a hiatus here, so we are going to need folks to ensure that they’re looking after that bottom line, they’re ensuring that they are going to be able to survive until the activity comes back, and it’s just not going to be the extent that it was last winter. Good businesses and good business people find a way to survive the downturns, and we’re hopeful that they will survive this downturn.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister mentioned about a planned conference in the Sahtu, and I would ask the Minister if he would make a commitment, depending on his time availability, to come into the Sahtu and speak to the people in the Sahtu for some level of assurance and confidence, working with the Sahtu people through these troubled times so that we can look forward to better times.
Would the Minister make a commitment, given his time availability, to come to the Sahtu to attend to us and work with us during the conference?
I just had a similar opportunity in the Deh Cho. I was down in Fort Simpson speaking to the Chamber of Commerce in Fort Simpson. Any opportunity I get to speak to business people, chamber of commerce across the Northwest Territories, whether it’s in Norman Wells or Hay River, Inuvik or Fort Simpson, I’ll be there. If there is a conference and my availably is there, I’ll be able to come and speak.
I still am very optimistic about the future in the central Mackenzie Valley and the Member’s riding about all the opportunity that is there, and I think some brighter days are ahead of us.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for Minister Lafferty, ECE. The Minister has often said that there are no complaints regarding the implementation of Junior Kindergarten in the Northwest Territories. In contrast to this, I am told that ECE staff are not allowed to take complaints about Junior Kindergarten and that there are indeed serious issues that need to be addressed and are looking for a responsible party. Issues raised by my colleague from Mackenzie Delta certainly seem to confirm this disconnect.
Does the Minister have a clear process for registering and responding to complaints or concerns arising out of the rushed implementation of Junior Kindergarten in the 23 participating schools this fall with the threat of losing $15,000 if they didn’t do it this year?
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The Minister of Education, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. What I said was that there are no major issues or complaints brought to our attention. With any rollout of various programs or projects in the communities, there is always room for improvement. Those are just some of the areas that come into play where teachers ask certain questions about the JK delivery or an avenue that they can turn to. There is ongoing communication dialogue between my department, DEAs and DECs and, also, working with various organizations that are currently delivering the Junior Kindergarten program. I’m a firm believer that there needs to be an open communication dialogue. If there is room for improvement, I would like to hear about it and how we can improve programming for the second phase and third phase and so forth.
I would suggest that these complaints go way beyond what the Minister is suggesting how we can improve the program. These are issues with the current implementation. We have seen the public consultative process design for the feedback on the devolution process. Basically, go to our website and send us a note.
What is the process in place for ECE to gather, catalogue and respond to complaints from early childhood education workers and the public about start-up and emerging problems with Junior Kindergarten in the NWT, or do we not have one?
Mahsi. When we first rolled out the JK a couple of months ago, we knew that there needs to be a response team. We did establish a Junior Kindergarten response team made up of regional representatives and also from ECE perspectives. So they are the ones who are giving us advice, suggestions and making some changes along the way. Not only that, from the general public, the professionals, the teachers, the parents, there is also a hotline within my department that we’ve established so we can hear the general public’s perspective on delivery of the Junior Kindergarten in the 23 communities, the regional perspective and, also, a Yellowknife three-phased approach. Mahsi.
Thank you. From what I hear anecdotally from constituents and those involved, there is a chill in the ranks of ECE surrounding any acknowledgements of difficulty with the implementation of this program, and this goes for the regions.
What direction has the Minister and his senior staff given to regional staff on procedures for dealing with complaints about Junior Kindergarten from ECE workers and the public?
Mahsi. There are various avenues. As I stated, there is a hotline on the website and also on the phone and the response team that consists of the regional representatives from my Department of Education, Culture and Employment to bring any concerns, to bring any ideas on how to deliver this particular program. So any other forms of communication, there’s always, as I stated before, room for improvement, how we can best communicate to the parents, to the teachers, to the children that we are teaching. So we’re doing what we can to be transparent and be accountable for the best delivery of this program. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
