Mr. Speaker, it’s my understanding that we were going to work on about three Economic Strategy plans and it was my understanding that they would be at least in the range of about $50,000 each. I’m doing that off memory, so it may not be the exact number for each plan, but I’m sure it’s a close number bracket.
That said, I’m trying to source out which particular regions this government is going to help focus in on and what type of discussion are we going to have to ensure that we focus in on those regions that need a lot of help and see if we can get their economies bustling so they can work in and get people employed. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, each region in the Northwest Territories is going to get the required help and assistance. Of course, we do have that available. We do have regional offices around the Northwest Territories that are ready, willing and able to help communities and help regions develop plans. Our goal is to do just that. Thank you.
I can appreciate from the very first response from the Minister that he’s maybe not able to fully answer the question, so maybe I’ll take a slightly different tact.
Does the Minister agree that regional grassroots input is important so each region can identify what’s critical to them to help spark their individual economy?
The example I gave in my Member’s statement, I’m sure you’ll recall, Mr. Speaker, was I mentioned how maybe in Tulita the fishing industry isn’t quite the same as it is in Hay River, where we need to support Hay River slightly differently because they have a big fishing economy and they do a lot of work there. But on the local level, it’s slightly different in Tulita.
I guess the bottom line I’m getting at here is, how does the Minister envision that we’re going to get grassroots input to ensure that we target things but serve every economy slightly different throughout the Northwest Territories? We can’t expect one mould to work through, roll through and give us the exact same results. If they don’t connect with the regional people with the regional needs, then they’re a waste of time. So I want to hear how we plan to do that or how does the Minister envision that. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, that was the genesis of the whole Economic Opportunities Strategy, was to get that grassroots look, to build partnerships around the Northwest Territories. We have the Northern Aboriginal Business Association; we have the Chamber of Commerce; we’ve talked to communities; we’ve talked to the public. All of that work went into the development of the Economic Opportunities Strategy, and the implementation plan you see today reflects all of that good work that we put in the early days of developing the strategy that the Member talks of.
That work was done. That’s why we believe strongly that the Economic Opportunities Strategy that we have and the implementation plan is going to benefit all regions across the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That’s exactly why I’m asking about the implementation plan, how we get this into the input of those regions into this plan so we actually get developing business, because business is the right people to help create the economy. That’s the detail I’ve been trying to get here today and I look forward to what the Minister is now going to say. Besides the plan, besides the implementation plan, let’s hear the details of how we’re going to get there and get people working. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, whether it’s agriculture... I know the Member is the chair of the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure. We’ve had a great deal of success in agriculture. We think we can do a lot more there. So, we’re poised to do some big things in agriculture.
On the tourism side, I just read a statement in the House earlier this week, talking about tourism numbers being up. The fact that we have put more marketing into our efforts in places like China is paying off, and we continue to see our numbers increase there. Also, the investment that we are making in the commercial fishing industry and the partnership that we’re going to build to see a new export-grade fish plant constructed and operated in Hay River are very important things.
Again, we need to continue to support the regions. Not all regions are created equal, obviously. There are opportunities that vary from region to region. But our goal is to diversify the economy, and we believe the plan we’ve put in place will allow us to do that. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned earlier, we do have some attendance rate issues in our communities, especially the small communities. With this Education Renewal and Innovation Framework document, entitled “Direction for Change,” it doesn’t really speak too much on how we’re going to try to get our students into the seats and into the classrooms.
So I’d like to ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, what is his department doing to increase attendance in schools across the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. Minister of Education, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The whole Education Renewal and Innovation will obviously capture that. The attendance issue has been at the forefront of our discussion through the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative in which we’ve engaged with the general public over the years since 2010, and we had a forum on education renewal. The poor attendance, obviously, is a symptom of underlying issues where students are disengaged in our school system.
Examples of our ERI that I can share with the Member, one of the focuses is student well-being through safe and caring school practices and also providing nutritious foods in our school system and enhancing our community relations through elders in schools, residential school resources and staff training, and also providing personalized and quality education through focused inclusive learning supports, career orientation and distance learning. Those are some of the areas we are continuing to focus on. Mahsi.
I understand the well-being of the students as well as the teachers is very important to the department.
One of the things in the document talks about well-being in terms of safety, nutrition and making sure that our students are fed before they go in the classrooms, and that’s another ongoing issue. That in itself can be an incentive for students to go to school first thing in the morning, is a breakfast program.
I’d like to ask the Minister if he has any funding for schools to look at creating breakfast programs in the schools. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, through our contribution to the district education councils and authorities, we provide funding as part of our contribution. It’s at their discretion whether it be spent on a food basket or early learning breakfast in our school system. We, as a department, are working very closely with the school boards to have those students ready to learn in our school system so they’re not coming to school hungry.
Some of the schools have been very creative, having a breakfast program in our school system, and we provide funding towards that as well. Not just my department but there is Health and Social Services and MACA. This is a coordinated approach. We will continue to provide that support to our school system. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I recently had a meeting with Canadian North and talked about some of their programs that they’re running in some of the northern communities specifically around attendance and around best marks. They have really good incentives to get the academic grades that they need but also just making it to school.
Is the Minister familiar with this program that Canadian North runs and is he willing to also partner up with such an organization to look at getting some type of incentive program for student attendance? Thank you.
Mahsi. Obviously, we welcome any organizations, any industries coming to our schools to provide incentives, whether it be focusing on attendance or on-the-land programs. There are all these different partnerships out there that come into our school system and do partner up and contribute towards our programming or students’ well-being. So, we’ll continue to push that forward, seeking out partners, and we’ll do our part as the Department of Education, working again, with the DECs and DEAs as well. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Once again focusing on attendance, has the Minister worked with the DEAs and the DECs to find a position within the schools for any students, because attendance rates are pretty serious here, 80 percent in the small communities. Is he working with the DEAs to look at creating a position for any students who are continually missing school on a regular basis to find a way to interact or make phone calls to the houses so that those students have that contact with the school and develop that relationship? Is he working with the DEAs to develop something like that? I know they do something similar in Inuvik and I just want to know if he’s working with other communities to implement a similar program. Thank you.
Mahsi. Those are just some of the options that we are currently working with. There are some best practices in other larger centres, as well, that can be carried out to the smaller communities. Whether it is positions in the communities, again, we contribute directly to the district education councils and they decide how many positions should be hired and what kind of positions should be hired. But yes, I will take that message to the DECs and work with them to identify these key areas. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There’s a saying in Quebec, a child without an education is like a bird without wings. I’m glad to report that the staff and students at the Colville Lake School now have running water and fully functioning bathrooms.
---Applause
Since October 10th. That’s 18 days ago. Can the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment tell me that since the community has been asking for a brand new school in their community, can the Minister update the House as to where that issue is at with the community of Colville Lake? I had a meeting this morning with Chief Alvin Orlias and the SAO band manager, Joseph Kochon, and that’s the first question they asked, where is our brand new school that we’ve been asking for?
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Colville Lake’s school has been in the discussions for a number of years now, even through the local DEAs and at the regional level with DECs. We have to go through, obviously, the capital planning process where we have all these different areas of capital infrastructure coming forward. We, as a department, hope to get those key initiatives such as Colville Lake into the hopper. So based on that, we’re following through on what will be approved through this Assembly and moving forward. Part of that, obviously, is the Colville Lake School that we’ve been talking about for a number of years. Mahsi.
Thank you. I’ll meet with the chief later on and have more discussions on their wish for a new school.
My questions are going to be all on the education in the Sahtu. So, I’m finally getting to see our schools moving into the 21st century with the fully function of running water and toilets. Yesterday I addressed the needs assessment and we’re showing there’s a great need for these programs in our region. Also, I understand there is a feasibility study underway in regards to a Sahtu tech, preparing our students for the labour force.
Based on the needs of a Sahtu technical institution, is that something that’s going to be reported by the end of this Assembly in regard to the outcome of this feasibility study, planning a Sahtu technical institution in the Sahtu?
Mahsi. Yes, we’ve just completed the Sahtu feasibility study, the needs assessment, I should say. Based on that, it will give us a tool to work with for analyzing training institute requirements for the Sahtu region. There is a process that we still have to go through, as well, but this is just a preliminary discussion that we’ve been having. We involve the stakeholders and they provide us with a needs assessment of the community. Now the next step will be focusing in those areas where the information has been provided to us and how can we work with that. So we will be working closely with the region of Sahtu as well. Mahsi.
Thank you. My questions on the education of the Sahtu people, we have students going out of jurisdictions for long periods of time, out of our communities. We have a great need for seeing a Sahtu tech in our region. So my third question, I understand from the information I got from the department, impressive facts, that we have 30 students from our Sahtu communities attending the Thebacha Campus in Fort Smith. In total, we have 79 students attending some form of college programs in the Northwest Territories. In regard to our students at Aurora College in Fort Smith, yesterday I was shocked to hear that the students who are in that residence have no study desks, no lamps.
What is the Minister doing to ensure that our students who are coming down from the Sahtu to attend these college institutions have the basic supports for a good learning environment and these dorms are being fully equipped with the proper supports? Thank you.
Mahsi. Yes, we need to provide as much support to our students as we possibly can, especially students coming from the remote communities, and all communities as well.
This is an area that I need to address with the college because the college dorms are under their umbrella. So, that message will be relayed to the board chair and president, what’s the status on that and how can we assist those individuals, the students, if they’re struggling. I will get the status for the Member. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I talked about the self-government realities of Deline.
Will the Minister be creating a K-12 trades program with the shop that they’re planning to build in Deline?
Mahsi. When we talk about those areas of academic studies, whether it be regional schools or even technical schools, obviously we have to work with the community of Deline. Even through their school boards as well. As you know, there has been self-government arrangements being discussed and eventually these educational authorities will fall under them as well. So we’re very much looking forward to working with those parties as we move forward, discussing the future prosperity of educational facilities in the Sahtu region. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Earlier I spoke about the need for a full-time student counsellor in the community of Fort Liard. So I’d like to ask the Minister of Education, as I laid out the case clearly that there’s a need for a full-time counsellor in Fort Liard.
What formula is used by the Department of Education, Culture and Employment to determine whether a community merits a full-time school counsellor, and does the community have to meet a particular threshold?
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The Minister of Education, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Obviously, there is a school funding framework that we follow through with and it does consist of various categories for individual school boards to qualify for. Some of the areas for counselling, obviously, the funding would be for school community counsellors, inclusive schooling, that there is funding for counsellors and inclusive schooling and funding for counselling and healing. These are just some of the areas that we’ll be capturing what the Member is referring to as community school counsellors. Part of the Dehcho Divisional Education Council, we are contributing up to $537,000 a year to capture the school community counsellor positions, but at the same time, it is at their discretion to hire those individuals as well as from the communities’ perspective.
Of course, a student’s well-being is one of the Education Renewal Initiatives, and I’m pleased that the Minister brought out some other funding areas, so if the Minister can bring that document to me. Also, pooling all this money, does the Minister think that the Dehcho Education Council can translate the resources available into a full-time counsellor for the Fort Liard youth?
That $537,000 to the Dehcho Divisional Education Council, they decide where the money should be expended, whether it be in Kakisa or another small community. It would be up to their discretion to deal with that. These are just some of the positions that have been highlighted, such as Fort Liard, Fort Providence, Fort Simpson, Jean Marie, Kakisa, Nahanni Butte, Trout Lake and Wrigley. Some of them are half-time positions, three-quarter positions based on the funding that has been allocated to them. But again, at the end of the day, it will be up to the district education authority, working with the district education council, to decide how many positions should be hired in their school system.
I continue to reiterate that we certainly need these types of supports for kids with complex needs. Once again, our at-risk youth in all our small communities, we need a wraparound approach that involves school counsellors and teachers working closely with other mental health and social services professionals.
As an MLA who represents some of the smallest and least resourced communities, can the Minister commit to bringing this wraparound approach to Fort Liard?
Within our Government of the Northwest Territories, we’ve been talking about, just recently, the wraparound, the services. That has been in discussion. Obviously, this will be a topic of discussion that the Member alluded to when I meet with interagency and other departments here when we talk about the funding itself. Yes, this will be, obviously, part of the discussion that we’ll be having.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Just for clarity, if he’s working with the Department of Health and Social Services, as well, is he able to work with them to see if there are some resources to help with the need of filling this gap in the Fort Liard school system?
Any funding that Health and Social Services can provide to us is greatly appreciated. At the same time, it is an interagency meeting that we need to have with the Department of Health and Social Services and my department because we talk about the school community counsellors and also counselling and healing. There are separate pots that we provide, as the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, to Fort Liard and other communities. Yes, I did commit to working with the Department of Health and Social Services. They have been our partner along the way and they will continue to do so.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the honourable Premier. With respect to the IRS personal credit, will the Premier act swiftly on behalf of the residents and request that Minister Valcourt, who is on the file, extend the October 31st deadline?
Thank you, Mr. Blake. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I too have IRS personal credits that I have not had the opportunity to use up, so I would be pleased to call on the federal Minister to extend the time period so that we can maximize the healing required for some residential school students.
Within my riding we’ve had a lot of assistance from both the Inuvialuit and the Gwich’in helping our residents work closely to fill out these forms. I’d like to ask that the Premier also request that the federal government provide additional support for eligible applicants.
As the Member indicates, the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement is administered by the federal government and, as I understand it, a component of this agreement relates to personal credits that individuals may be eligible to put towards educational, cultural projects, skills development or other related purposes. I think that we would want to see that information available to survivors, and the concern that has been raised by former eligible students that have not had adequate opportunity to apply to this program, so I would be pleased to include that in the request.
