Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Seeing as how we just did an induction into the Education Hall of Fame, I am going to have some questions today for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment in regards to some of the Education Renewal and Innovation Strategy that his department has undertaken over the last few months.
Mainly in terms of the funding formula, I know there were discussions about how we fund our education authorities and I would like to ask the Minister, at what stage are we in finalizing and working on this new funding formula on how we finance our education authorities? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The new formula framework that we were discussing with the standing committee a couple of days ago, it is at a stage of going through the final stages. We’re at the point of finalizing that in the fall of this year, 2015, and obviously that will be going to Cabinet and going to the standing committee once we go through the process.
The formula funding framework has not been changed for the past 25 years, the contribution that we give to the education school boards. This is the work that has been ongoing for a number of years now. Now we are at the final stages. In the fall of 2015 it will be available. Thank you.
I am glad to hear that the Minister has mentioned that over the last 25 years we have been funding our schools and education authorities across the Northwest Territories the same way we have for 25 years and we’re actually making changes now.
Can I ask the Minister, are we going to be seeing increases in some of the funding that we are giving to the schools and the authorities, and where are we going to see the most significant increases? Thank you.
Part of the process is to identify where the changes should be happening with the $150 million we distribute throughout the Northwest Territories, and we should be doing things differently. That’s what we’re focusing on. So, we have been working with the school boards on this particular matter. This is an ongoing document that we’re still working with. As I stated, it will be available this fall, 2015, and it will be ready to be rolled out in 2016-17. Mahsi.
I’d like to ask the Minister, in developing this formula funding for the education authorities, were the actuals in the budgets of our schools and our authorities taken into consideration when we were developing this formula funding so that the schools actually get funding that will offset what they are spending each year?
Have the actuals been taken into consideration when we’re developing this formula funding?
Yes, those discussions have been initiated by both parties, my department and also the school board superintendents. The actuals have been discussed, and not only that but based on the needs of our school operations. So, those are the discussions that we’ve been having with the school boards. So, yes, the actual is part of the discussion that we’ve had. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know, as I mentioned and I’ve said in the House before, that the cost of travel and the cost of doing business in the Beaufort-Delta is a lot higher than it is in other regions across the Northwest Territories mainly because of the high costs of travelling between some of the coastal communities and the community of Inuvik, and also the high costs of food. I know in our Education Renewal and Innovation Strategy that we’re developing, we’re putting new food and breakfast programs into place and whether those things are all taken into consideration with the high costs of travel, the high cost of food prices taken into consideration when we are doing this formula funding. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
That’s the very reason why we’re changing the 25-year-old formula contribution framework, and we’re taking all those into factor, and based on the cost of living, the CPI and doing business in those isolated communities, the fly-in/fly-outs. So, yes, all those are on the table for discussion we’ve had, and we’ll continue to make those changes as we move forward. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
