Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Any early childhood programming that's offered to our children, we have in partnership with the Department of Health and Social Services. We've developed Right from the Start, a strategy, an action plan. Any early childhood programming is going to benefit the children, going to benefit the families, and is going to benefit the communities for the children. Any children that go through an early childhood program are going to see results, whether it's through junior kindergarten, through a day home, or a day program. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there has been some more news on the junior kindergarten implementation as reported by CBC. Department officials in the Department of Education, Culture and Employment have now said that the full amount of funding that the government has committed to over the life of this Assembly will now be implemented this fall, including $900,000 that has been found internally. The officials are quoted as saying, "The funding will be ongoing, and it's going to be added to the school board budgets each year." Can the Minister confirm if all that information is correct? Thank you.
Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned in answering these questions previously, the $5.1 million that's going to be needed to implement junior kindergarten is a commitment for this government, and we are meeting with the superintendents and the education authorities to see how we're going to be rolling out this funding, and the numbers are correct. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
This information seems to be very new to both the public and honourable Members of this House. Can the Minister provide more detail? This $900,000 internal transfer; where is that coming from? What other programs are being impacted by this new money that's being reallocated to junior kindergarten?
No programs are going to be impacted. The way we fund schools through the school funding system is on enrolments, and we have been seeing low enrolments lately, and the money that we usually give for students are going into the school system. We're using that money and re-profiling it into junior kindergarten.
Maybe I'll be a bit more clear. The money that's being re-profiled to junior kindergarten, where is it coming from within the department? I understand that it may not impact in schools, but what government program delivery in the department is it impacting?
As I mentioned, we fund education authorities on enrolments. We've seen low enrolments. The funding that we usually give on the previous year's budget, they've been lower, so that funding that we usually get, we're using that, and reprofiling it in junior kindergarten. It's because of low enrolment rates.
Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm going to resume my questions to the Premier because I didn't feel that I got an answer to the question that I asked, so I'm going to repeat the question. There is going to be an additional $33 million required for operations and maintenance of long-term beds when they're available. What money will pay for this operations and maintenance cost? Thank you.
Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If there is operation and maintenance costs required, it will come from within the government's budget. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you to the Premier. Adding another $33 million to the operations and maintenance budget of the Department of Health would be a very considerable increase over what they are spending today. How will the government decide on cuts, efficiencies, taxes, co-pays, to raise this money? Where will this money come from?
The Member is asking me to speculate on future events. Certainly, at the appropriate time, we will deal with the issue.
Thank you to the Premier. Yesterday, the Premier said to my colleague that the department has been very diligent in finding ways to become more efficient and effective in delivering healthcare. Could the Premier please elaborate on that statement?
I'll be pleased to do so. When the previous government negotiated or imposed a 10-year health accord on all of the governments of Canada, the provincial and territorial governments, there was a 6 per cent increase. It would drop to 3 per cent after 10 years. We've reached that point. This new federal government has continued with that. They've accepted what the previous federal government did. The basis for that decrease from 6 per cent to 3 per cent was to provide for more efficiencies, become more effective through innovation and governance.
We had a territorial health investment fund that was negotiated separate from the Canadian Health Act which provided for medical travel, innovation, and other medical services which worked out on an annual basis, approximately $10 million. Over the last few years, we've been able to reduce our spending in those areas to about $5.2 million. That's what I was referring to, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Premier. Despite the efficiencies that may have been realized, the health budget is growing again this year by $8.9 million, of which Ottawa is paying $1 million in extra funding to the whole budget. What I still am not understanding, even with forced growth, not new initiatives, the health budget is going up. That's without the big push of taking care of our elders. What additional efficiencies are possible to meet those extra costs? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The largest part of our healthcare funding comes through the formula financing, and through that process, we already spend for extended care. We already spend long-term care, and we would have to use that process, whatever success we have in accessing the social infrastructure programs of the federal government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Back to junior kindergarten again. I understand, and the Minister can correct me if I'm wrong, but in daycares and day homes, there needs to be a ratio of 8:1 when it comes to children to adults, supervisors. Yet, the four-year-olds who are being put into junior kindergarten, that ratio is going to be 12:1. What is the rationale for significantly reducing that ratio when it's essentially the same children that we're dealing with? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned earlier in one of the other questions, that JK will be delivered in the school setting. It's both practical as well as fiscally responsible. It also utilizes already maintained, inspected, and publicly funded available school space. Students that enter the junior kindergarten system will also have access to more support from the JK to 12 system that daycares don't have right now, and that was the rationale behind it.
The fact is, in the classroom or in the room that these children are in, there's going to be less supervision. Will the qualifications for a JK teacher be any different than our other elementary school teachers because we are dealing with an age with different challenges than any other age in the school system?
With the consultation that we've had with residents of the Northwest Territories as well as our school boards, we have made those changes to ensure that early childhood educators can be part of instructors within the JK system and doesn't necessarily have to have a degree. It's the flexibility of the school boards to determine whether the JK instructors can be an early childhood educator or have to have that degree in education.
I thank the Minister for clearing that up. About the capital upgrades, I brought this up before; I was looking for a dollar amount or a percentage amount. The Minister mentioned there's money for the upgrades needed to turn kindergarten or elementary classrooms into JK classrooms. What dollar amount is associated with the monies that ECE has pledged to support school boards with? Is it going to cover all of the capital upgrade costs, and if not, what percentage does it cover and what percentage will the school boards have to cover?
Currently we run junior kindergarten in 20 of our 33 communities. We did go out and do that inventory stock. We did the discussions with all the schools to look at what was needed. A lot of our schools have the utilization available; space, classroom space, that's available. Hay River is one that we do have low utilization rates in some of the schools. There are some infrastructure costs that are associated with implementing junior kindergarten. The number that we've looked at allocating is over $3 million, and that's for infrastructure needs as well as looking at resource materials that are needed for schools to implement junior kindergarten.
As I mentioned, out of the 33 communities there are 13 right now that we need to work with; work with our education authorities to look at the resources that are needed, plus any renovations that are needed, and that amount, the figure that I mentioned, was just over $3 million.
Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll be following up with the Minister to get some specific numbers for Hay River. Another issue is that in Hay River the buses are full; there's not room for another 30 kids. So is that factored into the funding for JK or is that something the school board is going to have to deal with either by cancelling busing or buying a school bus or some other means? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Just following up into answering another similar question earlier, that the department is working with the education authorities to address things such as busing, such as school safety and making sure that the implementation of junior kindergarten in all our communities is a smooth transition. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to report to the Assembly that the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment has reviewed Bill 7, An Act to Amend the Revolving Funds Act, and wishes to report that Bill 7 is now ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following two documents entitled "Northern Employee Benefits Services Plan Annual Report for the year ended December 31, 2015" and "The Inuvialuit Water Board Budget 2017-2018." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Tabling of documents. Minister of Justice.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled "Northwest Territories Law Foundation 34th Annual Report for the Period Ending June 30, 2016." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I'll now call Committee of the Whole to order. What is the wish of committee? Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I move that we report progress. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
---Carried
I'll now rise and report progress.
Mr. Speaker, your committee has been considering Tabled Document 261-18(2), Northwest Territories Main Estimates 2017-2018. I would like to report progress. Mr. Speaker, I move that the report of the Committee of the Whole be concurred with.
