Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, recently the Prime Minister of Canada visited the Northwest Territories, and one of the discussions we have been having across the country and in this community is on democratic reform. Certainly, there are many constitutional challenges with some models of governance in the Northwest Territories, but today I would like to ask the Minister responsible for Public Engagement and Transparency if this government has a position on democratic reform that they've shared with the Government of Canada. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister responsible for Public Engagement and Transparency.
No, we haven't.
Thank you to the Minister. I'm thankful that we don't have a position because I didn't know about it and I don't think my honourable friends know about it as well.
Does the Minister feel that this is a discussion that we could bring forth to Northerners? Certainly, there are fewer constitutional challenges with proportional representation or alternative voting here in our jurisdiction. So is the Minister considering public engagement on democratic reform in the Northwest Territories?
As the Prime Minister found out, this is a real jungle. For hundreds of years we've had the first-past-the-post system, and I think it's served us quite well. I don't think the government wants to engage in that sort of massive overhaul of the voting system.
Well, Mr. Speaker, there's a big difference between a system that encompasses 34 million Canadians and a system that encompasses 40,000 Northerners. I think that we have options here, and national opinion polls show that the majority of Canadians want to engage in this discussion; they want to be consulted. This is an area I think that we've seen a lot of attention. So given that the Minister's job in this portfolio is open government, can he commit to at least starting to look at a discussion paper that could be shared with Members on this side of the House and with members of the public on options for democratic reform in the Northwest Territories?
This is a very busy government. All of the MLAs are very busy. People may want reform, but there doesn't seem to be any obvious solution in the sense that when asked people have many different ideas about what a new system of voting could look like, and I just don't think that this government feels that changing the current system, which has worked well for many years, would be a high priority or a priority at all.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the Minister sits on the Standing Committee of Rules and Procedures; they're currently looking at a report that recommends 43 changes to our electoral system. Is the Minister saying that he categorically refuses to acknowledge any of those recommendations and will not be proceeding with any of those changes, or is he only talking about proportional representation?
I think it's clear he answers that question. I'm not asking him to be the Prime Minister of Canada here and address a national concern; I'm asking him to address issues here at home. We do have this report and he has seen it; he's certainly on that committee. So can he answer if he accepts that report, some of the -- and how much of that report he accepts? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, there can always be changes to and improvements in the manner in which we conduct voting in the Northwest Territories. The change that I think is suggested by the Member opposite would, I think, tie up the Assembly to such an extent that it would not be worth the effort.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. As I mentioned in my Member's statement, the cancelled Aurora College program contained specific content that was inclusive of northern communities and our cultures. Mr. Speaker, does the Minister believe that sending students to southern schools for training and social work can replace the crucial cultural content that's important for working in northern communities? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No, I don't. Any students who go through our current education system go through an Aboriginal language culture-based education, so they get all the relevant information, the experiences, on-the-land programs, languages in their schools and their communities, and anyone who hasn't received it and comes back to the Northwest Territories GNWT does also have a cultural awareness program through the Human Resources Department. As well, we do have teacher cultural orientation days that our department has made mandatory to anybody who comes and works for the department of ECE. That includes southerners who have never been in the North before, and it's mandatory. You learn about residential school experiences, the education system. So we're preparing our teachers and our workers for the communities that they will be working in.
Currently, we do have 19 Northerners who are attending the social work program out of the territory. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I thank the Minister for his fulsome reply. Mr. Speaker, while the graduation rates of this program were low, enrolment rates seem to be trending upward, indicating that there's significant interest in the program. What steps has the department been taking to ensure that enrolling students are prepared for the demands of this program?
We're always in consultation with the executive and the staff over at the Aurora College, looking at their programs and how we support one another and some of the tough decisions that do have to be made. Any students who are looking at going into a social work program or any program that is post-secondary, we have career development officers in our regional offices, employment transition officers. We also have career guidance counsellors in the schools, and our CDOs are actually going and working in the schools, and that's an emphasis that we did put on them. So there are many areas that we're working with students to get them in the right direction to get them to post-secondary education, whether it's at Aurora College or another institute across Canada.
Thanks to the Minister for his reply. Lastly, Mr. Speaker, it's clear to all of us in this Assembly that, as a society, our social ills in the NWT seem to be worsening. How is it achieving our mandate goals as a government and, in particular, our obligations under the calls to action on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to cancel this program? What kind of effects is that going to have on us? Cancelling this program, what kind of effects is that going to have in us meeting our mandate priorities and our TRC obligations?
I do believe we're meeting our mandate as well as some of the recommendations that came out of the TRC Report. They are recommendations, but our government was doing a lot of this work already. We did present this to our Council of Ministers of Education across Canada this past summer. A lot of jurisdictions took interest into the work that we're doing here in the Northwest Territories in our curriculum, in our early childhood programming, so that they can look at what we're doing to meet those recommendations, and I feel that we are a leader across Canada meeting some of those recommendations out of the Truth and Reconciliation Report.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Marci cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement I talked about the funding for junior kindergarten. I'd like to ask the Minister questions along those lines. The Minister said that junior kindergarten is fully funded, but we keep hearing from the boards and that that there is no inclusion of inclusive schooling or Aboriginal instruction with the four-year-olds who are going into junior kindergarten. So I'd just like to ask the Minister what "fully funded" means? Thank you.
Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. During the Budget Address this government did commit to fully funding junior kindergarten, and based on questions around inclusive schooling, Aboriginal language culture-based education, as the Member has mentioned. Our department continues to name those funding levels. So inclusive schooling is self-funded. What we are funding, it is actually above what we are legislated to do. The Aboriginal culture-based education, we are continuing to fund those as well. When we are talking about the implementation of junior kindergarten, we took into consideration a new funding model that included student enrolments, staff complements, teacher salaries, as well as some of the changes that we have done through the Ministerial Directive on Inclusive Schooling that has since changed since we first initially wanted to do the implementation of junior kindergarten to where we are now. There has been a lot of research and a lot of work done to get this moved to this point. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Can the Minister tell the House what the original budget for junior kindergarten was when it was first budgeted? What was the original budget when the plan to roll out junior kindergarten was first hatched?
That goes back to the 17th Legislative Assembly. I don't have that initial detail, but I can get that number for the Member and get back to him.
The Minister explained inclusive schooling and the funding levels as per the NWT Ministerial Directive on Inclusive Schooling. I think it was indicated that 15 per cent would be the amount for inclusive schooling. Education is funding at 17 per cent. Having said that, I think that, even if we fund junior kindergarten at 15 per cent, it would still be fairly significant. My understanding is that the original budget was over $7 million, if not higher. If you just calculate 15 per cent on that, that seems to be -- I am not understanding how the fact that they are funding K to 12 at a level higher than the directive has any positive impact on the funding of junior kindergarten. I am asking again if the Minister can tell us what the funding level includes, not the fact that they are funding over, but what does it include when you add the junior kindergarten students into that school system in NWT?
The money that was allocated during this government to implement junior kindergarten was $5.1 million. We are currently working with education boards to see how we are going to roll that out with the enrolments of students and families putting their four-year-olds into the school system. Junior kindergarten itself will not have an impact on inclusive schooling. As we mentioned before, the four-year-olds will be in the school system, so they will have access to extra resources, extra supports throughout the entire school.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was hoping to clarify the funding model for junior kindergarten, but I think people listening to this will just be more confused. I don't understand how we could exclude something and then still indicate that it is funded. The greatest bang for the buck that education could spend would be on the youngest students that we have. If we are excluding inclusive schooling, if we are excluding Aboriginal language, among other things -- my understanding is money was taken out of education renewal to fund some of the junior kindergarten. My question is, originally, when junior kindergarten was rolled out or portions of junior kindergarten, about $2 million was needed in order to roll out the first portion of junior kindergarten. Is that $2 million no longer considered to be part of the funding of junior kindergarten? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That money helped roll out junior kindergarten to 20 of our 33 communities across the Northwest Territories and is an ongoing funding that we are moving forward with. It is the same with the new dollars that are coming through. As we roll out junior kindergarten, it will be funding that will be provided to our education authorities. With inclusive schooling, it seems like it is a concern of the Member. We also work with the Department of Health and Social Services to provide a range of programs and services to diagnose and support children with disabilities and developmental needs. We are very flexible with a wraparound model to help support children and youth with complex needs in the years when they enter the school, transitioning into the high school, and throughout their school careers.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I apologize to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment because I am going to ask him some follow-up questions on inclusive schooling and junior kindergarten. Mr. Speaker, we have heard the Minister talk about this $2 million. Where did this money come from, from the very beginning, when it was developed? Was it from the government or was it from the school boards, so the school boards had to take the money that we gave them and come up with $2 million? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned, it was a decision of the 17th Legislative Assembly, so it was something that came out of the initiative from the Department of Education at that time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I guess at some point I am going to have to follow up on that question to totally understand where that money came from. Mr. Speaker, the Minister was talking about inclusive schooling and the ability to tap into other resources out there that exist with our schools. However, what happens, like we have Johnny here who needs a special assistant and he is taken off to work with the kindergarteners? Does the government have a plan in place if this doesn't work, if this inclusive schooling doesn't work presently and they need to fund it?
As I mentioned, the department continues to maintain the funding levels for inclusive schooling. We work very collaboratively with the Department of Health and Social Services to do assessments, support children with disabilities, developmental needs. We are developing and revising a JK to Grade 9 health curriculum in order to ensure preventative approaches to children's health are included. A lot of areas we are continuing to work on to address some of the concerns that are being brought forward.
I thank the Minister for his answer. We have heard in this House the Minister talk about inclusive schooling, that we are above the national average at 17 per cent. However, in this budget, on schedule 2, page 3 of 12, we see a reduction of $1.8 million. Can the Minister please advise this House what this reduction does to the percentage as per our legislation?
Currently we are legislated, as I have mentioned before in this House, to fund inclusive schooling at 15 per cent. We are currently funding it at 17.1 per cent, 2.1 per cent over the legislated level. We don't have the numbers of the students who are going to be enrolled, the JK students, so we can't have an answer for that at this moment because schools are still recruiting students and we don't know what the enrolment rates are.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for his answer. I would have hoped that the department would have actually estimated where we were and how that was going to be impacted. As well, on the same page, it talked about Aboriginal Language and Learning Secretariat, and there is a reduction in this. Can the Minister explain why this funding is being cut as well? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned, we always review our programs, our services, how much money is spent in previous budgets to this year's budget. Looking at the reductions with some of the education authorities, there was administration area in the amount the Member mentioned of the total contribution. So it was about $800,000 of the total contribution of $155 million, or about 0.52 per cent of the total contribution provided to the education authorities.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Question 565-18(2):
Merci, monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations. The Process Convention on Communication states:
Except under extraordinary circumstances, Members of the Legislative Assembly should be made aware of and have opportunity to discuss significant announcements, changes, consultations, or initiatives before they are released to the public or introduced in the Legislative Assembly.
Would the Minister agree that there is a need to improve communications and involvement with Regular MLAs when it comes to engagement with federal Ministers? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to reassure the Member that we signed the Health Accord, which is more than the original offer, and we communicated that in writing. The Member would seem to suggest that we can control federal Ministers and their travels. Nothing can be further from the truth. We just had the Prime Minister come, and we had the Minister of Health, and the meetings are confirmed a day before they are here. The Minister of Health requested the meetings, and she did not say what she wanted to talk about.
This has been an issue. We have raised it before with the Government of Canada, that federal Ministers come and go and they are not required to check in with us. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I know it is a special day, and I am really feeling the love from the other side of the House. Can the Minister, though, commit to consulting with Regular MLAs on GNWT positions and negotiations on federalprovincialterritorial agreements?
