Thank you. Mr. Vanthuyne.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the reply. I guess, then, an important question that I would have is: we have those who have gone through incarceration and who are now on probation, and those folks would be eligible, I take it, to access the A New Day. What certainty do individuals, men, in that situation receiving counselling have to be sure that what they may reveal, let's say, to a counsellor is not kind of held against them, those in particular that are in probation?
Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. Minister.
Yes, of course, the discussions with the counsellors would be confidential, so we are not anticipating that would be a problem. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Vanthuyne.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Those were the questions I had around the programming aspects, but now I just want to talk a little bit again about the administrative aspects and, call it, the RFP. I don't think I have heard anything today that suggests that changes to, you know, we are saying changes, there were minimal changes to the programming. There were more changes administratively, but, from what I am hearing today when you talk about more flexibility, potentially more facilitators, the ability to potentially move it outside of Yellowknife and maybe even into a model that could be used in remand, these do not seem to be administrative aspects that I find daunting, that maybe any other NGO of which have been around Yellowknife for many a year, who have probably provided similar types of services, in fact, administratively. I am just challenged to understand how it was that this particular NGO had the administrative capacity that others seemingly did not. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think it was more a question of interest than capacity. When we went out for the RFP, there were some preRFP meetings to which there were at least several NGOs attending, and we were expecting bids, if I can put it that way. However, none came forward, and that is at that point we started searching further afield. The John Howard Society appeared to be a good fit, and we believe they will be. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Vanthuyne.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think this has been touched on before in a broader scope as it relates to the coalition, but did any individual NGOs outline to you the reasons why they would not have submitted to the RFP and some of the potential challenges that they might have faced? Did you get any feedback from individual NGOs in that regard? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. Minister.
I did not receive any direct feedback, so I am going to defer the question to Mr. Goldney, if I may.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Goldney.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think what we heard from NGOs was simply that they were not interested in the program as it was redesigned, and they were not specific in their concerns. You know, I would only be speculating, so I would have to be careful not to do that, but I might suggest some might have preferred that there were not any changes. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Goldney. Mr. Vanthuyne.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. In the interest of time, just one last question. It seems to me now we are going to have an administrative component and a deliverable component, and the deliverable component is going to be coming from subcontractors that are qualified, and the administrative component seemingly is coming from the local NGO. What percentage of the contract, if you can reveal that, is going to, in this instance, John Howard Society for the administrative aspects? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. Time has expired, but I will allow the Minister to concisely and briefly answer the question.
I don't have that information before me, but perhaps Mr. Goldney might be able to help. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Goldney.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Unfortunately, we do not have those details yet. A lot will depend on the NGO's discussions with perspective facilitators and the arrangements that they make with those facilitators, so we just do not have that information yet. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Goldney. Next on my list I have Mr. McNeely.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Adding to the alreadyspoken questions here and as my previous colleague said, you are going to have an administrative component and the subcontractor component. I found the former employees very sincere. Has there been employment extended to those former employees of the old A New Day care program? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. McNeely. Minister.
I am not certain if I understand the question. Of course, the John Howard Society will be making its own arrangements as to whether the Tree of Peace wishes to employ these people as contractors. This is really up to the Tree of Peace, and I have no information as to whether that might be something of interest to them. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. McNeely.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Will the Minister provide that information to confirm whether employment has been extended, and if the particular two employees are going to accept the invitation? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. McNeely. I am not sure if that is something that the Minister can do. It is related to a third party, but I will let the Minister respond.
I have no ability to do that. As to the future employment of the employees who were mentioned in the question, that would really be up to them and the Tree of Peace. I have no information or no ability to have any effect on that relationship. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. McNeely.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Minister had mentioned here earlier that this A New Day program was not being implemented at the YCI or YCC. I think it was, and maybe you should revisit my suggestions to revisit hosting that program with the offenders' community in the areas of reintegration back into the system, in rehabilitation courses, for the reason being it supports an outline in the Auditor General's report that nothing is being done in that area to offer services of rehabilitation and reintegration in that report. I am suggesting to the Minister to take that into account, if he would. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. McNeely. The Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Such a change would be an almost complete change in the program, which is meant for those not in custody, either serving prisoners or on remand. Now, that is not to say there are not programs to assist those who are in custody. There are such programs, but they have a different focus. The whole point of this program was to assist those not in custody. There are programs for those in custody, and programs for those not in custody. I imagine it would be very difficult to integrate those two programs and, in fact, that is not what A New Day is all about. It is voluntary for men who have issues with their relationships, and it is meant for those not in custody. Again, there are programs for those in custody, presently either on remand or serving prisoners. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. McNeely.
Let me reword that. My question is: if an offender was incarcerated for family violence as the program is intended for, would the Minister entertain the idea of targeting those with family violence as clients, who have offended in the area of family violence, for counselling and rehabilitation? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. McNeely. The Minister.
This program is for those who may be offenders in the sense they have committed assaults and so on, but it is not meant for those actually in custody or on remand, of course, which is also in custody. This program is very directed to those not in custody, who are there voluntarily. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. McNeely.
My closing comment is it seems that a decision was made, and there is really no value to provide sound suggestions because that is where it is going to stop. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. McNeely. Would the Minister like to respond?
I don't want anybody to think that a decision was made irrationally. After all, we went out for an evaluation report. This matter has been brought up several times in the House, so there is a very careful evaluation prepared. On the basis of that evaluation, an RFP was issued. There were no responses. We then went out to NGOs, so I am quite confident that we have conducted this whole process properly. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Anything further, Mr. McNeely? Nothing further from Mr. McNeely. I have no one further on my list. Thank you three for this discussion. Does committee now agree that we consider Bill 16, An Act to Amend the Education Act?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Minister's Statement 186-18(2) will stay on the order papers. Minister, thank you to you and your witnesses. Sergeant-at-Arms, you may escort the witnesses from the Chamber. Minister, you may return to your seat. Thank you, committee. We will move on to Bill 16, An Act to Amend the Education Act, as agreed. I will ask the Minister responsible for the bill to introduce it. Minister Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am pleased to be here today to introduce Bill 16, An Act to Amend the Education Act. This bill seeks to change the age of entitlement to access kindergarten programs from five years old to four, as well as reduce the minimum hours of instruction required to 945 hours for grades 1 through 12.
The goal of these two major initiatives, also known as junior kindergarten and STIP, is to improve the NWT education system for all learners so that they can meet the challenges of today and into the future, and be successful in whatever they choose to do. Junior kindergarten will provide all NWT families, regardless of their income or geographic location, the option of enrolling their four-year-old children in a free, play-based, developmentally appropriate program. As this Legislative Assembly has recognized, early childhood development is critical to a child's future success, and there is a direct link between the quality of early education and care and positive future outcomes.
We also recognize that we need to provide teachers with time to plan and develop their own learning. This government knows that in order to improve our students' academic results, we not only need JK offered in every community, we also need our teachers to have time, during their regular work week and school year, to develop their skills and properly plan, implement, and assess their students' learning. In order to improve student outcomes, we must ensure educators have access to the experiences, resources, training, and professional development to improve their workload and wellness situations, so they can focus on excellence in teaching. This is what the Strengthening Teacher Instructional Practices initiative is all about.
Before the end of this school year, I will provide the Standing Committee on Social Development with a complete monitoring, evaluation, and accountability framework for the STIP pilot project, where we anticipate seeing improvements in:
teacher satisfaction through pre- and post-school year surveys;
teacher human resource statistics, such as sick days;
use of professional development time;
student attendance; and
student course completions.
Significant change will take time, and the evaluation will likely evolve as schools try new approaches with their school calendars. As such, the evaluation plan will include a reporting schedule outlining the appropriate measures, as the initiative evolves over time. I want to reiterate that I believe the territory-wide implementation of junior kindergarten and the opportunity to build in time during the school year for teachers to complete their professional duties and strengthen the quality of instructional practices will be game changers. I strongly believe that, in years to come, we will look back at this moment in time to these two strategic initiatives and see them as a vital step on the road to success for our young children, our youth, and our territory. I will be happy to answer any questions Members may have. Mahsi.
Thank you, Minister Moses. I will note that the committee, the Standing Committee on Social Development presented a substantive report, Committee Report 10-18(2), in relation to this bill. Now, Minister, do you have witnesses you would like to bring to the Chamber?
Yes, I do.
Thank you, Minister, Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses into the Chamber. Minister, would you please introduce your witnesses to the House.
To my right, I have my assistant deputy minister of Education and Culture, Ms. Rita Mueller, and Mr. Michael Reddy with our legislative division. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Welcome to the witnesses. I will now open the floor to general comments on Bill 16, and committee, please keep in mind that we will also be discussing the report prepared by the standing committee as well, so please keep any general comments to the scope of the bill. Do we have general comments? Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. My general comments are going to be short and brief. We went out and went to three communities. We have heard over 237 responses through e-mails and letters. Committee provided and listened to what people and teachers and administrators said. We are making two recommendations here to the floor to make a decision to amend the bill, and at that time, we will discuss those. I will have further comments during those amendments. I would like to thank everybody for their commitment and hard work to this. It was very interesting and very challenging. We would like to thank all the presenters, and all the work that they did to provide us. Their feedback, the union, the teachers, and all the parents and all that. It was a very difficult decision. I understand this is near and dear to people's hearts, our youth. It is near and dear to me. Bill 16, as we move forward, we do have amendments that we wish to bring to the floor at the appropriate time. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
