Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For those watching Committee of the Whole yesterday, they would have seen at least three Regular Members pledge their support for Bill 16, An Act to Amend the Education Act. If they're true to their word, then, by the end of the day, junior kindergarten will become the law of the land. This is being offered in most countries in the developed world or they are on the way to offering it. This should be a joyous occasion. We should all be excited.
Meanwhile, I don't think anyone feels good about this decision or the way it was rolled out. The Regular Members have wasted probably hundreds of hours researching this, trying to figure out what was going on because we couldn't get information from the department. For years, this has been a sticking point, and it goes not just to the Regular Members. The education authorities, the DAs, they all feel the same way for the most part. I want to ask the Minister because this has been such a disaster, the way this has rolled out: is the Minister going to ask for anyone's resignation because of this junior kindergarten fiasco? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The process with junior kindergarten has been going on for over four years. We have 20 communities that offer great programs. We have seen some really good results and some really good successes in those communities, with an increased development in some of our students that are entering our education system. We have been meeting regularly with DECs as well as superintendents. I'm not sure if the Member is speaking on behalf of all the education authorities across the Northwest Territories, as he has stated, but we are seeing some really good headway in junior kindergarten as well as our early childhood programming in the Northwest Territories, which is a mandate of this 18th Legislative Assembly. The staff that I work with and the staff that work in the regions and centres do commendable, hard work, and we want to address some of the early childhood concerns through the EDI results that we have been collecting for the last four years. No, we will not be asking for something like that. Thank you.
