Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to take a moment to recognize a constituent, David Wasylciw. Welcome to the House.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to introduce two of my constituents, Janet and George Diveky. They have lived in the North almost all of their adult lives and made great contributions as teachers and volunteers; and their grandson, Graham Diveky-Suchlandt, is one of our Pages. I would like to thank him for being here, as well. Thank you.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Inuvik Boot Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, have a couple of Pages who have been with us this week from Inuvik Boot Lake, Kaylin Harder and Isobel Jellema. Thank you for the hard work that you have done this week. We really appreciate it, and to all Pages who have helped us get through the days this week, thank you. Mahsi cho.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge the achievements and recognition of my constituent Janet Diveky, who I just introduced.
Janet was recently honoured for her contributions to the quality of our community life with the Sovereign's Medal for Volunteers. The award was bestowed in recognition of her years of efforts in support of the Yellowknife Association for Community Living, particularly her efforts in organizing and staging the annual "Gumboot Rally" fundraiser.
Please join me in offering congratulations to Janet Diveky for receiving this award. Mahsi.
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Masi. Acknowledgements. Member for Kam Lake.
Mr. Speaker, this summer the North American Indigenous Games were held in Toronto, and the Northwest Territories was well represented by so many talented young athletes. I want to acknowledge my constituent Deanne Whenham for winning the gold medal in 17 and Under Female Golf.
Ms. Whenham is a true athlete, and in addition to this year's games she has represented the Northwest Territories at the 2014 North American Indigenous Games, 2015 Canada Winter Games, and 2016 Arctic Winter Games. Honourable Members, please join me in congratulating Ms. Whenham and all the athletes, coaches, and volunteers who participated in the 2017 North American Indigenous Games. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
---Applause
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, these past two weeks before attending session I had the opportunity to speak to a number of students returning to school down south and a number of students attending school for the first time. They were all excited about heading off to their new adventure.
I found it interesting, however, some of the students and parents were not well-versed in what they were entitled to receive from Student Financial Assistance as it pertains to travel. With this in mind, Mr. Speaker, I have some questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister please advise us what the students can expect when it comes to travel when they attend school down south? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First off, I just want to say that our NWT Student Financial Assistance program continues to be one of the best financial aid programs throughout this country, and we do assist a lot of students going on to get their post-secondary education.
Now, with travel, Student Financial Assistance will assist any resident in the Northwest Territories who is eligible under the basic grants with travel expenses by air or by land from their home community to the nearest approved institution offering their program. Students are notified of their travel entitlement once their application has been approved. Our student service officers do a great job of informing them of what they are entitled to and work with them to make sure that they get to their institution of choice and also make sure that they get the supports that they need. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I thank the Minister for his answer. I do have to agree that SFA is one of the best ones in the world. I was lucky enough to be part of it, as I went to school down south. However, there are some concerns, and there are still some challenges for parents and students to understand this. My next question is: can the Minister explain how the travel is calculated for students outside the regional centres, i.e., some of my small communities?
Once again, it is really up to the student whether they go by air or by land. Airfare travel is based on the cost from the student's home community to the nearest approved institution offering that same program. If they decide to go to post-secondary by land, then land travel is reimbursed based on mileage only.
I thank the Minister for his help clarifying some of this confusion out there. Again, it is new for some of these new students and, again, some parents who have not had children move out of home, I guess. Can the Minister explain how many trips a student is entitled to during the school year and when these trips are being scheduled?
The students who are eligible for the basic grant are entitled up to two return trips per academic year. Once students get an understanding of the program itself, if they are having problems kind of navigating around what the program offers, I really do encourage them to go and speak to their student service officers, as well as their guidance counsellors in the schools, but as I mentioned, two return trips if you're eligible under the basic grant.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for that answer. What I will be doing with these answers is I will actually be putting them in my newsletter and sharing them with the communities out there so that people are better informed. I am not saying that they are not informed from the staff out there, because they are doing a good job, but just sometimes communications get lost in the woodwork.
In looking at students' travel, is the department staff given some flexibility to work with students to help them get down to their chosen school as long as it's within the budget log? In other words, if a student wants to go from Nahanni Butte to Calgary instead of Edmonton for the program, is there some flexibility to get the mileage within that budget? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Our Student Financial Assistance Program must abide by the act and regulations when determining a student's eligibility. We also strive to treat all students fairly and consistently, and decisions must be made in accordance with the regulations. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Marci cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yesterday in the Minister of Health and Social Services' statement, he spoke of a shortfall of 258 long-term beds. I would like to ask the Minister if this number takes into account all of the work that is happening in home care to keep people at home. Thank you.
Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in this government's mandate, one of the priorities that we have is to support aging in place. As a result, we have moved forward with the Continuing Care Action Plan which has been shared with committee. The number 258 was identified in the long-term care review, and that actually contemplates doing more work with NWT residents to support them to stay in their homes for as long as possible.
We know that seniors benefit and want to live in their homes as long as possible. If they cannot live in their homes, they would like to stay in their regions; but, unfortunately, there will be those situations where individuals do need the additional support that is provided through long-term care. In short, Mr. Speaker, yes, the number 258 certainly takes into consideration this government meeting its mandate in doing more to support residents to age in place. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to ask the Minister if there is some sort of a contingency plan in the event that there are construction delays in any of the new long-term care beds that are being contemplated. In this contingency plan, if there is one, is there a plan to have more money going into supporting aging in place?
As I have indicated, we have come forward with an aging in place or a continuing care action plan that talks about supporting and enhancing home care. We are talking about family or community caregivers who are providing supports to help people age in place. The Housing Corporation has moved forward with the construction of independent living units at a regional level, at a community level, to support people to stay in their communities if they are not able to stay in their homes. At the end of the day, we also know we need long-term care beds. The evidence is there. The numbers are there to support that. We need beds.
We do not have a contingency plan. We are moving full steam ahead to get those beds, but that does not in any way, shape, or form minimize or downplay the importance of aging in place and the important work we are doing to support people to stay in their homes, to stay in their communities, to stay in their regions for as long as possible. The evidence says that people who stay in their homes or in their regions have better health outcomes, are healthier, and have better connection to their family and friends. That is a priority for this government. We are going to continue to move forward with aging in place, but we will certainly not to take our eye off long-term care at the same time.
In between the time when the need for long-term care beds was identified, there was some discussion on family caregivers being paid to take care of their own elders as they age in place in their own homes. I was wondering if that specific initiative has been also factored into the 258 beds.
The concept of a family or a community caregiver was highlighted in the Continuing Care Action Plan. It is certainly something that we are excited about and certainly something we are pursuing. We believe all the actions we are taking, whether it is enhancing home care, working with community and/or family caregivers, working with the Housing Corp to put independent living units in throughout the Northwest Territories, or all the other actions that are clearly articulated in the continuing action plan, all build to supporting an environment where we can help individuals stay in their homes and their communities. It is all tied together, and the long-term care review and the long-term care beds are part of the continuum of care that is necessary to support our seniors as they age.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one of the things that often prevents seniors from aging in place in their own homes and their own communities has been cost. One of the big costs now is the lease cost of land, potentially because it is not covered 100 per cent like a tax relief. It is a 50 per cent thing. Some seniors could end up paying $2,000, $6,000 for land lease.
Will the Department of Health commit to, or this Minister commit to, working with other Ministers to look at those type of costs as those costs are being passed on to the homeowners? Will the Department of Health look at some further subsidies for those costs by working with other Ministers? Thank you.
That responsibility would fall under the Department of Lands, but I do hear the Member. I would like to sit down with the Member and have him explain to me in more detail the exact issue, and I am happy to engage with the Minister of Lands to see what, if anything, can be done. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Education. At the very strong urging of this Assembly and a petition, the Minister committed to fully fund the introduction of junior kindergarten. The Minister tabled a reply to my written question earlier this week regarding the full cost of including JK students in the funding formulae for district education authorities. Is it really the intention of the Minister to fully fund the district education authorities for JK implication and make up this $1.7 million shortfall for 2017-2018? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, I just wanted to clarify that when the Member says that I finally tabled the response to his written questions on September 19th, protocol does state, just for the public's record, that we table responses at the earliest convenience, which was September 19th and first day of this sitting, and does not have a reflection on myself or the staff.
Now, education authorities have been provided their 2017-2018 funding targets and have prepared their operational plans based on that figure. There is no shortfall in funding. Using the 12:1 ratio that we said we were going to use to staff JK teachers instead of the K-to-9 teaching staffing table, there is an additional $1.8 million to education authorities for the 2017-2018 school year, which is more than the $1.6 million that they received under the old formula. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I thank the Minister for his response. I do acknowledge that he tabled the information that I requested at his earliest convenience, but often Ministers will provide it to Members ahead of time. That did not happen in this case. If he has different figures that he wants to quote than the reply to my written question, I would be happy to look at them, but after a lot of wrangling to try to ensure that we have truly fully funded JK, the answers have been evasive at best. We will be reviewing the 2018-2019 business plans beginning in November of this year. Will the Minister commit that full funding of that fiscal year's cost for JK will be included in those business plans?
During the first year of the territorial implementation of JK, which has just started this school year, specific needs for children with exceptionalities are unknown. After the first full year of territorial JK, ECE will review the needs of the children who are in attendance so we will have a better understanding.
Now, should enrolments increase this year, the education authorities are eligible for additional funds through an extraordinary enrolment formula. We will ensure that a 12:1 staffing ratio exists for junior kindergarten students. As we roll out junior kindergarten, we will have a better understanding and have a better idea of what is needed.
Thanks again to the Minister. I think that was two no's in a row, now. We are not going to make up the shortfall for this year, and it does not look like we are going to get it for 2018-2019. I think our government really needs to make good on this $1.7 million gap for 2017-2018. The Minister's May 25th reply to the petition committed to "fully funding the ongoing costs of JK implementation, beginning in the 2017-2018 school year and into the future." Will the Minister commit to changing the district education authorities' funding formulae to fully account for JK students to avoid future shortfalls?
As I mentioned, we still do not know what the full enrolment rates are for students, JK students, entering the JK-12 system. We are working with education authorities to address that. I would like to see where the shortfall that the Member is mentioning is coming from. As I mentioned, we are using the 12:1 ratio that we all agreed upon moving forward within the system, and there is an additional $1.8 million to address that. I would like to maybe ask the Member if he would not mind sharing where he got his numbers from so that I can share that with my department.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think that was a third no. He is not prepared to look at the funding formulae which are the basis for the figures that he himself tabled a couple of days ago in this House. That is where I got the numbers from, was from his own reply to my written question that came from his own department. So, look, the funding for junior kindergarten implementation has been like a zombie; it just keeps coming back for more. Whether it is busing, inclusive schooling, capital improvements, Aboriginal language, custodial services, they are all underfunded or not resolved, but we are into providing junior kindergarten now on the backs of the district education authorities. I want to give the Minister a chance to see what lessons he may have learned. What would the Minister do differently if he had to start all over again with junior kindergarten?
We are not even a month into the school year, and we have to look at some of the data that we are collecting from our education authorities. We did provide the education authorities with their funding targets. They gave us their operational plans. The education authorities also have a responsibility to roll out their plans within the partnerships that we have with them and the contribution agreements that we have with them. We will wait until we see that data to address it. I have mentioned that education authorities can come back and look at extraordinary enrolment formulas to address some of those areas that they might be needing, so we will wait for that to happen. We are only a month into this academic year, so we will just wait and see as we move forward. Thank you.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier I spoke about ambulance services in Tuktoyaktuk. My questions are for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. Mr. Speaker, my first question is: what role can the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs play in helping Tuktoyaktuk build up local ambulance services? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
