Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize two constituents of mine, Kristen Tanche and, of course, my daughter Jenny Thompson, who are both part of the social work program. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize two of the nursing and social work students from the Range Lake riding, Ms. Kathie Pender and Ms. Shenel Cruz. I just want to say that nursing and social work are two very honourable fields. One of them is myself, a social work degree; it's about caring for people, and I give my humblest respect for all of the students. Thank you.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to recognize nursing and social work student Shelly Pierrot. Mahsi.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Inuvik Boot Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to take this opportunity to welcome and recognize all the students in the nursing program, as well as the social work program; in particular, Amber-Joy Gruben, who is from Inuvik and is taking the nursing program. Welcome, and I hope you guys had a good visit to the Legislative Assembly and had a good tour. Thank you, Mahsi.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to acknowledge the nursing and social work students who are from Yellowknife Centre, including Cindy Villeneuve, Diana Lubansa, Jonah Gordon, Megan McDougall, Rick Miller, Shelby Clarke, Shelley Hessdorfer, Toby Siziba, and Vivian Nyika. I would like to welcome them to the House. Thank you.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to recognize in the gallery today we have Dr. Rob Gordon, Vice-President of Research and Professor in Geography and Environmental Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University. They just opened an office here in Yellowknife this morning, and we are pleased with the partnership that we have with them. I would also like to recognize Joel Peters, who is in external affairs with Wilfrid Laurier University, and also with them from ENR is Mr. Andrew Applejohn. Welcome to the gallery. Welcome, gentlemen.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, want to recognize all of the students who are joining us today, but in particular from the Yellowknife North riding, I would like to welcome Ana Strbac, Chantele Fage, Kiana Moosavi-Karimi, Sandra Richardson, Susan Fitzky, and Tammy Badari. I would also like to, at this time, welcome Yellowknife North constituent Mike Kalnay; and I would like recognize former Minister and MLA who is a Yellowknife North constituent, Dave Ramsay. Thank you, and welcome everyone to the House.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Yellowknife South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to recognize all the students who are here today, in particular, Maurissa Antle, a constituent from Yellowknife South. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to acknowledge the late Gordon Lennie, who passed on at the age of 69 on the September 9th day of this year.
Gordon did not take nature for granted; he worked to make sure his passion was being protected. Gordon was involved politically with the NWT Metis Association and the Metis Heritage. He also co-authored a book called The Fiddle and the Sash: A history of the Metis of the NWT. Mr. Speaker, his most important love was his children. Gordon was a well-respected bush man who will always be remembered. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier I spoke about North American Indigenous Games, and my questions are for the Minister of MACA. Mr. Speaker, my first question is: can the Minister advise how the Aboriginal Sports Circle of the NWT uses the funding it receives from the GNWT for the North American Indigenous Games? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Aboriginal Sports Circle receives $663,000. That money was to support Team NWT at NAG. Most of the money actually was spent for team travel. It is expensive to send people from the northern communities and pay for their accommodations while they are down there. Some of the money was used for territorial sports organizations. They were provided grants so that they could complete the selection of their teams for the games, and that is how the money was utilized. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I appreciate the clarification. Mr. Speaker, my next question is: for the next North American Indigenous Games, how will the department support and improve long-term planning in athlete development?
The next Northern Indigenous Games are actually in Winnipeg in 2020, so in the meantime, we are actually doing a sector-wide strategy with all of the stakeholders, sports and recreation organizations to look at gaps, to look at areas that we are duplicating, to look at areas that we could improve. Part of that is looking at how to get more participation for all residents of the Northwest Territories. The other thing that we are doing within that strategy is we will also be implementing the Truth and Reconciliation recommendations surrounding sports, as well.
It is good to see that long-term planning is getting under way. I know the year before, the planning was maybe about three or four months ahead. I think long-term planning for Indigenous youth and participation will help youth in remote communities. Mr. Speaker, my final question is: in what other ways does Municipal and Community Affairs support their participation of Indigenous youth in sports?
The Department of Municipal and Community Affairs recognizes that physical literacy, physical activity, is actually something that we need to be promoting with youth from the very beginning until actually when people pass on. There are a number of ways that we actually support, specifically for Indigenous children and youth. We support the Aboriginal Sport Circle, which was stated with nearly $1 million for sports programming. That includes the traditional Indigenous Games, including the annual school championships that they do. We support them with canoeing, lacrosse, and archery, snowshoe making, the National Aboriginal Hockey Championships, and an annual awards program. These programs are specifically for Indigenous youth, but we also have programs that are offered for all youth, and all youth includes Indigenous youth, too. Like I said, that starts from the very young. Things like the After-School Physical Activity Program that gives funding for schools to support their things. We give things right from there to our high-performance athletic grants that we provide.
We also do things that often people don't see as related to promoting youth in sports, but we do. The Youth Ambassador Program and the NWT Youth Leadership Strategy are all about role modelling, and role modelling health living, and part of healthy living is to actually take part in physical activities. We support activities from birth till the end, and we will continue to do so.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to follow up on my Member's statement, and I have some questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Mr. Speaker, I must be very honest with you, I'm gravely concerned that the teachers and the social work programs are in peril no matter what the review process or the outcome is. The Minister has repeatedly stated that the programs have limited success but great expense and that they're not having the intended results, but I'd like further clarification. Mr. Speaker, what issues did the department expressly identify in these programs and when did they do so? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think we've gone through this discussion over time, at our last session as well, that decisions were made and we're moving forward in the best interests of students, in the best interests of education in the Northwest Territories and post-secondary. We continue to support our students here in the North at Aurora College programming, the two programs in particular that were discussed. We continue to support the students from our department as well as through Aurora College to make sure that the students who are in those two programs will succeed, will become workers of the GNWT hopefully, and we continue to support them. I think we've had this discussion long enough that decisions were made and the fact that we're moving forward in the best interests of the students and our education in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I thank the Minister for his words. I don't know that he answered my question, but we'll move on to my next one. Mr. Speaker, I'm the kind of person who doesn't like to throw the baby out with the bathwater. If something isn't working, I try to fix it. What did the department and Aurora College do to address the issues identified in these programs before they proposed eliminating them altogether?
The Aurora College and the Department of Education, Culture and Employment continue to work together on a regular basis to review programs that are offered at three of our campuses, as well as our community learning centres, and we continually work to support and improve programs and student outcomes throughout those three campuses as well as our community learning centres. I'm going to continue to do that work and work together to make sure that we have the best interests of our students and our education in the Northwest Territories.
I thank the Minister for his words. Again, he didn't answer the question, and I feel like it's going to be similar to what the rec leaders program did, was they kept on moving it and then they got rid of it, so I'll move on to my next set of questions.
Mr. Speaker, under the current timeframe the review will not be completed until March 31, 2018, and recommendations won't be addressed until next fall business plan for 2019. Students and other residents have asked me to help them find out what is going on. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister advise the House what will happen to the teachers and social work program in the 2018-2019 school year and before the review results can be implemented?
As I've stated earlier, we continue to support the students in the TEP program as well as the social work program. We will continue to commit to making sure that they have every opportunity to succeed here in the Northwest Territories at Aurora College, but also students who are getting an education down south. That we're going to commit to making sure that our students have every opportunity to succeed in whatever programs they're registered in, Mr. Speaker.
I can't speculate at this time what the review is going to say and what those recommendations are going to be, but when we do get those recommendations we will formulate a departmental response and we will share it with committee.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Minister for his answer. Mr. Speaker, I understand the department is also currently working on the funding and accountability framework for Aurora College. How can work on accountability framework proceed when potential fundamental changes to the college are being contemplated? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Nationally there are standard performance measures such as number of enrolments, graduations, and student satisfaction that can be used for existing and future programs. I recognize that a new accountability framework will need to be informed by the foundational review, and that's where we are heading moving forward. In the interim, the department will continue to work with the college to advance this work, but also work with the college on how do we best serve our students in the Northwest Territories who decide to get educated here in the North. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. My question is for the Minister of Lands, who is responsible for the implementation of the Project Assessment Policy. In 2008, this House unanimously endorsed the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. I see that our government still supports the declaration, but it's not clear what we're actually doing to implement it. Can the Minister tell me and this House whether there was any consultation or engagement with Indigenous governments in developing and refining the Project Assessment Policy, and if not, why not? Masi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Lands.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The government did not consult with Indigenous organizations with respect to this policy. The policy creates the authority for the government to establish its own internal procedures to meet the requirements of the current legislative environment. Now, of course, ultimately when decisions are made we must and do follow and abide by our responsibility as under section 35 of the Constitution. Thank you.
Thanks to the Minister for that information. Of course, I'm glad that section 35 rights, our government respects them, but we've also supported in this House the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Can the Minister commit to review the Project Assessment Policy to fully incorporate the concept and practice of free, prior and informed consent?
Of course, this policy has been reviewed, not only by Cabinet but by committee, and I think it's the first time we've heard of this specific concern. The government of course does realize and is guided by its obligations under section 35 of the Constitution, and as well our approach to engaging with Aboriginal governments as set out in the respect, recognition, and responsibility document.
Now, one of the issues regarding the UNRIP legislation, or rather the UNRIP UN Resolution, is that it may have an effect on a wide variety of policies. No, we don't incorporate it directly; we are aware of it, but there is also some uncertainty in academic circles as to what it actually means.
Thanks to the Minister for that. Unfortunately, I didn't hear a commitment that they were going to be reviewing the policy even though he says that we still support the declaration. I'm not prepared to review the policy, but maybe I'll try a different slant here.
In my statement earlier today I pointed out the inconsistency between the lofty and courageous principles in the Project Assessment Policy and how a GNWT interdepartmental committee may operate in assembling technical advice and evidence.
I will just give an example here. If government scientific experts produce evidence that demonstrates a Slave Geological Province road will have an adverse and irreparable impact on the Bathurst caribou herd, will that information be brought forward during an environmental assessment?
I think or I detect that behind this question is a concern that has been expressed with respect to some former governments, perhaps federal ones, that muzzled scientists. I can assure you that that will not happen with this government.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Let's talk about muzzling, I guess, but I do not really feel a lot of reassurance by that response. I pointed out the inconsistencies between the principles of the policy and how it may operate in the future. Given those problems that I have pointed out in this House, can the Minister commit to bringing forward the policy to his Cabinet colleagues in an expedient fashion and consult with Indigenous governments to make revisions to ensure public confidence, transparency, and the spirit of reconciliation are maintained?
