I thank the Minister for clearing that up. In regard to the commitment made by the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs in 1992, was this commitment made in an email or letter to all the residents and lease holders at Cassidy Point?
Yes, there was a commitment made many years ago to the Cassidy Point Prosperous Lake Lease Holders Association. That has been supported by the previous Minister of Lands in the 17th Legislative Assembly. I'm not certain which department or which person actually made that commitment.
I am not looking for the person or persons who made that commitment. I am asking if the Minister is aware that there was a commitment made to the leaseholder, whether it was made in an email or a letter to the leaseholder.
I am not certain as to the manner in which the commitment was made, but I do know that a commitment was made which the government is prepared to honour, and has been honouring.
Thank you. Final question. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the House, the Minister was reading a document, and he said he couldn't share this document with us, so I guess I am a little confused and maybe he can clarify that: was this document that he was reading an email or a letter to the leaseholders? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Unfortunately, I can't remember which document I was referring to; however, I can look into that and get some more information to the Member opposite. Thank you.
Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the federal government has put in place a carbon backstop for jurisdictions that don't embrace their own carbon pricing model. I would like to ask the Minister of Finance if he can speak to ongoing negotiations with the federal government over carbon pricing, and whether or not he has prepared our own carbon pricing model for implementation here in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have been working on our own carbon price modelling, and as we all know, the federal government has backstopped. They plan on implementing that backstop if the jurisdictions don't come up with their own modelling, so we have come up with some modelling, and we have updated committee on our approach with it. Once we have our discussions with the federal government, then we will be able to share that information.
The deadline the federal government is calling for is March 31st. Will the Minister be prepared to implement our carbon plan before that deadline?
We are just in the final stages of our modelling. We still need to have discussions with the federal government. Of course, at the end of the day, our goal is to mitigate the impact it is going to have on people in the Northwest Territories. Again, once we have had those discussions, once we have more information to share, we will make it all public because the public needs to know. We can't pre-empt our discussions with the federal government and release it to the public just yet.
I appreciate that we don't want to potentially impact the negotiations that would result in the backstop. I don't support the backstop model. I think we need our own made-in-the-North model. Can the Minister assure us that we will get a made-in-the-North model, and we won't be forced to accept the unfavourable backstop model that is being proposed by Ottawa, unfavourable to people in the Northwest Territories and my constituents?
Well, I can assure the Member and all Members and the public that the NWT government is going to have a made-in-the-NWT approach to it, because we do want to mitigate the impact it is going to have on the high cost of living and doing business in the Northwest Territories. Also, I can add that the Northern Premiers have had some discussions. They all have some concerns with the federal backstop, as well. They have had their discussions, and they will continue to do so. As we move further into the process, I will continue to update committee and update Members of the House.
Thank you. Final question. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate that assurance. As the Minister knows, the Prime Minister of Canada committed to allow the NWT to keep all the revenues raised from the carbon tax. I have heard the Minister say that there is going to be a program that will mitigate any new taxes that will impact our already too high cost of living, but that other important piece of public policy is leading the way forward to a green economy with renewable energies and less carbon-intensive industry. Is the Minister proposing a carbon plan that will do that as well? Because the only thing I heard in his past statements was mitigating the impacts of this on people's bottom line. That's important, but we also need to grow this economy towards a green, clean energy economy. Can the Minister answer if that is part of the plan? Thank you.
The Member is correct. I mean, we have looked at a number of different options as to how we are going to roll this out. A lot of the feedback we got from the engagement, there were a lot of suggestions in there as to what we could do with the revenue from the carbon pricing. We have looked at a number of different options. I have laid out some of those options to committee. I am looking for some feedback from committee as to our approach going forward, but again, I can assure the Member and members of the public is that our government is doing what we can to mitigate the impact not on the cost of living but on the cost of doing business, and the potential for investments into a greener economy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank my colleague the honourable Member from Kam Lake for the warm-up. My questions are to the Minister of Finance, and I am going to go down the same lines as it relates to my Member's statement on carbon taxation today. I appreciate the work that the Minister is doing, and especially with his federal counterparts, and I recognize that nothing is written in stone yet, and I certainly don't want to compromise any negotiations that are going on between the two governments. Can the Minister begin to tell us, at least, how he might be planning to structure the carbon tax revenue to help NWT residents and, in particular, businesses to transition into cleaner technologies? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you. Minister of Finance.
Yes, Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I pointed out before, we have been doing some modelling. We have got a lot of feedback on our approach to carbon pricing and the effects it is going to have on the people of the Northwest Territories. I would prefer not to get into too much detail right now as to the work we are doing, because we have had discussions with committee. We need to have the discussions with the federal government, and I don't want to pre-empt or jeopardize any discussions that we might have. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I appreciate the difficult position that the Minister is in. It seems that we will maybe get some repetitive answers, but this is the nature of question period. I am going to put another one to the Minister as it relates to people that are of lower income, lesser income, sometimes a struggle with new forms of taxes. Let's get off what the deal is between the federal government and the territorial government, and just maybe ask the Minister what the Minister intends to do with any form of a newfound tax as it relates to lowering, the impacts it will have with folks with lower income levels. Will there be rebates or income assistance or what have you that will be available for these folks?
The federal government has come up with the carbon pricing. They have a federal backstop. I think the Member previous to you spoke on federal backstop and his non-support of it. If we went with the federal backstop, then the costs would be a lot higher. We are coming up with a made-in-the-North approach. That is going to look at a number of different groups across the Northwest Territories, and I assured the Member previous that we are going to do what we can, we will do what we can, to mitigate the effects of carbon pricing on all levels of people in the Northwest Territories. It is high on the radar of the Northern Premiers. They have had those discussions. We continue to have our discussions with Ottawa. In fact, I think I have just lined up a meeting for the end of the month with my federal counterpart, so we will continue to have those discussions.
Again, getting into the detail, once we have those discussions and I share the results of those discussions with committee, then we will be able to have more public dialogue on this issue.
One last question that I have for the Minister, then, today. It is a little bit relevant to what is going on between our two respective governments. More so, it is about investing in new technologies. I am just hoping that, at the end of the day, the Minister, this government, can commit to transformational investments that will really affect our ability to lessen the impacts on climate change and reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. Is the government looking at transformational-type change? Are they looking at things such as nuclear molten-salt reactors, and of course, connecting to the southern grid and providing much cheaper, affordable power to the North?
We are. The government is always looking at transformational projects and ways we can lower the high cost of doing business and living in the Northwest Territories. We continue to do that. I think the federal government has made it a priority of theirs, too. They have made a lot of investment in infrastructure across Canada, and the NWT has our proposals in to get our share of some of that funding. We are looking at a number of different projects that would help offset our greenhouse gas emissions and lower the cost of living. Again, as we go further into the process, I would be glad to keep committee updated as to the work we are going and seek their feedback.
Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. I have great hope that JK is going to improve student readiness for school and ultimately their success. I am sure the Minister does, too. How is the development of students in JK going to be evaluated and when? Mahsi.
Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One way that we are measuring the evaluation of four-year-olds in the education system is through our early development instrument. Later on, we have the middle development instrument that we are introducing into the schools and, obviously, ultimately, at the end of the school year, the graduation rates either from elementary school or even through high school. There are other areas that we are looking. Mainly, it is the early development instrument to make sure we watch the progress and then re-evaluate again at the middle development instrument. I agree with the Member that I do believe this is going to have an impact in all of our schools and our education and the development of our students in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thanks to the Minister for that response. Student achievement is one measure of this program, but I also have questions about value for money. I am wondering if there are other measures that the Minister is going to consider for junior kindergarten.
There are other ways. One way was: everyone knows that junior kindergarten is optional. For the parents, single parents, even, who enter their four-year-olds into the junior kindergarten system, I did mention that it saves the families anywhere from $8,000 to $12,000 per year. On the family side of things, it is economically having an impact on some of the families across the Northwest Territories. Also, areas that we are able to help the junior kindergarten classrooms, as well as Aboriginal Head Start, they were able to access the $5,000 one-time funding to get pay-based materials into the school. Other than that, that is really it.
I wonder if the Minister could tell us what the ratio of funding is for early childhood development initiatives, ages birth to three, versus the funding available for school?
This year, when we fully implemented junior kindergarten throughout the territory, we had a budget in the 2017-2018 school year of $5.2 million. Our ECE budget throughout the territory was set at $8.91 million. I don't have the ratio of the education authorities to ECE. Our JK funding to ECE ratio is 1 to 1.7. In this upcoming budget for 2018-2019, we will have a junior kindergarten budget of $6 million. We will also have an ECE budget of $11.6 million throughout the territory. We are making very vast investments and improvements in how we operate with early childhood programs in the Northwest Territories, as well as our support for junior kindergarten throughout the NWT.
Final question, Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the detail the Minister was able to provide in his answer. I guess my last question is about the funding for early childhood development initiatives. I understand that there is money from Canada coming for early childhood development. Could the Minister talk about how that is going to be spent? Thank you.
The Member is right. We do have an agreement that we have signed. We are just waiting for the announcement from the Government of Canada that will increase the amount of funding we will have in the Northwest Territories. As I mentioned in this House, we have 11 communities that don't have any early childhood programming outside junior kindergarten that we implemented in the school.
We want to ensure that we put a focus on those communities that currently don't have early childhood programming and also continue to sustain other daycare spaces and daycare programs throughout the Northwest Territories so that we do have accessible and affordable childcare in all 33 of our communities in the Northwest Territories. Getting into more detail of how we are going to spend that money, once the announcement is made, I will brief committee. I have made that offer to brief committee once that announcement is made. Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you. I would like to recognize some visitors we have in the gallery before they take off. I believe the grade 9 class from Sir John Franklin High School in Yellowknife. Welcome. It is always nice to have an audience. I like to see when the youth are engaged. Welcome. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I would like to follow up on a motion that we passed unanimously in this House on October 20th of last year. It was with regard to an apology and compensation for damages from the Giant Mine. I would like to know whether the Premier has had a chance to write the letter to the Prime Minister as contemplated in the motion and whether he can table that letter in the House before the end of this sitting. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you. Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I did write a letter to the Prime Minister as contemplated in the motion of October 20, 2017. I will be tabling that letter probably tomorrow. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to thank the Premier for the follow-up on the motion. I would like to know whether there has been a response from the Prime Minister of Canada to that letter and whether that response can be tabled in the House before the end of this sitting, as well.
The Prime Minister has responded. The letter will be tabled likely tomorrow, as well.
While I am on a roll here, I want to thank the Premier for that, as well. It would be good to know if negotiations have started and whether there is a target date or any other kind of details on the process. Can the Premier tell us whether he is aware of any further progress on the issue of an apology and compensation for the damages from the Giant Mine?
The Prime Minister in his response indicated and advised that he was forwarding my letter to the Minister of Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs, and that since then, it is my understanding that the Regional Director General for the Department of Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs has agreed to enter into discussions with the Yellowknives Dene First Nations and is working with the chiefs to schedule a meeting.
Final question. Member for Frame Lake.
