Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm going to continue on some of the questions for the Minister of ECE. I just want to know if the department of education has reached out to the Beaufort Delta Education Council and the DEAs or their staff to have a plan for next week when the teachers start returning, and the families. It's not just teachers. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is a meeting today, I believe at 1:30. The deputy minister and the departmental staff are going to be having a meeting with all of the superintendents, including those from the Beaufort-Delta. There has been contact over the past few days, as well. Those conversations are happening. I'm making sure they're happening.
Can the Minister also tell me how the department will ensure, if the schools aren't closed, that the most vulnerable are kept safe? For example, we have a lot of elders who work in our school. We have a high number of people who have chronic illnesses, students and staff. What the plan is for them, as well, if they're working in the school?
That is what is being worked on as we speak. Those are the kinds of plans that we're putting in place. There were protocols in place for the H1N1 outbreak years back. Those are being updated. I know the elders are especially vulnerable. I can't speak for the Chief Public Health Officer, and I'm not going to give medical advice, but I would imagine he would want elders to stay away from places where they could contract this virus.
All of the work is being done. This has been a very fast-moving situation, and nothing is off the table right now. Looking forward, I'm willing to take whatever steps are necessary to ensure safety.
The question that I also have is: will the Minister work with the department of health to make sure that there is somebody in each of the communities who can educate the DEAs? Because the DEAs are regular people in the community. If they are having to have the power to do this, to make this decisions, or our regional council, they need to have some one-on-one time with a health professional who can actually give them the education to make the call. I would like to see if the two Ministers will commit to having that conversation with our DEAs in the regional board.
The superintendents work with the DEAs and the DECs, and we have been working closely with them to get that information out so that they can disseminate it. The deputy ministers are meeting on a daily basis regarding this, and they are taking advice from the Chief Public Health Officer, and they are disseminating that advice through the proper channels. I can't commit health staff to do one-on-one work with all the DEAs because I'm not sure what the health staff are up to, but I can talk to my Cabinet colleague. Getting information to the people who need that information is a priority.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.
Thank you. That's not really a commitment to me. I just feel that there needs to be somebody. I know the Beaufort Delta Education Council can set up teleconferences if they had somebody there where the local DEAs or the regional chairs could sit and ask those questions, because they may have more questions than the information being provided. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I appreciate that suggestion, and it's always good to have information, so I will commit to work with my colleague to see if we can have a more direct line with the DEA so that they have that information. Because, like I said, they do have the authority to close schools, and so we want to make sure that they are exercising their authority with the best possible information. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
