Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to go back and question the Minister of Education on the Hay River student busing. This is a major issue for our community with over 500 students and some having to travel up to 25 kilometers one way just to get to school.
Mr. Speaker, I have provided the Minister several days to come up with approximately $70,000 to assist the Hay River District Education Authority to continue student busing. Therefore, I'd ask the Minister if he has a cheque for me to take back and drop off to the Hay River District Educational Authority, or that he at least has a promise that funding is forthcoming. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister responsible for ECE.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I stated last time, if this was as easy as cutting a cheque we wouldn't be here. This issue would be dealt with. The fact is we have an education system that is built on equality, not on not about being equitable; it's about being equal, so. And if I pay for busing in Hay River, I'd have to pay for busing in Fort Smith, and Yellowknife, in Inuvik, in Simpson. It doesn't matter if the communities need or not; we have to give them the money. I am working towards an equitable system where money goes where it's needed but currently, we have an equal system. So that being said, I don't have a cheque. However, clearly, people want the Minister to be accountable. You know, it might not be how our legislation is set up, but that's what people want. So I'm seeing what else I can do. I'm working with the department who has reached out to the superintendent of the district education council to try and ensure that we do get students bused to school so they can actually show up in school and learn. I assume that, you know, at the upcoming DEC meeting that the superintendent will have done this work on ways to possibly make this happen and bring forward some, you know, reasonable and cost effective solutions for the education council to mull over and hopefully approve. But failing that, I'm also going to offer the services of the Department of Education, Culture and Employment to the Hay River DEA to help them perhaps look at the books again and figure out if there's a way to move things around, although I know that is not a palatable option. There's a reason we're in this position, and it's because, you know, they've done that over and over again, year after year after year, and just don't see what other program they should cut in order to in order to have busing. So short answer, no. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there's seven Cabinet Members on the other side and if we divide $70,000 by seven, we've got only $10,000 from each department. So maybe you can get some help there.
Mr. Speaker, the community of Hay River has seen a decline in student enrolment in the last several years; however, we still have over 500 students and if the South Slave Divisional Education Council is not going to advocate for Hay River and find the funds for busing, then and then continue to continue cutting of staff and programs and services is no answer, because that's kind of the answer the authority has been getting.
So, Mr. Speaker, I ask the Minister if, again, if he will consider having the Hay River District Education Authority operate outside and independent of the South Slave Divisional Education Council. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. You know, I have limited tools at my disposal to remedy this. But some regulatory changes is one of those tools and splitting the Hay River DEA from the South Slave DEC could be done through regulation. So I've asked the department to look into that process, what the costs would be, you know, how we could go about it. Ideally we want everyone to work together. I mean, it's a simple solution. This is a there isn't a nuclear option, you know, for a very simple problem. But I have started looking into that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think he answered my question number 3 there, that there is a process and he's working through it.
So I'll go to question number 4 here, and, Mr. Speaker, a move such as this would require dividing the current funding between the South Slave Divisional Education Council and the Hay River District Education Authority. So, Mr. Speaker, based on the current South Slave Divisional Education Council budget and the number of student enrolments in Hay River, can the Minister confirm what the split would be and what impact would it have on this both the South Slave Divisional Education Council and the Hay River District Education Authority? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And it would be a lot of work, for one thing. There would have to be consultation with the education authority and obviously the district education council. The district education authority would have to make it very clear that this is what they wanted, and I haven't received that you know, there's been no resolution passed by the authority that I'm aware of. But the Hay River DEA comprises of about 42 percent of the student population of the south slave. So but probably close to $10 million that goes to the SSDEC would then be removed and allocated to a new DEA, a standalone DEA if that's what happened. There would also be a transfer of funds for administration. So there would be probably around a $400,000 reduction in administration funds to the South Slave EDC. And the way they work their funding, I think this year they're also transferring about half a million dollars from the Hay River DEA's budget to the DEC. So they might be close to about a million dollars less in funding to the DEC. So there's some significant impacts all around. And like I said, it's a simple problem. It's a simple solution. I think that the parties can get together, look at the numbers. If $70,000 doesn't work, well, I'm sure that we can move some numbers around. It doesn't have to be $70,000. Maybe it's $50,000. Maybe you get it down to $30,000. Like, it's not an impossible task. We just need everyone to get around the table and do what's best for the students. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member Hay River South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And it might be a hundred thousand. But, Mr. Speaker, there's a simple solution to it, but we have to push the fact that students may be without busing, and, you know, as part of, you know, our responsibility to make sure that students have access to an education and to get to school. And, you know, it's we can say that if we pay for Hay River, we've got to pay for everybody. But that's not a bad thing either if it's allowing students to go to school. So, you know, what I would encourage the Minister is to push the council and the education authority and meet with them and hopefully they'll come up with a solution fairly quickly, because this also impacts businesses in Hay River. You know, we'll have a business that provides busing services. They're going to have no work. Their drivers are going to have no work. You know, and it just goes on and on so I think and you know, it may be small, but it is important to Hay River. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No question.
Thank you, taken as a comment. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
