Thank you. Okay, I'm going to continue on here. Trying to get Members to speak that haven't spoken to to this issue yet. But if I don't see any more hands, I'm going to continue on. If we could, I'd like to continue on.
No further questions, I'm going to go to I'm going to continue on here. No further questions. Please turn to page 37.
Education, Culture and Employment, corporate management, operations expenditure summary, 20242025 Main Estimates, $12,456,000. Does the committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Sometimes part of the job requires a person to be nimble as we listen to the budget, certainly some of the answers, hence I am going to move a motion with respect to this line item. I move that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, corporate management, operations expenditure summary, 20242025 Main Estimates, be reduced to $12,201,000. And I'll speak to the motion. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you. There is a motion on the floor. Thank you. There is a motion on the floor. To the motion. Okay, against? Sorry? Thank you.
We're going to I'm going to pass the to the mover, if you could speak to the motion.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This isn't personal or anything. I just think the value of the cost of this particular position at the value given, we could do so much more. We could, for example, turn this into two positions. One in the North, and one in the south. We have fantastic programs growing up. I mean, I would see language programming in the schools in Fort Simpson where I grew up. I'm very well knowledgeable around the issues of for example, what's happening around Diga School. You know, I supported the old language nest programs that have changed. And if we want to inspire young people to learn their language, learn their culture, this is exactly how we could do it. So instead of finding ways to create more systems and bureaucracy I'm actually saying hire two people with that money. I'm not saying don't do anything. I'm just saying I believe it's get it into the schools and in the communities where it belongs. I mean, we don't have a, you know, community like Behchoko everywhere or Wekweeti. I mean, we need to inspire the communities to find their voices and their languages and to I would say that this is one of these situations where we should be saying rather than bigger administration, let's get on the ground people or sorry, people on the ground and find ways to cultivate this sort of inspiration and opportunities.
So, Mr. Chairman, I'm not going to go through the comments I made earlier. I suspect there will be some objections, which I respect. And this is sort of an on the spur of the moment so I mean, I didn't coordinate it this with my colleagues. But I'll let them decide whether they feel that this type of direction in the communities, in the regions, is more effective than someone sitting in an office tower in Yellowknife, you know, behind their computer saying, we want to coordinate better. And frankly, if we want to do something, you know, this is how you do it.
I mean, I should mention, you know, Gwich'in is one of the lowest speaking languages, if memory serves I'm not going to pull the statistics up, but if I remember correctly, at one time there was around 250 speakers of Gwich'in. Hiring someone in Yellowknife is not going to inspire that language. Getting somebody, an elder paid or some coordinator for those types of programming in that community, will help inspire those young people to connect with their language and culture. And that's the point is that more bureaucracy doesn't get it us better results. Let's get people in the program and in the community to create this and foster this excitement. And to me, that's the nature of the motion. It's not a it's not a mean motion. The problem is people and I don't want Cabinet to be sensitive. It's proposed as a deletion but, really, it's a find a different way to do this and it can be done fantastically.
So, Mr. Chairman, I'll leave it at that. If I said much more at this point, I'll just repeat, so I don't want to do that. And I'll let the my Members, if they feel the urge to rise to speak to it, either way, it's fine. It's part of the process and the business we do. Thank you.
Thank you. I'll go to the to the motion, I got Yellowknife North. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just want to be clear that this motion deletes just over $200,000, so it will not allow more on the ground people in communities, in schools, language, educators. This motion just deletes money from the budget, and even though the Member's vision might be to add in programs and services, this motion cannot and does not accomplish that. So I just want us to all be clear that that's what we're talking about here.
I do think there's a place for us working with the department in terms of their business plans and the way they do things to try to encourage more on the ground programs, and that's a different discussion. But I feel at the moment we're micromanaging their operational matters, and I just don't think that we have enough information or basis for making the decision to just cut this budget by 200 and some thousand dollars. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. To the motion. I got Premier Simpson.
Thank you. And the Member for Yellowknife North stole my thunder a bit. I was going to say that deleting over $200,000 from the budget does not give us the ability to hire people in the regions. So just so everyone's clear who might be reading Hansard or watching this, this is actually reducing the ability to do what the Member is saying. So it's a bit backwards. I just want to make sure that the Member himself is actually aware that this is a deletion and that taking money away does not somehow allow us to hire more people. So just for everyone's information, I just wanted to add to that. Thank you.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister of ECE, then to Member of ECE.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I appreciate the concern of Members. And what I think I would really love for people to be able to take home is the importance of what it is that we are talking about, which I think that everybody is on the same page of that is that we need to make sure that we are putting as much of a spotlight on culture and languages across the territory. When I have had the opportunity to speak with people from one end of this territory to the other, every time we start talking about healing, it always leads back the conversation always leads back to one of languages. And the amount of times that somebody has started a conversation about their journey to sobriety or their journey to healing, that starts with them reclaiming and revitalizing their language, I don't have enough fingers on my hands in order to express that. And it's not not just about sobriety. It's absolutely about healing, and it's about enriching our communities and our territory and making sure that we are doing our best. This is a vital piece of reconciliation in this territory. And I understand what the Member for Yellowknife Centre is saying as far as people on the ground is most important. I couldn't agree more. But what puts people on the ground is the millions of dollars that ECE receives from the federal government. Every year, we have federal funding of $5.9 million that flows directly through ECE and to Indigenous governments, and we need vital people in the department to be negotiating those dollars. And quite frankly, I would like somebody negotiating more of those dollars. And without those positions in the department, I cannot do that work, and I cannot make sure that we are in the territory getting a fair shake at the dollars that exist within the federal government to be able to do this work. If these dollars are cut, I don't just lose that position. Because this was internally funded, I'm losing another position within the department that can help do this work. And so I would urge Members to please leave the leave the funding where it's at, and let us go down this path of putting a spotlight on culture and languages because I think it's critically important, and I've long been an advocate for that. Thank you.
Thank you. To the motion. Next I have on my list is the Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I just wanted to speak to some of the comments that have been made by the Honourable Premier and the honourable Member for Yellowknife North around, you know, deleting this won't put jobs into communities. So I just want to point out that of this key activity, there are 38 jobs in headquarters. In languages and culture, there are 51 jobs in headquarters. One in the South Slave, and two in the Beaufort Delta. So we are not seeing this function of the department is a headquartersbased function. And I think this the Member's motion underscores the need to improve the presence of language and culture staff outside of headquarters and outside of, like, senior management level functions. And those are the points I was trying to make as well. And this does come from, I think, a place of those intentions. I appreciate what the Minister is saying, but the Minister also presented a budget where there are three jobs outside of Yellowknife to support language and culture, which is primarily Indigenous language and culture which is not residing in Yellowknife. So I just want to make that clear in kind of support of the Member's intentions for this motion, that this is a broader issue about where we're spending those dollars and how we're getting those dollars to a community. And I think anyone from the regional centres and the communities that I have spoken with in this Assembly and who represents those regions will say they need staff in their regions to effectively deliver programs and services. The honourable Member for Boot Lake has made Members' statements about the need for this for a regional superintendent to be the you know, the Premier's eyes and ears in the region to make sure things are moving effectively and smoothly in this the region. And I think that's true across the board. So when you see those numbers and then you see the addition of another senior manager and the intention is to, like, raise the profile of language and culture, I think it just leaves some people thinking, well, is this really going to work, and is this really the right way to expend those resources. So I think this comes from a well-intentioned place. And, again, 51 positions in Yellowknife, three outside of Yellowknife. That's what we're looking at on languages and culture. Thank you.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yeah, Mr. Chair, my colleague from Range Lake is not wrong. Certainly I am a huge proponent of positions, particularly senior positions being not centralized in Yellowknife, but being in the regions, such as the regional director position, which I would love to see as an ADM position. I would love to see many ADM positions or any new ADM positions moved to the regions and/or new positions go to the regions. Having said that, I don't want to delete money from this budget. I know the department has done their diligence on why they want it. I do question and I would fight tooth and nail about having it in Yellowknife. If you have an Indigenous languages ADM, that Indigenous languages ADM should reside in one of the regions where the majority of the Indigenous languages are being spoken. So and I think, you know, that position would sit very nicely in Inuvik or in Behchoko or in the South Slave, or in Dehcho. There's places that that position can be supported.
So yeah, and all due respect to my colleague from Yellowknife Centre, I understand where he's coming from, I don't want to delete the money from the budget but I, again, will fight tooth and nail to have this position put in the region where I think it will be properly housed. Thank you.
Thank you. Next on my list, I got Member from Monfwi. The request came in for the interpreters for Members to speak slowly. Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Monfwi.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Okay, as an Indigenous person, due to colonization we know that it almost the Indigenous language and culture were almost extinct. And based on that, you know, like, I don't really want to support or reduce or delete a budget from this from the corporate management. I don't want to do that because especially concerning Indigenous language and culture. What I would like to see and I did ask the Minister in our briefing, and she said, well, I hope so. I hope I will take this position to the regions. And that's what she said. So I was quite pleased about that. I would like to see this position move to one of the communities outside of Yellowknife where the Indigenous language and culture is very strong and it's thriving and it's alive, you know. And I know that a lot of people, a lot of report have said that Indigenous language is dead or but it's not. And it is so outside of Yellowknife is what I would like to see where this position goes.
The last time that we had somebody as a director who had no Indigenous language background, nothing, and she was you know, I mean, the person was in charge of Indigenous language for so many years, and it's still continuing to this day. So I do support having this position move outside of Yellowknife. So I would like to see that, but I don't support reducing or deleting of the budget. But I just want to see that position somewhere. Because there is a pilot project happening with the South Slave with the ECE for ADM. So I would like to see that kind of a I would like to see more of support in that area. Thank you.
Thank you. Speaking to the motion only, next on my list I have is the Member from Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. In speaking to this motion, I want to support my colleague, Minister Cleveland in this position, but I also want to support the remarks of the MLA for Monfwi how important this position is. It's a leadership position in this government, and I find it funny that we're having a motion on the floor of the House to talk about a senior leadership position in this government for language and culture, somebody that's going to lead the way for this government and provide the best expertise to the Minister for language and culture. So when we talk colonization, when we talk reconciliation, this is the discussion on the floor of this House. I just find that really funny and it's kind of after today's statement on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and how we need to work towards reconciliation, that we have this sort of discussion. We need a leader, we need a senior leader, and we need this type of position for this government for Education, Culture and Employment. And I don't want to get into the operational issues of location or type of position, but the Minister will lead the way, and this is what she's proposing in the budget. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I too feel it is important that this senior management position be located somewhere outside of the city of Yellowknife. I come from a region where language is in dire need of revitalization. The Gwich'in language is one of the hardest languages to learn, and it's the least spoken language within the Northwest Territories, Indigenous language. We're losing our language at a fast pace. Our elders are we're losing our elders at an equally fast pace too so they're taking this language with them. We have a few knowledgeable people, such as our translators back there, that do take a good role in saving our language. So I too do not want to delete any numbers from this budget. Location, I would fight for having it located in one of the other regions, having it located where it's needed. I believe all the other locations would be appropriate. It would be well accommodated because, in essence, you're going to have to put something where it's needed, not a thousand miles away. So like I said, I don't want to delete any numbers, but I would like to see this position located in another region within the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from the Dehcho to the motion.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Like my colleagues that talked about, I too would like to see that. I don't want to see the budget deleted or reduced or whatever but would like to see the position moved into one of our regions.
We need kind of like I said before, we need role models in our regions. We need people in our regions that are at a higher status so our young people can look up to them and say, that's what I want to be when I grow up. And we don't have that, and everything is centralized in Yellowknife. It makes it hard for us in the smaller communities. The government needs to help stimulate the economy in all our regions. We need something in our regions. So that's what I'm going to say about that.
And also language an ADM for languages, I'm not sure how that's going to work, you know, but the Minister obviously knows what will happen if that person is hired. All our regions are struggling at some point with different things. So that's what I'm going to say about that one for now. Thank you. I don't support deleting or reducing the budget. But I do support having position put into one of our regions. Thank you.
Thank you. Any further Members to the motion. I got the Member from Frame Lake to the motion.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I think it's pretty clear where this motion is going, but we should make a point of throwing our reasons out there for decisions that we're making.
I see where the Member is getting at in terms of kind of questioning whether now is a time to be growing senior management, and I do I do think that those are questions that are worth raising. With regards to reducing the budget by $200,000, similar to some of my colleagues, I just don't think that I want to see this budget reduced any further than it already is. I mean, one of the first thoughts I had when I originally cracked open the 20242025 Main Estimates was I was very disappointed to see reductions happening to education because I think of education as being such an integral part of the mandate commitment to grow and enhance the northern workforce by investing in skill development. You know, I've spoken to that ad nauseam in this House already and plan to continue doing that. For good reason, because I believe in it so much. And so I think it's important to discuss kind of the idea of senior management growth and whether that kind of is a wider issue, is really and adding positions, whether adding a position is always the answer, and I think that is a wider discussion.
Getting into each and individual decision and kind of trying to manage what departments are doing, you know, I haven't been part of operating this department, I haven't been in on the conversations that were involved in creating a position such as this, and I think we need to think very carefully about making decisions like this on the fly to change you know, changes to HR that are happening within departments that the department feels will help things move along more smoothly. So, you know, I would just note that something that stood out to me when I was listening to the Member from Yellowknife Centre speaking is he was speaking quite eloquently to, you know, a suite of inspired ideas. I would have appreciated those being brought forward for our report on the main estimates and think that we could have maybe advocated for those that way. But simply by cutting the budget by $200,000, obviously we can't achieve those things. But I understand the kind of symbology of the motion and understand that the Member may want to kind of make that gesture. But to wrap it up and try to be brief, Mr. Chair, I do not support cutting the budget by $201,000. Thank you.
Thank you. To the motion. Question. I'm going to go to the Member to Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I won't spend too long. I just want to say, first of all, I know what the delete function is. Unfortunately, people have to appreciate and I think the Premier put it well except the part which he says I may not be aware of what I'm doing. I didn't take that as offensive. I took that as tongue in cheek, which is fine. I give it so I should taketh, as they say, so I welcometh. So the point being is, though, it's an interesting observation, and I think it's very important to stress that because but the Members themselves only have the ability to delete. That's our only mechanism. Hence, that's why the narrative is so key when you make these motions is because when you say I want to delete this, it's critical that people on the government side understand the message is we don't it's not a case we don't support the government supporting language. It's not that. It's the question that's come up, and several Members caught it, caught the issue, which is on the ground, in the communities, in the regions. I mean, I'll be the first one to say thank you for a new job in Yellowknife. I mean, that sounds it's not intended to be rude but that's what this staying the status quo is exactly what that's going to deliver. And I'm in Yellowknife saying put it out in the region. I don't care where it goes because its excitement will create so much more synergy and energy in the communities.
So as far as promotion, Mr. Chairman, something interesting that comes up every single year, even when I wasn't here, is the Languages Commissioner are constantly asks calls for a promotion role. And if we wanted to do more for language, there's the gateway of opportunity as well. I mean, I all I can tell you is without spending too much more time is I'm going to say, respectfully, it isn't micromanagement. I know the Member for Yellowknife North brought that up. But every time a Member asks for something, one could define that as micromanagement. Oh, I need a nursing care thing in Stanton, that means micromanagement. We should put some $10,000 in this. That's micromanagement. Like, in other words, where do we limit ourselves? I'm not offended by the comment but I'm making the comment back saying, then we should never comment on anything on this side because anything would be perceived as micromanagement I guess. Which I don't support. I think that if we're given a budget, we should be allowed to ask questions. If we're given a budget to ask our opinions, here's my opinion. How do we help languages? Ultimately, Mr. Chairman, I'm not going to spend any further time on this. It's okay. I mean and I'm okay with people voting the wrong way by not supporting my motion, and I'll get over it. And I respect that, that you folks will make a less good choice. I didn't say bad. I'll just say less good choice. Because my initiative, really, is about stimulating opportunity in the communities. And as a young people who grew up in Fort Simpson, I mean, people spoke Slavey all the time as kids, and it inspired I mean, I still remember a few words, which I won't repeat, but that said, the it was exciting to see people do it. And when I hear George or sorry, the Member for Mackenzie Delta speak to about how tough his language is, I'm just trying to find new ways and inspire new ways we can get more speakers of that language and every single language around here.
So, Mr. Chairman, on that, I respect the results on how it goes, but I hope the message resonates that I support community languages, and I think frontline is really frontline and grassroots is really the way do it. And I have every right to make that argument. And I think that every Member has the right to disagree, even though it's okay, it's less good. Thank you.
Thank you. I take it that all the Members have a copy of the motion in front of them. Okay. I'll read out the motion.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, it says on this motion here. I move that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, corporate management, operations expenditure summary, 20242025 Main Estimates, be reduced to $12,201,000. That's the motion. Do I hear a question?
Question.
Okay, the motion is on the floor. To the motion. Of all those in favour? Show of hands. This motion, if you this is to reduce so to the motion. Show of hands. Okay, thank you. All those opposed to the motion. Thank you. The motion is defeated.
Defeated
Thank you. Members, noting the clock, and committee members, I will now rise to report progress. I want to thank the Minister and your witnesses. Sergeantatarms, please escort the witnesses from the chambers.
Okay, I'll read it out again for the what I have in front of me. Again, it just says here that noting the clock, committee members, I will now rise and report progress. Thank you to the Minister and to your witnesses. Sergeantatarms, please escort the witnesses from the chambers.
Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Mr. Speaker, your committee has been considering Tabled Document 9320(1) and would like to report progress with one motion carried. And Mr. Speaker, I move that the report of the Committee of the Whole be concurred with. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Tu NedheWiilideh. Can I have a seconder, please? Yellowknife South.
Question.
Thank you. All in favour? Opposed? Abstentions? It’s a tie. As a Speaker of the House, motion has been carried.
Carried
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Orders of the day for Wednesday, June 5th, 2024, 1:30 p.m.
Prayer
Ministers’ Statements
Members’ Statements
Returns to Oral Questions
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Replies to the Budget Address, Day 7 of 7
Acknowledgements
Oral Questions
Written Questions
Returns to Written Questions
Replies to the Commissioner’s Address
Petitions
Reports of Committees on the Review of Bills
Reports of Standing and Special Committees
Tabling of Documents
Notices of Motion
Motions
Motion 28-20(1): Consideration for Elders and Seniors in Debt Elimination
Motion 29-20(1): Municipal Block Land Transfer
Motion 30-20(1): Maintaining Northwest Territories’ Housing Stock
Notices of Motion for First Reading of Bills
First Reading of Bills
Second Reading of Bills
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Minister’s Statement 4-20(1): 2023 Wildfire Season Review and Planning for the 2024 Season
Minister’s Statement 5-20(1): Emergency Management Preparation
Minister’s Statement 17-20(1): Reaching Average $10 a Day Child Care in the NWT
Minister’s Statement 24-20(1): Health Human Resources Recruitment and Retention
Tabled Document 93-20(1): 2024-2025 Main Estimates
Report of the Committee of the Whole
Third Reading of Bills
Orders of the Day
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Clerk.
This House stands adjourned until Wednesday, June 5th, 2024, at 1:30 p.m.
---ADJOURNMENT
The House adjourned at 8:41 p.m.
