Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My oral questions are for the Minister of ECE. I’m having a little bit of trouble understanding some of his replies to my questions in regard to yesterday’s Member’s statement. They just don’t seem to add up. What I know, Mr. Speaker, is my CA received a call this morning from the Beaufort-Delta superintendent, Mr. Roy Cole, at 9:30 this morning. According to Mr. Cole, he has reported anything new to the Minister; that the situation remains the same in Sachs Harbour. Where is our Minister getting his information from, Mr. Speaker? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my department works closely with the Beaufort-Delta education council and we get information directly from them. The information we got from them is exactly what I quoted yesterday. There might have been a miscommunication, but that’s what we received. We do have a superintendent who continues to have a discussion on this particular issue, as well, between our department and also the Beaufort-Delta, to deal with the one outstanding student that I referred to yesterday and how we can work with those students and then continue on our dialogue where if some of the students are comfortable going to Ulukhaktok, so those are the arrangements and the options that we’re gathering. Mr. Speaker, the information that we gather is through the education councils. Mahsi.
Thank you. Well, myself, Mr. Speaker, at 9:30 this morning I got an e-mail from my CA telling me that Mr. Roy Cole called and he didn’t report anything to Minister Lafferty either. BDEC executive board met and nothing has changed for Sachs Harbour, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when will these students get their teacher they require to finish their academic year, since nothing has changed? Thank you.
Mahsi. Again, it is at the Beaufort-Delta Education Council level. Again, we provide funding to them to provide teachers to the students. We provide operation maintenance to operate the schools, to look after the students based on enrolments. That’s what our funding is based on and if the students happen to drop out of school for some reason, then it is the responsibility of the Beaufort-Delta because the funding is allocated to their board to deal with those matters at hand. As the Minister responsible, I am responsible to make sure the act is in place where the board of education is following the act. So, Mr. Speaker, when it comes to hiring teachers, it is at the board level. Mahsi.
Thank you. The Minister stated yesterday that the information he had was accurate and from the superintendent. This does not seem to add up, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister explain what was he trying to accomplish by stating these things yesterday that just didn’t make sense? Thank you.
Mahsi. With this outcome, we can certainly clarify what’s truly happening. It’s just a matter of making calls to the superintendent or the board level and reconfirm where the students are at, but at the same time, the Member is asking for an additional teacher in the community to what was required based on their funding. It will be at the board level to deal with those eight students that have been brought forward to our attention. Mr. Speaker, yes, we will clarify the matter once and for all. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Your final supplementary, Mr. Jacobson.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to ask the Minister if he could share that information that he did read out yesterday to me in the House in regards to the stats or where he got that information from and that the Beaufort-Delta education, Mr. Roy Cole, the Beaufort-Delta education superintendent says nothing has changed, Mr. Speaker. I want to get to the bottom of this, I want to work with the Minister and his department to make sure everything gets properly allocated for these eight students that supposedly nothing has changed. Thank you.
That is exactly what we’ll get out of the Beaufort-Delta Education Council. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
