Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ll follow up with questions from my Member’s statement about the Hay River DEA and the school swap. My questions are for the Minister of Education. In the meeting some people had some questions about the financial rationale behind the school swap.
Can the Minister indicate to me what they expect this school swap to cost the Department of Education?
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. The Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. We first initiated the discussion with the Hay River DEA and, of course, the Commission scolaire francophone on the whole idea that we have yet to go through the appeals process with the court. It was just exploratory discussions that we’ve had, and obviously, my officials met with the chair of the DEA and the parents that represented the Hay River DEA. So those are the discussions we’ve been having.
From the board’s perspective, we’ll work with the community and my department. To date, we’re compiling the information on what the expenditure would be on the school swap because it would depend on the facility itself, the spaces. So that is information that we are currently compiling from the DEA with my department. Mahsi.
I would like the Minister to also include some of that analysis of the costs, I guess the cost of the whole process. What have they put into legal fees, what are they going to have to put into the school swap? We know the cost, $28 million for both schools in both communities, $13 million for Hay River.
Would the Minister commit to giving us a full analysis of what the government has spent on this whole fiasco, I guess?
Mahsi. The Member is correct about the $28 million. That’s, overall, the target that we are working with between Hay River and Yellowknife. Again, we are compiling the financial background on how much we’ve expended on this particular school swap and then also the court appeals and so forth. So, I can assure the Member that they will receive that information. Mahsi.
Obviously, our Hay River DEA and the French school were concerned about the repercussions now.
Now that the DEA has said that they’re not interested in signing the MOU, what will the Department of Education do going forward, what are the expectations of Cabinet and what are the expectations of the GNWT to go forward? Thank you.
Mahsi. We just heard last night from the Member, of course, both Members, that the Hay River DEA is not in a position to move forward on a school swap. From their meeting with the parents, my understanding is that there was a great turnout from the general public and I must commend them for having the engagement of the public. We have not heard back from the Commission scolaire francophone, who are meeting in Hay River with the parents tonight. So we will be hearing from them and until we hear back from them, there are no decisions on the next steps as of yet. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know they’ve put some deadlines on the DEA, and obviously, I look forward to hearing what happens in Hay River tonight. I apologize, I can’t make it, but I guess the question is that, going forward, we know that there are some dates coming up in March that are very important and key.
When will the Minister get back to us on these numbers and on the decision going forward on this issue? Thank you.
Mahsi. The Member is quite correct; there is a deadline we have to meet. I believe it’s March 24. Those are the court dates that we have to follow through with. Part of the plan will be to meet with both Hay River MLAs. I was hoping sometime next week to give them the status of what’s happening and what will be the next step, so I will be briefing both Members.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
