Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Further to my statement today about Ecole Boreale and the ministerial directive, I will be directing my questions to the honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Will the Minister commit to conducting review in good faith of the ministerial directive related to the enrolment of students in French first-language language education programs before the end of this school year? Thank you.
Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Before I begin, I'd just like to thank all the parents and families who have written letters to the department in regards to concerns with the French first language education programs and enrolment of students. The ministerial directive has been in place since 2008, and I have communicated with the Commission scolaire that I have directed the department to do a review and look to see if any changes should be considered. Hopefully those will be done before the next school year begins. Thank you.
That's good to hear that a review is underway. I'd like to know what impediments or roadblocks that the government perceives stand in the way of loosening these strict admission requirements that are stopping the GNWT from bringing its admissions policy more in line with the rest of the country.
As the Member had mentioned in his opening remarks around the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, as the government, we need to ensure that we meet our obligations under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms when providing French first-language education programs throughout the Northwest Territories, as well as having facilities open for all children. Those are some of the roadblocks that we're seeing that might prevent this, but we are looking at other jurisdictions, seeing what they're doing that can help loosen up some of these restrictions.
I'd just also like to ask, would the Minister commit to working in good faith with the Hay River District Education Authority (DEA) and the Commission scolaire to find a solution to the Ecole Boreale enrolment issue?
Yes, the department is committed to working with the Hay River DEA and the Commission scolaire. We did have a meeting earlier this year with the Commission scolaire, as well as we sent letters out to their staff. We will be sending letters out, as well, to the families that have sent letters to the department, and we do have a meeting set up with the Hay River DEA in the near future to discuss some of these concerns that are brought up from the community of Hay River.
Masi. Oral questions. Final supplementary. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is all good news and I appreciate the Minister's response. Finally, I'd just like to ask the Minister, is it the department's working assumption that Ecole Boreale is viable in the long term as a French language school in Hay River? Thank you.
Yes, the department does consider that Ecole Boreale is viable in the long-term as a French language school. As mentioned, we do want to serve the francophone population in the community of Hay River. Earlier I talked about the review of the ministerial directive, which hopefully should address a lot of these issues. I do thank both Members from Hay River for bringing these concerns forward to the office and to the department.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
