Merci, Monsieur le President. Monsieur le President, the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment made a commitment to revise the ministerial directive concerning admissions to the Commission scolaire des Territoires du NordOuest. Can the Minister today provide an update to where that work is to date? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you. Mr. Speaker. As Members are aware, there were public hearings here, in Yellowknife, as well as Hay River. Actually, in Hay River, it was more of one that we had meetings with the Hay River District Education Authority to get more feedback. That consultation is done. We’re just getting the information gathered together. We will be making recommendations. We will be meeting with our department staff, and we will be making a statement very soon on where that ministerial directive is going.
Monsieur le President, when can the Commission scolaire [English translation not provided] expect this matter to be resolved and some change to this directive come forward?
We should have that decision ready and the announcement made before the 201617 academic year, so before the fall. Families, community members will be ready to know the decision that’s going to be made with that ministerial directive.
Monsieur le President, a court ruling requires this government to provide fair and equitable access to gymnasium space for Ecole Allain StCyr in Yellowknife [English translation not provided]… Ecole Boreale [English translation not provided] Hay River… What is the status of the spacesharing agreement that the government has been working on for quite some time now?
Yes, the government is abiding by the court case with the Ecole Allain StCyr. In terms of Ecole Boreale in Hay River, we’re actually just working on trying to develop a plan. Hopefully, everything should be resolved by the fall time. We are looking at putting through that spacesharing agreement in Hay River, hopefully, will be addressed by the fall time, as well as here, in Yellowknife, we should have everything in place come fall time.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. The Minister may be paying attention, as I don’t like the word “hope” when people are looking for certainty. There has been a number of complaints from the Commission scolaire about this issue that things are not rolling out in a timely fashion. Can the Minister assure this House that the spacesharing agreement will be in place for both schools in the fall and will be done in a timely manner and any delays will be clearly communicated with the district education authority in Hay River, the school districts in Yellowknife, and the Commission scolaire?
In the past months that I’ve been Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, we’ve been having meetings with a lot of different parties. We’re trying to build a strong relationship moving forward and letting them understand that we are moving forward on the court case issue. Spacesharing agreements, it’s a little tougher in Hay River in terms of addressing some of the issues there. Here, in Yellowknife, I believe we will have it all straightened out come fall time, and we are still having those discussions in Hay River to address their concerns. Our department is working with the education authorities over there to make sure that we have something put in place in the fall time that will have all parties, hopefully, happy with the decisions that are made. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
