Debates of March 15, 2018 (day 27)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I believe it's crucial to involve elders in all areas where they can meaningfully participate in intergenerational relationships. Research has shown that these interactions can have benefits for each generation. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Mr. Speaker, does the GNWT have anything formal in offering interactions between elders and college students, school children, and children of other ages in a variety of settings to provide and consistently expose them to language and culture? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, our JK to 12 education system is based on the goal of ensuring that all students are grounded in the rich and diverse history, culture, language, and heritage of our peoples in the Northwest Territories. As you know, we do fund all of our Indigenous governments that play an integral part in working with our schools and in the classrooms. We do have the Elders in the Schools Program, where we are currently revising our Aboriginal languages curriculum, Indigenizing education, and we always promote to our schools to ensure that our elders are in fact participating on On the Land activities as well. We also hire some of our elders as language instructors, cultural resource experts, and at any opportunity, I will have them come into the schools.

In terms of early childhood development, as I mentioned, we do offer to the tune of about $4.8 million to Indigenous governments. One of the great programs that they do have is an Indigenous Language Nest from programming that ensures children in early childhood development settings are surrounded by their Indigenous languages, as well as working with some of the elders in the community.

That is good information for the rest of the territory to hear. Mr. Speaker, elders are not just passive recipients of care. They are resourceful individuals with great achievements and skills in their roster. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister look into any possibility of combining daycare for children and elders to further enhance Indigenous language and culture exposure with early childhood development working with the Minister of Health and Social Services to bring elders and youth together in elders' homes and daycares across the Northwest Territories?

The department does not operate early childhood programs in the NWT. However, the department does license, and we also fund, not-for-profit organizations who administer early childhood programs and centres as such. Under the child daycare standards, regulations require licensed early childhood programs to engage in community involvement, which would include connecting with community elders.

As I mentioned, elder participation is highly encouraged in all forms of education right from early childhood to post-secondary, and I know that, in some cases, elders work with some of the daycares and schools in terms of teaching traditional skills, sewing, culture camps, language instruction, storytelling, even, and in our unique small communities, it is a lot easier for our elders and our youth to get together on more of a regular basis, and we do promote that and encourage that.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.