Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I ask this Assembly, what is an elementary, junior, senior high student's life worth? Well, Mr. Speaker, the South Slave Divisional Education Council answered that question and put that value at $70,000. It is that number that forced the Hay River District Education Council to make the decision to suspend all bussing services for all schools in Hay River for the 2021-2022 school year.
This government expects students to attend school. For those that come from affluent families, it may not be a challenge. But for many in Hay River, it will require a 40kilometre return walk home. This issue and this matter is everyone's responsibility.
So, Mr. Speaker, I would ask the Minister of Education if his department finds this commute which will require one to make the choice of walking 40 kilometres or dropping out of school acceptable in a community that stretches 30plus kilometres where there will be no bussing for 2122 school year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister responsible for Education, Culture, and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No, I don't find if acceptable, and the department doesn't find it acceptable either. That's why I've been working on this issue for more years than I would care to admit. If this was an issue where I could write a cheque, and problem solved, then we wouldn't be talking about it. As a Regular Member, I worked with the Hay River DEA because they require new buses, and as Minister, I was able to sign off on their purchase of new buses. And now we have a situation where they can't afford to use those buses. So perhaps I can take this opportunity to let people know how the funding works for education bodies.
So in Yellowknife, we have DEAs. It's a single body. And funding flows from ECE directly to those bodies. The Tlicho Region, we have the TCSA. Funding flows to that body, and then they disburse it. And in other regions, we have district education councils. The way that it works, according to the Education Act, is that ECE provides funding to the education councils, and they divide it as they see fit. There's very few restrictions on how that money is to be spent. It's similar to the Government of the Northwest Territories. We receive money from the Government of Canada. We spend it on what the Members of this Assembly deem necessary. It's the same thing. We provide the district education council in the South Slave with funding, and they distribute it among the various communities. And they make that determination. And so it's a political decision made by the DEC. And this isn't a money issue. There's money there. There's money in the bank.
The Member referenced that in the last annual report, there's $3.2 million. I'm sure that's gone down because of the costs associated with COVID. But nonetheless, this isn't a case where the money doesn't exist; it's a case where a decision has been made to not allocate that money. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, current legislation states that an education body may provide transportations to students for them to have access to the education programming. It is interesting that this government is pushing to have student grades comparable to the rest of Canada at the same time allowing barriers to exist that removes the child's access to learning. I would ask the Minister if he is prepared to have his department review the legislation and propose a change that would make bussing mandatory and fully funded in communities such as Hay River where the commute becomes a safety issue and impacts access to education. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, that's the plan. The reason I was so quick to move on modernizing the Education Act and updating our funding framework is because of my experience with the bussing issue in Hay River. I saw that the system as it was designed wasn't working, and we need to ensure that kids can get to school. I've been involved in a number of different engagements across the territories on education, and I think at almost every engagement, if not every engagement, people make the comment that kids need to be in school to learn. We can do everything else, but if the kids aren't there, they're obviously not learning. So this issue is vitally important. And I want to ensure that by the time we have the renewed the Education Act and the funding formula, that this will no longer be a problem. In the couple years, few years, until then he have to come up with a solution, though. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have read correspondence between the Hay River District Education Authority and the South Slave Divisional Educational Council. I have read correspondence addressed to the Minister from the Hay River Metis Government Council, West Point First Nation, and Soaring Eagle Friendship Centre. What I found interesting is that the South Slave Divisional Educational Council is all about having the Hay River District Education Authority cut deeper into education programs and services while they're unwilling to look at their own budget. The teachers, the Hay River District Education Authority, and the Indigenous peoples see the benefit of bussing as it relates to advancing education and the safety of their students and children.
So I ask, will the Minister reach out to the organizations that have concerns and confirm with them that the access to education will include bussing and that the safety of their children is paramount? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm happy to speak with those organizations. They are in my community and many in my constituency, and some I've already discussed this very issue with. Can I confirm that there will be bussing? I can't at this point because, like I said, this is a decision of the South Slave District Education Council and the Hay River DEA. And if I could just write a cheque and make this go away, that's what I would do. But the fact is that the education system as it is is very decentralized, and that decisionmaking authority lies with those bodies. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I ask that you bear with me. Mr. Speaker, current legislations limits the Minister only direct the South Slave Divisional Education Council. There is no requirement for the South Slave Divisional Education Council to provide bussing or to follow any direction coming from the department, which is very evident by their refusal to fund the bussing shortfall in Hay River when they were sitting on the $3.3 million surplus at the end of 2020. Mr. Speaker, I ask the Minister if he will meet with the South Slave Divisional Education Council and the Hay River District Educational Authority, something that the South Slave Divisional Education Council has already refused to do. We are talking about children's education, safety, and it is our responsibility to come up with a workable solution to cover the bussing shortfall for the next two years.
Mr. Speaker, failing that, I would ask the Minister if he is willing to consider directing the South Slave Divisional Education Council to fund the 70,000 bussing shortfall or find the funds from within the department and provide direct payment by cutting a cheque to the Hay River District Education Authority for bussing; failing that, or dissolve the South Slave Divisional Education Council and appoint a public administrator or commence discussions with the Hay River District Education Authority to provide the opportunity to remove itself from the South Slave Divisional Education Council and be an independent divisional educational council on its own? Mr. Speaker this is our children's future we are talking about. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate the Member bringing forward solutions. Often all we hear is complaints with no way to address them. So I want to thank the Member for that.
There are some authorities for the Minister in the Education Act. I can direct the education council; they don't have to follow that direction. If they don't, I could dissolve the board. But this is something that is within their authority under the act. So it's not you know, I wouldn't have very solid ground for just dissolving this authority or dissolving the Education Council.
The other comment was about commencing discussions with the Hay River DEA to remove them from the DEC, and in our Education Act engagements, that's one of the issues that we discussed, is what's the structure of the education system going to look like in the territory. And it very well could be that Hay River winds up on its own given the you know, these continuing situations that they seem to have with the education council. But, ultimately, what I want to do is I want to meet with the parties involved. I met with the DEA a number of times, and I'd like to meet with the chair of the DEC as well to have a discussion about this, because, ultimately, the education council, the education bodies are distinct in the GNWT. They're distinct bodies. And this is about relationships. We need to ensure that we have good relationships and that we're all working to the same end, which is the education of our youth. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.
