Debates of Oct. 31st, 2014

This is page numbers 5107 – 5142 of the Hansard for the 17th Assembly, 5th Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library.

The word of the day was public .

Topics

Oral Questions

Members Present

Prayer

On-The-Land Program For Youth

Quality And Successful Junior Kindergarten Programming

Junior Kindergarten Funding Model

Victim Services Program

Supporting A Morel Mushroom Harvest

Halloween Reflections

NWT Home Buyer Protection

Halloween Reflections On Government

Recognition Of Achievements Of Ms. Nadya Debogorski

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Governor General Of Canada Medal Of Bravery Recipients Kent David Bissell, Matthew Lewin Grogono, Mike Joseph Murphy And Allan Randal Shortt

Support For Victim Service Coordinators

Sahtu Oil And Gas Exploration

Consultation On Junior Kindergarten Implementation

On-The-Land Program For Youth

Home Buyer Protection

Junior Kindergarten Funding Model

Implementation Of Occupational Health And Safety Regulations

Suicide Prevention Initiatives

Pupil-Teacher Ratio Funding Model

Construction Of New Housing Units

Marine Resupply

Tabled Document 163-17(5): Traditional Knowledge Annual Report 2013-2014

Tabled Document 164-17(5): Take A Kid Trapping And Harvesting Report 2013-2014

Tabled Document 165-17(5): Northwest Territories Housing Corporation Annual Report 2013-2014

National Inquiry And National Roundtable Into Missing And Murdered Aboriginal Women And Girls

Bill 39: Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 4, 2014-2015 Bill 40: Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), 2015-2016

Bill 34: 2015 Polling Day Act

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Amendment To Clause 4

Recorded Vote

Report of Committee of the Whole

Bill 33:

An Act To Amend The Elections And Plebiscites Act, No. 2

Orders of the Day

The House met at 10:01 a.m.

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---Prayer

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Prayer

Prayer

The Speaker

Jackie Jacobson

Good morning, colleagues. Item 2, Ministers’ statements. The honourable Minister of Environment and Natural Resources . Sorry, Mr. Miltenberger .

---Laughter

Happy Halloween.

---Laughter

Item 3, Members’ statements. Mr. Menicoche .

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On-The-Land Program For Youth

Members’ Statements

Kevin A. Menicoche

Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This past July and August, a total of 22 youth from the Deh Cho participated in an on-the-land pilot program that could serve as a territorial model for early intervention of alcohol and drug use among the youth. This program was delivered in two sessions. The first two weeks were geared towards youth aged 12 to 15 and the next two weeks were for youth aged 16 to 19. The camp was held at Six Mile, approximately six miles up the river from Fort Simpson. The historic site was inhabited for hundreds of years.

The pilot program was designed to build youth culture and individual identity; increase physical activity and bush skills; provide life skills, including healthy lifestyles and emotion management and self-control; foster well-being, healthy relationships and a cultural sense of self; create enjoyable community-minded atmosphere in a wilderness environment; identify and work with future leaders or community cornerstones, youth who might be able to work at camp in the future; and engage the entire community through participation and volunteering in support of the camp.

Daily activities blended traditional on-the-land skills, and therapeutic sessions focused on achieving these goals. Eighteen youth received certificates of completion and were congratulated on their achievement at ceremonies held in Fort Simpson

and Wrigley at the end of each intake. Three youth participated in both intakes and spent a total of four weeks on the land, Mr. Speaker.

This project was made possible through the collaboration of Health and Social Services, the Dehcho Health and Social Services Authority, community stakeholders and Shakes the Dust Hope Consulting. I would especially like to recognize the local program support staff that helped deliver the program. The department is currently evaluating the lessons learned from camp this year and the results will form the development of future land-based healing programs for the youth in our territory.

That’s what I especially look forward to, Mr. Speaker, that this pilot project can branch out throughout the whole Northwest Territories and help our youth in their time of need and teach them these life skills that we certainly need in our territory. Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.

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On-The-Land Program For Youth

Members’ Statements

The Speaker

Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche . The honourable Member for Weledeh , Mr. Bromley .

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Quality And Successful Junior Kindergarten Programming

Members’ Statements

Bob Bromley

Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate ECE’s plan to slow down the revised rollout of the Junior Kindergarten program. This will give all of the stakeholders, education authorities, early childhood workers, families and other early childhood care providers a chance to take stock, learn from experience and adjust the program as needed going forward.

Examples of areas needing adjustment that I hear include one-teacher classrooms overburdened by 11 four-year-olds and 12 five-year-olds, tension between existing local programs and ECE’s, lack of appropriate supervision for four-year-olds, loss of early childhood programs and jobs, and the list goes on.

What would a well-thought-out Junior Kindergarten program look like? Such a program would be embedded within a comprehensive Early Childhood Development Strategy which would give first and highest priority to the critical first three years of life, including a healthy pregnancy. This is when the most important brain development processes occur.

Early Development Index scores from testing in NWT kindergartens indicate clearly that this crucial opportunity for preparing our children for a productive life is being missed.

Secondly, we would recognize that professionals trained in early care and education are a prerequisite for quality program delivery. Without them, research says we cannot avoid unintended consequences.

We also recognize that we should not be viewing early childhood programs through the lens of schools. We know that ECD programs – early childhood development programs – are best delivered in a quieter environment than our schools typically provide. Relying on our teachers, though capable and professional, would be unfair to both them and preschool children.

Development of our JK program would draw heavily upon the best practices and lessons learned from each community, where valuable experience has been gained through the delivery of age-four programs. Hay River is blessed with six different organizations with a varying approach. Aboriginal Head Start has been active in eight communities. Pilot studies would be assessed and reported on to draw on lessons learned. These organizations must be given a leadership role in the development of community JK programs.

Lastly, the resources required for success must be in place, as those with age-four programs proclaim based on their experience. New responsibilities without new resources are a recipe for failure.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement. Mahsi.

---Unanimous consent granted

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Quality And Successful Junior Kindergarten Programming

Members’ Statements

Bob Bromley

Weledeh

Mr. Speaker, new responsibilities without new resources are a recipe for failure. The proposed review of JK should, therefore, focus on all of these aspects. Specifically, evaluation and subsequent planning should recognize the need for small group sizes, qualified and well-compensated early care and education personnel, development of warm and caring relationships, achievement of a language-rich environment, developmentally appropriate programs and safe physical settings. With this focus and all parties working together in true partnership, we can provide the best future for all children of the NWT. Mahsi.

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Quality And Successful Junior Kindergarten Programming

Members’ Statements

The Speaker

Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Bromley . The honourable Member for Frame Lake , Ms. Bisaro .

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Junior Kindergarten Funding Model

Members’ Statements

Wendy Bisaro

Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t often get to do this, but as I said yesterday, I want to congratulate the Premier on the content of his statement on Junior Kindergarten yesterday.

As you will have guessed from the applause, we found it gratifying to know that the executive does actually listen to Members periodically, does actually listen to us periodically when we give voice to our constituents’ concerns, and they took action to do the right thing.

But, as pointed out by Mr. Dolynny yesterday, there is still the issue of funding for the Junior Kindergarten program. Apparently there will be no change to the funding model. Education authorities will continue to have to provide a new grade in their schools without any new funding. As has been said, the funding design is flawed, very flawed.

That funding model, put in place by ECE, targets regional centres and YK schools. Why do I say that? Well, first of all, there are no reductions to board budgets for schools which have less than 120 students.

Secondly, it’s the stated view of the Premier and Education, Culture and Employment Minister that education authority surpluses are to be used up, to make up for the dollars clawed back by ECE to finance Junior Kindergarten.

Thirdly, the only boards that had budget reductions imposed in the ’14-15 school year were the boards that did not have Junior Kindergarten programs this year.

Fourth, the Minister and Premier regularly state, as justification for the clawbacks, that authorities are over-funded, that schools are funded well beyond what legislation requires. The law requires 16 kids to one staff, a 16 to 1 PTR, as we say. In reality, the schools which are over-funded are our smallest schools. Out of our 49 NWT schools, we have nine schools which are funded at less than nine students to one staff. A couple of schools are less than 4 to 1 PTR, and we have 19 schools which are funded at less than 13 to 1 PTR.

It is the schools in the regional centres and Yellowknife which are close to or at the 16 to 1 PTR. Yet reductions are applied across the board, except for schools of 120 students or less.

If the Minister and Premier intend to fund at 16 to 1 to meet our legislative requirement and if they plan to make the application of that standard fair, our smallest schools and our smallest communities will be devastated, they will be inoperable.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

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Junior Kindergarten Funding Model

Members’ Statements

Wendy Bisaro

Frame Lake

Stress to small schools is not what I want, and I’m sure it’s not what the Ministers want, but to do otherwise is unfair to the larger education authorities and that unfairness is being categorically ignored. The justification seems to be that the larger authorities can handle it, so let’s take advantage of them. The fairest solution is to provide

new JK funding for the new JK program. That way all schools will be able to keep the staff they currently have and maintain delivery of the excellent programs they provide.

If, as stated yesterday, the regional centres and YK board budgets are reduced next year for a second year in a row with no implementation of phase two of JK, it can only be considered robbery, and for that I say, shame on you, Ministers. Thank you.

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Junior Kindergarten Funding Model

Members’ Statements

The Speaker

Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro . The Member for Inuvik Boot Lake , Mr. Moses .

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Victim Services Program

Members’ Statements

Alfred Moses

Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Throughout the week I’ve made comments and Member’s statements and asked questions regarding such things as the coroner’s report and the Forfeiture Act. Today I’d like to take a moment and talk about the victim services that we currently provide in the Northwest Territories and take another stance on how we provide services and support to people that are victims of crime.

Specifically, for victim service coordinators in the Northwest Territories, the mandate of victim services is to provide information, assistance, referrals and support to victims of crimes or tragedy in the Northwest Territories. Some things our victims might be struggling with are sudden death, suicide, disasters such as house fires, floods, motor vehicle accidents, and most prevalent in the Northwest Territories is violence and assault.

I looked at some statistics from the NWT family violence report card, and from April 1, 2012, to March 31, 2013, victim services has provided services to many victims in the NWT. For instance, brief service contacts, there was 537 cases; for new clients, 563 new client cases – and this is a big one – for continuing cases in the Northwest Territories in that short amount of time there were 842 cases that were continuing. In that sense, that makes me think that these victims are afraid to stand up or afraid to go before the courts to see through with charges. That is a total of 1,942 cases of family violence in the Northwest Territories.

The victim service coordinators provide a great service to our victims in the Northwest Territories, not only to victims but their families and their relatives. They provide services such as emotional support, dealing with the aftermath of serious crime, even accompanying victims to go talk to the police to make impact statements, visits to the hospital, referrals to appropriate community agencies and services such as counselling, which I must say there’s still waiting times for people to go to counselling.

I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement. Thank you.

---Unanimous consent granted

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Victim Services Program

Members’ Statements

Alfred Moses

Inuvik Boot Lake

Like I said, there is a lot of waiting time for counselling, so even if the victim coordinators can get our victims to counselling, they still have to wait to go and see them, and even treatment.

They also provide information on the criminal justice system, the court processes and notifications on the status of their cases. They also help victims fill out court-related documents and, as I said earlier, victim impact statements.

Today I want to recognize all our victim services coordinators in the Northwest Territories and the great work that they do.

I will be asking questions later to the Minister of Justice on how we are continuing to support these victim services and how we can do a better job of helping those that really need the help. Thank you.

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Victim Services Program

Members’ Statements

The Speaker

Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Moses . Member for Deh Cho , Mr. Nadli .

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Supporting A Morel Mushroom Harvest

Members’ Statements

Michael Nadli

Deh Cho

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is a message from concerned constituents of mine.

I have been approached to deliver a message on behalf of a group of concerned constituents who live in my riding and some of my colleagues’ ridings too.

Here is what they want to say: We are small but not insignificant. We are not known for our beauty, but we have great taste. We are probably the only constituents in the NWT that are happy we had an epic fire season. We may be just a bunch of fungi living in the forest, but we have a message that is deadly serious. Okay, well, maybe not as deadly as amanita, but you get the point.

Have you figured out who we are yet? We are few, the proud, the Morels! There are some things that you might not know about us. We belong to a genus of edible mushrooms with a distinctive honeycomb-like appearance. We have been called by many different names, depending on where we grow. Some call us dry land fish because, when sliced lengthwise, we’re breaded and fried and we just look like the shape of a fish. In Kentucky, they call us hickory chickens and merkels, meaning miracles, because we once saved a mountain family from starvation.

In West Virginia we are known as molly moochers. Don’t ask us why. That one makes us laugh. We are also known as sponge mushrooms. If you know what we look like, that one makes sense. In fact, the word “morel” itself is derived from the Latin word for maurus, meaning brown.

Okay, now for the serious part. We are prized by gourmet cooks, especially for French cuisine. We are hunted by thousands of people every year for our great taste and the joy of the hunt. We know we have commercial value, and even though we are just a bunch of fungi living in the forest, we like to be good neighbours, so we need your help.

Mr. Nadli tells us that you are the people that make the laws. So get busy, make a law to protect us from the greedy scavengers who travel great distances to find us where we grow. They will come and pick us, and even though we are growing on your land, you will get no benefits from us being here.

Come on, people! You scratch our backs. No way, that won’t work because we don’t have backs. But you know what we mean, just do it. How hard can it be? Pass a law and make sure that we stay strong, growing, and you get some benefit from us growing on your land. Thanks to Mr. Nadli for writing this down. We don’t have hands.

---Laughter

A big mahsi for the morels. Mahsi.

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Supporting A Morel Mushroom Harvest

Members’ Statements

The Speaker

Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Nadli . Member for Sahtu , Mr. Yakeleya .

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Halloween Reflections

Members’ Statements

Norman Yakeleya

Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Did you see the ghost of the family past or just a portrait of past Premiers on your way to the Chamber? On this Halloween I wish to go over some spooky details. Well, they’re not that scary. No Grudges or Annabelles here, just some cold hard facts.

Right now we have 79 students attending Aurora College or are enrolled in courses at the community learning centres. After reviewing the Sahtu oil and gas needs assessment like a treasure map, 68 percent of those positions for this industry are tied to some form of transportation work. Either heavy equipment or truck driving, the big wheels are moving.

Another financial figure that the count on Sesame Street would have fun counting, one, two, three, ninety-seven thousand, ha, ha, ha. That comes from the ConecoPhillips partnerships with this government portraying environment monitors in our region. Considering the magnifying glasses government is using for the environmental baseline studies, Mr. Miltenberger is no scrooge but, rather, a maverick with $4 million. What a treat.

We’re at the crossroads, Mr. Speaker, but with your steering the wheel of our session, and our Premier , Bob the Builder, hoping we’ll pile through the stormy seas with Polar Eggs from Roger Rabbit in Hay River and more mushrooms than Mario and Luigi. They’re fungi. Perhaps we should embrace

this time of change sort of like a baby when it needs a clean diaper. No, Mr. Speaker, I won’t go there. Let’s get back on track.

Where is Minister Ramsay , the explorer, and his oil and gas maps and the regs to guide us there? Here is the truth: The Sahtu Dene and Metis Comprehensive Land Claim put our region in the driver’s seat. It’s given us a seat at the table, not the table of the last supper, because we know that we want to teach our people to fish rather than to bribe them with fish.

I hope we get a treat from this government, a technical institute for the Sahtu, and not a trick, because that would be cruel.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my Member’s statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

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Halloween Reflections

Members’ Statements

Norman Yakeleya

Sahtu

It’s not the time to be mad hatters, but rather a time to look down the rabbit hole and build up our youth’s potential with a trade school so we can sustainably be masters and commanders of our own destiny.

Remember, Mr. Speaker and colleagues, all those little ones going out tonight, and the young, have a spooky and safe Halloween. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

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Halloween Reflections

Members’ Statements

The Speaker

Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya . Member for Range Lake , Mr. Dolynny .

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NWT Home Buyer Protection

Members’ Statements

Daryl Dolynny

Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. “Buyer beware” seems to be the prevailing mantra for home buyers in the NWT. I find that disturbing, given that a home is the largest and most important purchase most families will ever make.

There is very little emphasis on protecting NWT home buyers from hidden defects of the property they purchase. As usual, we are behind other jurisdictions on both protective measures and basic public education.

NWT home buyers have little protection beyond the common law and that is minimal at best, because if the law is ignored by the seller, the remedy for the buyer is often more hassle, more expensive and more risky than it is worth.

Yes, an experienced realtor and diligent realtor can help protect a home buyer by encouraging sellers to be upfront on the condition of their property, but remember, the realtors work primarily for the seller and we know it’s always a delicate dance. Yes, we have a few good professional home inspectors who are generally hired by potential buyers to make sure you get what you pay for.

Government can, and in some places does, help improve the transparency and safety of purchasing a home. Mandatory disclosure of problems with a

home for sale is common in the United States and it seems to work fairly well for all parties. Here in Canada, voluntary disclosure is encouraged in numerous provinces. Manitoba, for example, has a form that sellers can fill out and is widely used, and many realtors now have voluntary extra insurance, such as error and omission insurance, that is gaining popularity and more specific to the industry.

Public education is another area that could be much improved in the Northwest Territories, and our government should take a look at best practices in other provinces. Training for home inspectors is yet another initiative we could look at. But I want government to do more than just take a look. I am asking for reform, where we can, and should, do a lot better than “buyer beware” for our northern families who want to purchase a home. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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NWT Home Buyer Protection

Members’ Statements

The Speaker

Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny . Mr. Hawkins , Yellowknife Centre.

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Halloween Reflections On Government

Members’ Statements

Robert Hawkins

Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Over the years on Halloween, I’ve been trying to give some interesting statements. One year I gave my version of Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven” and last year I tried to do a theme statement behind the Adam’s Family and I called it the Cat in the Cloud Cabinet Family. So in trying to keep with this theme, this year I’ve used the theme of Monster Mash, so please bear with me.

While I was working in the Ledge late one night, my eye beheld an eerie site. It was the McLeod government’s policies that caused such fright: a tax on schools, taxes with their might.

Suddenly, to my eyes, I was surprised to see, the McLeod government did the mash. They did the Cabinet mash, the Cabinet mash. It was a majority government Regular Member MLA smash. The McLeod government’s Cabinet mash.

From their ivory tower way above, the Cabinet dazzled with their prime rib grub. While the groveling of Members kept far below, pleading for help through those Cabinet’s no, no, no. So the McLeod government did the mash, they did the Cabinet mash, the Cabinet mash. It was like a majority government Regular Member smash. The McLeod government Cabinet mash.

The zombie Ministers were just as stunned. The party politics had just begun. While the Cabinet stuffed their ridings with trinkets and toys, the Members like us sturdy our poise. ITH, cost of living, and kids, we will never give up nor waver or fizz, because we believe in the people, they’re worth the fight.

While the McLeod government does the mash, they did the Cabinet mash, the Cabinet mash. It was like a majority government Regular Member smash.

As we close, I want to thank the government’s patience and time. May everyone be safe on this special day for children. Drive safe, everyone, and enjoy the evening as it’s intended.

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Halloween Reflections On Government

Members’ Statements

The Speaker

Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins . The Member for Kam Lake , Mr. Ramsay .

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Recognition Of Achievements Of Ms. Nadya Debogorski

Members’ Statements

David Ramsay

Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is always a pleasure to see one of our northern residents succeed in their career and showcase their talents in competition. Today I’d like to recognize a Yellowknife resident who has excelled to a level of award-winning performance.

Nadya Debogorski is an exceptional young actress who was born and raised here in Yellowknife. She was recently presented the 2014 Phrike Filmfest Award for best female actress in a competition of short screen plays.

The Phrike Filmfest competition was conceived and put together by New Image Entertainment and New Image College of Fine Arts in Vancouver. This film competition was a thrilling no-holds-barred race. Filmmakers, actors and makeup artists competed to see who could make the best horror film within 72 hours and take home cash prizes, scholarships and the Grand Goblin Award.

This competition was held on Thanksgiving weekend. It challenged novice and professional filmmakers to bring their unique horror-themed short films from script to screen in less than three days. Each four-person team was supplied with a secret package containing a prop, a screen shot and a dialogue line. Of the 38 teams entered into the competition, 13 qualifying films were premiered for the public and judged by their peers, celebrities and industry professionals in the inaugural Halloween parade and expo at the Sheraton Wall Centre in Vancouver.

Nadya was named and awarded best female actor for her performance in the short film 13 Cell Phones, created by her team, Ignis Fatuus. Nadya attended Sir John Franklin High School here in Yellowknife and graduated in June of 2012. She has since completed her studies at New Image College of Fine Arts, graduating this past June, and now does some instructing in their fine arts program.

Although Nadya is living in Vancouver at this time, her parents, Greg and Laurette Debogorski, are still in Yellowknife, and I am very pleased to congratulate them on their daughter’s

achievements and welcome them here to our proceedings today.

I’m sure, as parents, they have provided encouragement and support to their daughter, and have obviously done a great job at that, and they should be very proud of her achievements.

Yellowknife has produced some serious film talent over the years, going all the way back to Margot Kidder, Toby Mehler and Dustin Milligan. In receiving this award of national recognition, it is evident that Nadya is a talented and ambitious young star who we are very fortunate to say hails from the Northwest Territories and Yellowknife.

Today I’d like to say congratulations to Nadya on her accomplishments and I wish her every continued success and a very bright future ahead of her.

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Recognition Of Achievements Of Ms. Nadya Debogorski

Members’ Statements

The Speaker

Jackie Jacobson

Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Mr. Ramsay .

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Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

David Ramsay

Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s a pleasure to welcome two constituents, Greg and Laurette Debogorski. I just talked about Nadya and all of her accomplishments. Welcome to the Legislative Assembly this morning, and I wish you a happy Halloween. Thank you.

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Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay . Item 6, acknowledgements. Mr. Bromley .

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Acknowledgement 13-17(5): Governor General Of Canada Medal Of Bravery Recipients Kent David Bissell, Matthew Lewin Grogono, Mike Joseph Murphy And Allan Randal Shortt

Acknowledgements

Bob Bromley

Weledeh

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to acknowledge several Weledeh constituents who received Medals of Bravery from the Governor General of Canada on October 21st of this year.

On September 22, 2011, my constituents Kent David Bissell, Matthew Lewin Grogono, Mike Joseph Murphy and Allan Randal Shortt played a vital role in the evacuation of several passengers from a Twin Otter that tragically crashed in the Old Town, here in Yellowknife, claiming two lives.

Despite heavy smoke coming from the engine, leaking fuel and the risk of explosion, these brave citizens managed to bring several survivors to safety. Without their quick thinking and selflessness, the results of this tragedy could have been much, much worse. For this brave act, they were awarded a Medal of Bravery by the Governor

General of Canada, the Right Honourable David Johnston.

I would like to thank these Medal of Bravery recipients for their actions and courage, and I would invite all you here in this House and throughout the Northwest Territories to do the same.

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Acknowledgement 13-17(5): Governor General Of Canada Medal Of Bravery Recipients Kent David Bissell, Matthew Lewin Grogono, Mike Joseph Murphy And Allan Randal Shortt

Acknowledgements

The Speaker

Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Bromley . Item 7, oral questions. Member for Inuvik Boot Lake , Mr. Moses .

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Question 485-17(5): Support For Victim Service Coordinators

Oral Questions

Alfred Moses

Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier I talked about what kind of support we have for our victim service coordinators in the Northwest Territories. As I said earlier, I stated that 1,942 cases go to victim service coordinators throughout the NWT, and those are the only ones that need services. There might even be more victims out there that don’t speak up, don’t stand up.

I would like to ask the Minister of Justice , how many victim service coordinators do we currently have in the Northwest Territories address all these cases? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Question 485-17(5): Support For Victim Service Coordinators

Oral Questions

The Speaker

Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Moses . Minister of Justice , Mr. Ramsay .

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Question 485-17(5): Support For Victim Service Coordinators

Oral Questions

David Ramsay

Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have some full-time workers in the area of victim service. We also have a number of part-time persons who deliver this much needed responsibility to our residents. I’d have to get the Member the exact figure, and I can get him the figure by community on who’s where and what positions are full time and what are part time. Thank you.

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Question 485-17(5): Support For Victim Service Coordinators

Oral Questions

Alfred Moses

Inuvik Boot Lake

Mr. Speaker, from the family violence report card that I most recently went through, I think there’s about seven victim service coordinators. I could be wrong, though. But I know the community of Inuvik, we do have an issue in terms of keeping that position staffed because it’s only a half-time position and the responsibilities, the work and the effort that these victim service coordinators go through to get victims to the courts to jail or even the hospital or counselling, it goes above and beyond their scope of work and practice, and sometimes beyond the work hours that they’re actually given.

I’d like to ask the Minister, is he willing to look at revising some of these half-time positions, especially in the regional centres where caseloads are very high, to turn it from a half-time position into a full-time position? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Question 485-17(5): Support For Victim Service Coordinators

Oral Questions

David Ramsay

Kam Lake

Mr. Speaker, like coroners – I know we talked about coroners earlier in this session – victim services workers do have a very tough job. They’re dealing with some very stressful situations, and it’s important, from the Department of Justice perspective, that we provide them with the support that they need.

On a case-by-case basis if there’s a workload there that would warrant a full-time position, that certainly is something that the department would entertain and we’d take a look at that. Thank you.

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Question 485-17(5): Support For Victim Service Coordinators

Oral Questions

Alfred Moses

Inuvik Boot Lake

In terms of providing services to our victim service coordinators, what type of training is available for them to deal with some of these very highly stressful situations that they find themselves? Not only training for them, but what about counselling services for victim service coordinators that, on a daily basis in some cases, see the harshness of our residents of the Northwest Territories who are going through some type of family violence, or after a specific tragedy, what kind of counselling services and training is provided to these victim service coordinators? Thank you.

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Question 485-17(5): Support For Victim Service Coordinators

Oral Questions

David Ramsay

Kam Lake

There’s ongoing training and support for our victim services workers across the NWT. I understand they will be in Yellowknife next week. I believe I’ll be speaking to the group next week here in Yellowknife. If the Member is available – I know MLA Moses came to the coroners’ event last week – and certainly if he has some time and he’s in town, I’d encourage him to attend that, as well, to learn more about victim services and the support that we provide through the Department of Justice.

I think having the group get together to share experiences and touch base with each other about issues and problems, it always is good to talk about your work with your peers. So it’s a great opportunity and I’ll be there to lend my support to the work that they do on behalf of residents here in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

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Question 485-17(5): Support For Victim Service Coordinators

Oral Questions

The Speaker

Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay . Final, short supplementary, Mr. Moses .

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Question 485-17(5): Support For Victim Service Coordinators

Oral Questions

Alfred Moses

Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will take that invitation and hopefully I can make it. It depends on our committee

schedule for next week. However, sometimes to get the best results and hear what’s really happening is to talk to people on the ground level.

Is the Minister willing to sit down with the victim service coordinators next week and just have a general talk on what their needs are to help them do their job better for residents of the Northwest Territories? Is he willing to make the time next week to sit down and listen to what they really need? They’re the ones who are dealing with the victims and seeing what’s happening on the front line. Thank you.

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Question 485-17(5): Support For Victim Service Coordinators

Oral Questions

David Ramsay

Kam Lake

Thank you. I hadn’t been requested to do that, but by all regards, I’d be happy to do that if they wanted to have a bit of a roundtable with me. What I normally do, if I speak to the group, I stay and answer questions if people have questions.

Yes, we can look at having something like that happen when they’re here in town next week, an opportunity for them to ask me questions and a bit of a dialogue with them. That sounds like a very good idea. Thank you.

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Question 485-17(5): Support For Victim Service Coordinators

Oral Questions

The Speaker

Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay . The Member for Sahtu , Mr. Yakeleya .

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Question 486-17(5): Sahtu Oil And Gas Exploration

Oral Questions

Norman Yakeleya

Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have questions for the honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment today. I’d like to put aside the trick-or-treat and get right down to the cold hard facts from our oil and gas office.

I want to ask the Minister, has he had any word from any of the oil companies about them returning to the Sahtu to continue their exploration permitting?

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Question 486-17(5): Sahtu Oil And Gas Exploration

Oral Questions

The Speaker

Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya . Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment , Mr. Ramsay .

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Question 486-17(5): Sahtu Oil And Gas Exploration

Oral Questions

David Ramsay

Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have heard that companies are coming back to the Sahtu to have meetings in the Sahtu. As to whether or not that would see a return to activity in the region next winter remains to be seen, but I think it’s a good sign that companies are coming back to have meetings in the Sahtu. I understand that there’s a number of them that have meetings lined up this coming week in the communities in the Member’s riding. So that’s, I think, an important step forward. Thank you.

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Question 486-17(5): Sahtu Oil And Gas Exploration

Oral Questions

Norman Yakeleya

Sahtu

Thank you. Certainly hearing that is a treat over here, hearing those words.

Can the Minister give us some timelines for the development of the NWT Oil and Gas Strategy? Where are we at with this issue right now?

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Question 486-17(5): Sahtu Oil And Gas Exploration

Oral Questions

David Ramsay

Kam Lake

We’re in the initial phase today. We want to ensure that we get the best strategy that we can and, much like the Mineral Development Strategy, the Economic Opportunities Strategy, an Oil and Gas Strategy has to be done in collaboration with industry, communities, Aboriginal governments, and we are going to set that up. My hope is that the Oil and Gas Strategy will be complete by the end of the life of the 17th Assembly.

Thank you.

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Question 486-17(5): Sahtu Oil And Gas Exploration

Oral Questions

Norman Yakeleya

Sahtu

Thank you. Can the Minister tell us how this strategy will incorporate findings and recommendations from the recent Sahtu oil and gas needs assessment?

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Question 486-17(5): Sahtu Oil And Gas Exploration

Oral Questions

David Ramsay

Kam Lake

The Oil and Gas Strategy would, of course, incorporate the work that has been done to date. We would be taking a look at all of that work. We don’t need to go out and reinvent the wheel if we have done work in that regard. That’s something that we will look at incorporating into an Oil and Gas Strategy. Thank you.

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Question 486-17(5): Sahtu Oil And Gas Exploration

Oral Questions

The Speaker

Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay . Final, short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya .

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Question 486-17(5): Sahtu Oil And Gas Exploration

Oral Questions

Norman Yakeleya

Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Has the Minister had any type of discussion of an impact fund similar to what was designated for the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline, what we call the Mackenzie Gas Project, for oil and gas development in the Sahtu with the federal government?

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Question 486-17(5): Sahtu Oil And Gas Exploration

Oral Questions

David Ramsay

Kam Lake

Mr. Speaker, as it relates to the activity and the Canol formation, we haven’t had a discussion with the federal government on an impact fund. The $500 million the Member speaks of is still there. Of course, the Mackenzie Gas Project is in a hiatus right now, but that’s not to say that if the area does get into commercial production of some type, if there are further pipelines discussed or constructed, the federal government might, in fact, look at an impact fund similar to the one that they had put in place for the Mackenzie Gas Project. Thank you.

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Question 486-17(5): Sahtu Oil And Gas Exploration

Oral Questions

The Speaker

Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay . Member for Weledeh , Mr. Bromley .

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Question 487-17(5): Consultation On Junior Kindergarten Implementation

Oral Questions

Bob Bromley

Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask a question following up on the Premier ’s statement on Junior Kindergarten made yesterday in the House.

Yesterday the Premier committed to “reach out to all other education authorities, Aboriginal Head Start, licenced daycare and home operators” in their consultation regarding Junior Kindergarten.

I am sure the department of ECE would say they have already done this, but what will be different this time around? Will the Aboriginal Head Start and the other leading, successful phase four program operators be taking a lead role in the communities where they are active and ensure their significant… How will we ensure their significant input in JK? Mahsi.

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Question 487-17(5): Consultation On Junior Kindergarten Implementation

Oral Questions

The Speaker

Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Bromley . Honourable Premier , Mr. McLeod.

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Question 487-17(5): Consultation On Junior Kindergarten Implementation

Oral Questions

Bob McLeod

Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe that as part of their review we will be meeting with the Aboriginal Head Start people to determine how best to move forward. At the request of the Members, we will be approaching each of the

communities. My expectation is that those 10 communities that have Aboriginal Head Start, even though they are federal programs and federal money that is slated to expire in 2016, that for those communities that have Head Start and don’t want a junior kindergarten, we will accommodate them. Thank you.

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Question 487-17(5): Consultation On Junior Kindergarten Implementation

Oral Questions

Bob Bromley

Weledeh

Thanks to the Premier . I have become aware of several complaints from teachers and parents regarding areas of concern, as have other Members: one teacher in a classroom with 23 pre-Grade 1 students, tension between existing programs, lack of appropriate supervision for four-year-olds, and some of these are actually three-year-olds until Christmas. These are happening now and these concerns have been brought to the attention of headquarters in ECE; however, the response has been to pass the issue on to the local school, yet this is a territorial program. JK is a territorial program delivered locally.

Will the Premier ensure that this situation is looked at immediately and that the process is in place to deal with these complaints effectively and report back to the House before session ends next Thursday? Mahsi.

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Question 487-17(5): Consultation On Junior Kindergarten Implementation

Oral Questions

Bob McLeod

Yellowknife South

As we committed to, this will be part of the review. I have offered each of the MLAs some of our senior management to meet individually with each of the MLAs so that we can hear more details about the concerns. We will be working with the DECs in every region and we have said that for those communities that want to opt out right away, we will accommodate them. Thank you.

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Question 487-17(5): Consultation On Junior Kindergarten Implementation

Oral Questions

Bob Bromley

Weledeh

Because this is so important, I am going to repeat. I think the Premier was busy when I made this question. What I’m saying is these are very serious complaints out there right now. Unsupervised three and four-year-olds. Very serious to communities, very serious to parents and so on.

Will the Premier ensure that there is a process in place to deal with those complaints effectively? Also, will he deal with them and get back to this House by next Thursday on what’s being done about this situation? Mahsi.

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Question 487-17(5): Consultation On Junior Kindergarten Implementation

Oral Questions

Bob McLeod

Yellowknife South

We are always watching out for the best interests of our children. We take these concerns, complaints, very seriously and we will be looking into them on an immediate basis. It would be helpful if the Member could share some of his very specific concerns with us. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Question 487-17(5): Consultation On Junior Kindergarten Implementation

Oral Questions

The Speaker

Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Minister McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bromley .

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Question 487-17(5): Consultation On Junior Kindergarten Implementation

Oral Questions

Bob Bromley

Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Premier for that. The addition of a school year to the existing staff who are not trained in the

specialty of early care and education is unfair to both teachers and young children.

Will the Premier commit to ensuring a plan and implementation to develop a team of dedicated early care and education personnel with the specialized skills required to properly deliver the early childhood programs they need? Mahsi.

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Question 487-17(5): Consultation On Junior Kindergarten Implementation

Oral Questions

Bob McLeod

Yellowknife South

Having trained educators or trained people working with these children is very important to us and we have been taking steps in that regard already. Through the review, we will further work to improve in this area. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Question 487-17(5): Consultation On Junior Kindergarten Implementation

Oral Questions

The Speaker

Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Member for Nahendeh , Mr. Menicoche .

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Question 488-17(5): On-The-Land Program For Youth

Oral Questions

Kevin A. Menicoche

Nahendeh

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Earlier I spoke about the youth addictions and on-the-land pilot program that was held just outside of Fort Simpson at Six Mile. I would like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services who actually participated in the first graduation there in Fort Simpson and a little bit more about his plans for developing the program further. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Question 488-17(5): On-The-Land Program For Youth

Oral Questions

The Speaker

Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche . Minister of Health , Mr. Abernethy .

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Question 488-17(5): On-The-Land Program For Youth

Oral Questions

Glen Abernethy

Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thanks to the Member for that question. I did have an opportunity to attend the first graduation. I spent about 10 or 15 minutes talking to each of the kids about their experience and what they got out of the experience.

The department is currently evaluating the lessons learned from that pilot program, which is actually going to help us articulate and identify how we can move forward with similar youth-based online programs in the future. So we’re in the middle of that assessment now. When that information is compiled, I’d be happy to have further discussions with committee.

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Question 488-17(5): On-The-Land Program For Youth

Oral Questions

Kevin A. Menicoche

Nahendeh

I too spoke with the provider of the course. Shakes the Dust Hope Consulting provided it, and members of the community, too, saw growth in those young students that participated.

As part of the assessment, will he be rolling this out in other regions as well? Thank you.

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Question 488-17(5): On-The-Land Program For Youth

Oral Questions

Glen Abernethy

Great Slave

It might be a little early to say for sure. That would ultimately be our goal, but until we actually do the assessment and do the analysis, I’m not sure exactly how we intend to roll that out. But it is something that we’re interested in doing. We’re doing the analysis, and when that analysis is done I’d certainly be happy to sit down

with committee and have some more discussions about how we could move forward with this in the Northwest Territories in different communities in different regions. Thank you.

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Question 488-17(5): On-The-Land Program For Youth

Oral Questions

Kevin A. Menicoche

Nahendeh

Certainly, we want to build on that experience as well.

Will part of the assessment also be using the facilities that were created at Fort Simpson and continuing the program for the Deh Cho region? Thank you.

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Question 488-17(5): On-The-Land Program For Youth

Oral Questions

Glen Abernethy

Great Slave

The department has actually donated the tents that were used for this youth on-the-land healing program to the Liidlii Kue First Nations to support the community in doing other programs that they’d like to deliver at this site. We’ve also helped them clear the site and set it up so that it could be used for future functions. Now, it is their site, it is their location, they do have the tents, so they can use that location, and I actually expect that they will use that location for many different healing opportunities.

We do have an agreement with them that if we wish to run a healing type program or partner with the healing type program in the area, that we can use those tents that we have donated to them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Question 488-17(5): On-The-Land Program For Youth

Oral Questions

The Speaker

Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy . The Member for Range Lake , Mr. Dolynny .

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Question 489-17(5): Home Buyer Protection

Oral Questions

Daryl Dolynny

Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Common law for residential real estate requires that a seller disclose latent or hidden defects that he or she is aware of and that could not be seen in an ordinary inspection. Most real estate purchase contracts obligate sellers to disclose certain information, especially with respect to compliance with municipal regulations and appliances. While generally not legally mandated in Canada, seller property disclosure statements, also called property condition statements or seller property information statements, afford some protection to both buyers and sellers.

My questions today are for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs . The Member for Yellowknife Centre also raised this concern in the recent past.

Could the Minister inform the House, what is our government doing to raise awareness of a home seller’s legal duty to disclose hidden defects and serious issues to potential buyers?

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Question 489-17(5): Home Buyer Protection

Oral Questions

The Speaker

Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny . The Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs , Mr. McLeod.

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Question 489-17(5): Home Buyer Protection

Oral Questions

Robert C. McLeod

Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’ve done some research, and our

research indicated that territories and provinces feel voluntary disclosure statements don’t provide meaningful consumer protection because they ask many types of questions to the homeowner. Here in the Northwest Territories, being a smaller jurisdiction, we rely, and people should rely, on the honesty and the integrity of the people that are selling the home. However, I mean, this is an issue that has been raised before. I can assure the Member that MACA is still doing some research into this particular subject.

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Question 489-17(5): Home Buyer Protection

Oral Questions

Daryl Dolynny

Range Lake

If the Minister can inform the House, we know very well that other provinces do have measures to protect home buyers, and the voluntary disclosure statements are just one form. As I mentioned in my Member’s statement today, we do have other techniques or tools such as the requirement for realtors to require error and omission.

Can the Minister indicate to the House where are we on maybe providing certain measures to protect the home buyer and seller?

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Question 489-17(5): Home Buyer Protection

Oral Questions

Robert C. McLeod

Inuvik Twin Lakes

The sheer volume of home sales in some of the larger jurisdictions down south required it almost be mandatory for them to have this type of protection. However, here in the Northwest Territories we deal with this on a much smaller scale. However, we hear the concerns.

One thing we are planning on doing is our whole communications strategy, our consumer affairs website. We’re trying to enhance our content on that website to provide all different types of advice on different types of consumer protection, so any input we receive on how we can enhance that even further would be much appreciated.

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Question 489-17(5): Home Buyer Protection

Oral Questions

Daryl Dolynny

Range Lake

We all know that there’s a growing trend towards private sales and not using a realtor.

Will the government, under MACA’s lead, review the consumer and protection legislation with a view to making changes to protect potential home buyers in the Northwest Territories?

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Question 489-17(5): Home Buyer Protection

Oral Questions

Robert C. McLeod

Inuvik Twin Lakes

We’d love to see the day where we have a lot of homes being bought because people are moving to the Northwest Territories, and I feel that day will come and we need to ensure that they are protected. There are some firms out there, one, possibly two, that will do home inspections on behalf of the potential buyer. I think the Member, in his statement before, talked about different training opportunities, and here again is another opportunity for us to have some people that are trained to do proper home inspections.

It is probably the largest purchase a person will ever make, so it would be to their benefit if they had a proper home inspection done and if they made sure that they were buying a piece of property that

was well looked after and had no issues. We will continue to work on that and there are opportunities.

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Question 489-17(5): Home Buyer Protection

Oral Questions

The Speaker

Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Dolynny .

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Question 489-17(5): Home Buyer Protection

Oral Questions

Daryl Dolynny

Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I said in my Member’s statement earlier today, I was hoping the government would be doing more than just taking a look at things. We need to tighten up the belt in this area and we owe it to the public to do so. So, without seeing this mysterious population growth strategy from Cabinet that is trying to encourage more permanent NWT residents, has the government, under MACA’s lead, given any consideration to lowering the risk of buying a home in support of this strategy? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Question 489-17(5): Home Buyer Protection

Oral Questions

Robert C. McLeod

Inuvik Twin Lakes

As I said before, we will enhance the information and communication that’s on our website. If you looked at stand-alone legislation for this particular issue, that’s almost a two-year process. With the priorities that this government has had in the 17th Legislative

Assembly, we have received no complaints on this particular issue. It wasn’t considered a priority at this time. However, most of the work for the 17th Assembly is coming to an end, so this is one that they could possibly look at in future. Part of doing this is doing the research and seeing if there is a need for full-blown legislation or some ways we can advise consumers on protection and the services that are offered to them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Question 489-17(5): Home Buyer Protection

Oral Questions

The Speaker

Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Frame Lake , Ms. Bisaro .

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Question 490-17(5): Junior Kindergarten Funding Model

Oral Questions

Wendy Bisaro

Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are addressed to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment . I want to follow up on my statement and some of the questions asked by Mr. Dolynny yesterday. In this fiscal year, 2014-2015, budgets to all education authorities were reduced to a certain extent in order to fund the start of Junior Kindergarten. That funding apparently was to go help the 23 schools that are offering Junior Kindergarten this year to get their program in place.

So I would like to ask the Minister first off, why, if these programs are operational and we have funding for the boards in this current budget year, why does the department need to do further budget reductions in the 2015-16 year to fund a program that is fully operational?

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Question 490-17(5): Junior Kindergarten Funding Model

Oral Questions

The Speaker

Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro . The honourable Minister of Education , Mr. Lafferty .

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Question 490-17(5): Junior Kindergarten Funding Model

Oral Questions

Jackson Lafferty

Monfwi

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. That decision was made by this

government to proceed to deliver to the 23 communities based on a two-year commitment that’s been made as part of the agreement that was agreed to by this government. So this year and next year the funding allocated will continue through those two areas. We will continue to work with the 23 communities. Based on the review, we will have to decide next year how it’s going to look and continue with the delivery to 23 communities in 2015-16 as well. Mahsi.

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Question 490-17(5): Junior Kindergarten Funding Model

Oral Questions

Wendy Bisaro

Frame Lake

I really don’t understand why we need to take more money in 2015-16 to fund a program that is apparently a program that is operational. so I may come back to that.

Small schools have a lower pupil-teacher ratio than do the larger schools. I referenced that in my statement. They need different treatment, and I accept that. Smaller schools have a smaller number of students. They, therefore, need a certain number of teachers to get their programs going. ECE has a small schools funding formula and it is specifically to assist small schools to give them money for their special needs and to account for their smallness.

Why is it that in addition to the small school funding formula, small schools with less than 120 students are exempted from any budget reductions by their education authority? Why are these guys double dipping? Thank you.

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Question 490-17(5): Junior Kindergarten Funding Model

Oral Questions

Jackson Lafferty

Monfwi

As the Member indicated, small schools are treated differently based on their special needs. The Early Development Instrument tells us that over 60 percent of those individuals, five-year-olds, are developmentally challenged when they enter the school system. Those are from mostly remote communities. Those are true facts and the numbers we are currently working with.

We are going through discussions on the formula, as well, through Education Renewal and Innovation, thinking in the long term, Mr. Speaker. There are other programs, as well, such as Inclusive Schooling and PTR. Those are areas we will continue to work with. Mahsi.

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Question 490-17(5): Junior Kindergarten Funding Model

Oral Questions

Wendy Bisaro

Frame Lake

Thanks to the Minister. The Premier yesterday stated, in answer to one of my questions, “we will be re-profiling from all authorities.” He was referencing the money that is being used for Junior Kindergarten, that it’s coming from all authorities. So, if it’s coming from all authorities, I’d like to say that 20 of our 49 schools are currently, give or take, less than 120 students. That’s almost half of our schools, Mr. Speaker.

Can the Minister explain the fairness of having small schools exempted from the budget reductions and, at the same time, receiving the small schools funding formula? Thank you.

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Question 490-17(5): Junior Kindergarten Funding Model

Oral Questions

Jackson Lafferty

Monfwi

We are currently contributing upwards of $150 million to all the

school boards so they can deliver the most cost-effective, efficient program delivery K to 12. We’re currently delivering Junior Kindergarten in 23 of our communities and it’s just a fraction of 0.01 percent of that. It is a public fund, so we need to have the best program delivery in the Northwest Territories.

This is an area that we will continue to push forward with 23 communities based on the EDI, the results that came in. What is before us is we are going to be re-evaluating our situation, our stance, and review the whole Junior Kindergarten program in 23 communities. That is where we are at in the coming months, Mr. Speaker.

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Question 490-17(5): Junior Kindergarten Funding Model

Oral Questions

The Speaker

Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty . Final, short supplementary, Ms. Bisaro .

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Question 490-17(5): Junior Kindergarten Funding Model

Oral Questions

Wendy Bisaro

Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the Minister, since I didn’t get an explanation as to whether it’s fair, I have to assume that it’s unfair and he can’t explain it.

My last question to the Minister is: We’ve heard many times that our legislated pupil-teacher ratio is 16 to 1. I have said that definitely we do not have 16 to 1 in all our schools. I would like to know from the department if we are intending to bring our funding down to 16 to 1, how does he intend to implement this 16 to 1 pupil-teacher ratio, particularly in small schools where some of them are 9 to 1 and some are 4 to 1. So, how is he going to implement 16 to 1 so that it is fair? Will there be a PTR cap, for instance, in small schools? How is it going to happen? Thank you.

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Question 490-17(5): Junior Kindergarten Funding Model

Oral Questions

Jackson Lafferty

Monfwi

Currently we are legislated at 16 to 1. We are providing over and above that, $17 million to our schools boards to deal with those matters at hand. We are currently, as I stated, and the Premier also committed to this House, that we are reviewing the 23 Junior Kindergarten communities, and based on the review, the funding has been highlighted as well.

I did speak to it this morning as well. There will be a mixture of discussions, whether it be the funding, reaching out to operators, and we need to hear their perspective and input to have the delivery of Junior Kindergarten in these communities. Those are the discussions that we are going to be having. We’ve committed to this House already. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

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Question 490-17(5): Junior Kindergarten Funding Model

Oral Questions

The Speaker

Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty . The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre , Mr. Hawkins .

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Question 491-17(5): Implementation Of Occupational Health And Safety Regulations

Oral Questions

Robert Hawkins

Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister responsible for the WSCC on his perspective of what’s delaying the implementation of the Occupational Health and

Safety Regulations. This Assembly and even the last Assembly have been waiting for some time for the implementation of them. Let’s get an update as to where they are and what’s holding them back and when we would expect them to be implemented for the safety of all. Thank you.

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Question 491-17(5): Implementation Of Occupational Health And Safety Regulations

Oral Questions

The Speaker

Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins . The honourable Minister of WSCC , Mr. Lafferty .

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Question 491-17(5): Implementation Of Occupational Health And Safety Regulations

Oral Questions

Jackson Lafferty

Monfwi

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I did answer that, I believe, last week. The recommendation from the committee has been addressed to my attention. The package is before me and there has been some correspondence that came in from various stakeholders as well. Even after the fact, the committee established some recommendations. I did commit to this House that I will sign off the final document during the life of this Assembly. Mahsi.

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Question 491-17(5): Implementation Of Occupational Health And Safety Regulations

Oral Questions

Robert Hawkins

Yellowknife Centre

I will help the Minister here. The life of this Assembly is yet another year. The WSCC has been working on these Occupational Health and Safety Regulations for several years now. I know they have been working with industry, and certainly labour on this, to find some agreement to go forward.

What are some of the issues in the delay that we may have to wait up to almost a whole year in the implementation of these regs? What’s stopping the process from actually getting done? Is it the Minister or is it some other issue that we need to be aware of?

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Question 491-17(5): Implementation Of Occupational Health And Safety Regulations

Oral Questions

Jackson Lafferty

Monfwi

Mahsi. These regs have been before us for a number of years now, upwards of 22 years. So it wouldn’t hurt to wait another year during the life of this Assembly to sign off the final document where we capture everything if we want to have regulations that capture the legality issues that have been brought to my attention. Some of areas of concern within the clause were brought to my attention as well. So we need to deal with those kinks that have been brought to my attention.

We are currently working with the Department of Justice to deal with these matters. Again, I will be signing off during the life of this Assembly. Mahsi.

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Question 491-17(5): Implementation Of Occupational Health And Safety Regulations

Oral Questions

Robert Hawkins

Yellowknife Centre

Thank you. The Minister continues to avoid the question by saying what’s the delay. He says stuff that’s been brought to his attention. Well, I can tell you stuff today, such as it hasn’t been signed off. I hope that has brought the issue to his attention.

I’m not sure what the particular delays are. I hear from industry, their perspective and their concerns; I hear from labour, their perspective and their concerns. Why don’t we actually say what the concerns are? I mean, what’s wrong with being honest about the issues and problems before us? Could the Minister enlighten this House with

something unusual? It’s referred to as the facts. Thank you.

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Question 491-17(5): Implementation Of Occupational Health And Safety Regulations

Oral Questions

Jackson Lafferty

Monfwi

I’m not sure how else I can say it, but there are documents and correspondence, e-mails that came to my attention from various stakeholders, and there’s a few of them. So we need to act on it. We can’t just ignore those concerns that are brought to our attention.

Again, it is during the life of this Assembly that it will be signed off. Mahsi.

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Question 491-17(5): Implementation Of Occupational Health And Safety Regulations

Oral Questions

The Speaker

Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty . Final, short supplementary, Mr. Hawkins .

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Question 491-17(5): Implementation Of Occupational Health And Safety Regulations

Oral Questions

Robert Hawkins

Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yet again we’re all witness to hear of these platitudes that actually provide no detail, and this is the frustration the public continues to have. If it’s a legitimate reason, I think all reasonable people would say, and fairly agree, that reviews need to be done and implementation needs to be done at the right pace, but yet all we hear is we need to act on this, we have stuff that’s been brought to his attention. My goodness, I mean, anyone can give that answer on any subject. That could mean almost anything. So, today is the day.

Why doesn’t the Minister get some of the facts on the table? It would probably feel good and the public would be informed. Let’s try something unusual, like I said earlier. Let’s actually give a real answer in this House for a change, because I’ll tell you, the public is tired of these platitude sort of perspectives. We want the facts. Give it today, please.

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Question 491-17(5): Implementation Of Occupational Health And Safety Regulations

Oral Questions

Jackson Lafferty

Monfwi

Mahsi. We’ll do everything in our power to expedite the process to sign off the document. Mahsi.

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Question 491-17(5): Implementation Of Occupational Health And Safety Regulations

Oral Questions

The Speaker

Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty . The Member for Inuvik Boot Lake , Mr. Moses .

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Question 492-17(5): Suicide Prevention Initiatives

Oral Questions

Alfred Moses

Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier in the week, on Monday, I made a statement on the NWT Coroner Service Annual Report, and in the report it talked a little bit about some of the pressing statistics that came up and, actually, the number of suicides that we had in the Northwest Territories last year. Seventy percent of them were related to alcohol and drug use. Even a bigger statistic over the last five years, 43 percent of the suicides happened in the Beaufort-Delta region, which is a very high number.

I’d like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services , what is his department doing to address these high suicide rates not only in the Beaufort-Delta region but across the Northwest Territories? What is his department doing in terms of suicide prevention? Thank you.

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Question 492-17(5): Suicide Prevention Initiatives

Oral Questions

The Speaker

Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Moses . The Minister of Health , Mr. Abernethy .

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Question 492-17(5): Suicide Prevention Initiatives

Oral Questions

Glen Abernethy

Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There was a review done that sort of provided an analysis of the last 15 years and this review actually included a number of recommendations and information provided by the NWT coroner. Some of the key findings of this report were that, overall, suicide rates are decreasing over time, but that’s not true everywhere in the Northwest Territories. We know in the Beaufort-Delta the rates continue to be incredibly high and that suicide remains a critical public health issue in that area. We do know that alcohol and drugs are a common risk factor, but there are multiple issues that lead to an individual committing suicide. Alcohol and drugs happen to be one of them.

So we do have a Mental Health and Addictions Action Plan. We have improved our ability for individuals to get into treatment, if that is their concern. We’re also doing a number of other things throughout communities in the Northwest Territories. We have the Assist Program; we have the Mental Health Helpline; we have community counselling; we have a number of programs going on.

When the report came out, recognizing the concerns in the Beaufort-Delta, I did meet with leadership in the Beaufort-Delta as soon as that report was released and we had a discussion about what was in the report, the findings, and had an opportunity to talk to community leadership and to talk to them about what can we start doing to work together. The department has been meeting with people in the Beaufort-Delta on a regular basis and has been talking about other workshops or functions that could take place up there and we’re looking for community engagement and input as we move forward.

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Question 492-17(5): Suicide Prevention Initiatives

Oral Questions

Alfred Moses

Inuvik Boot Lake

I appreciate the effort that the Minister and his department have been doing in terms of corresponding with the leadership in the Beaufort-Delta, but all he has to do is also look at some of the recommendations that were made and some of the past NWT coroner reports. Specifically, there was one I remember reading on a rehab centre for alcohol and drug abuse here in Yellowknife. Like it said, 70 percent of all suicides over the last five years were alcohol and drug related, seven out of 10.

Has the Minister looked at creating some type of rehab centre, whether it’s a day shelter or some other area for alcohol and drug abuse here in Yellowknife or even in some of the bigger regional centres? Thank you.

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Question 492-17(5): Suicide Prevention Initiatives

Oral Questions

Glen Abernethy

Great Slave

Thank you. Through our Mental Health and Addictions Action Plan we have contracts with four facilities to provide alcohol

and drug treatment services in southern Canada. We’re looking at a mobile treatment program and we’re working with communities to deliver on-the-land programming. We also have 64 counsellor positions located throughout the Northwest Territories in 19 communities. On top of that, we’re doing things like the assist training. Something that I think could add significant value to all residents is the Mental Health First Aid. So there are a number of things that are occurring and we want to work with communities so that they have the tools in the communities to help people who are suffering and may be at risk of committing suicide. Thank you.

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Question 492-17(5): Suicide Prevention Initiatives

Oral Questions

Alfred Moses

Inuvik Boot Lake

I know there is also the issue of the mental health status of individuals who end up being part of the statistics in terms of suicide and, as I said, 43 percent in the Beaufort-Delta.

I’d like to ask the Minister, what is he doing to address some of the waiting times for counselling needs as well as this assist training? How do people in the Beaufort-Delta or any of the small communities know how to get a hold of this mental health toll-free line as well as being able to access some of these counselling services at a sooner time rather than having to wait? I think it’s a two-month waiting list right now. Thank you.

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Question 492-17(5): Suicide Prevention Initiatives

Oral Questions

Glen Abernethy

Great Slave

Thank you. The department and the Beaufort-Delta Health and Social Services are aware of the high rates of suicide in the Beaufort-Delta. The authority in that area has been working really closely with Aboriginal governments and communities and individuals to try and find meaningful ways to assist and help, which includes getting the information and increasing access to counsellors. There are counsellors that are non-government counsellors or non-government support and we’re trying to make sure that people are aware of them.

One thing I would like to ask the Member and all Members is to continue to push and highlight and promote Mental Health First Aid so that we, as individuals, all people, can have some skills to recognize. But the great thing about Mental Health First Aid is it will help you identify in your communities and your regions where active programs and services exist.

So if you are aware of somebody who is at risk or in danger or may be contemplating suicide, you can direct them to where they can get help in your region, because many of the communities and many of the regions already have great people in place and great services in place whether it’s government’s or private. It’s a matter of being able to direct the people to the right places at the right time when they need supports.

So I would encourage the Member and all Members to contact us and work with us to get Mental Health First Aid to as many residents of your regions as possible.

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Question 492-17(5): Suicide Prevention Initiatives

Oral Questions

The Speaker

Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy . Final, short supplementary, Mr. Moses .

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Question 492-17(5): Suicide Prevention Initiatives

Oral Questions

Alfred Moses

Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know that the Mental Health First Aid is a great training tool, a great counselling service tool. I know that we’re doing a revamp of the Mental Health Act.

In the case of the revamping of this new Mental Health Act, is the government, physicians, RCMP, counsellors still following the old Mental Health Act and all the provisions that are included in that Mental Health Act to give the people that need assistance when they need it, or are we will using the old Mental Health Act while we are revamping a new one? Thank you.

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Question 492-17(5): Suicide Prevention Initiatives

Oral Questions

Glen Abernethy

Great Slave

Yes. The answer is yes. That is the act that is current; that is the act that is in place. In my opinion, it is old, outdated and badly needs to be revised. I have listened to Members, and many of them have said exactly the same thing. I’ve had opportunities to talk to professionals who are involved in providing services. Almost all of them say exactly the same thing. We recently got the LP back from committee and we are now moving forward with drafting. It is a big bill, basically a full rewrite. But until that bill passes in this Assembly, we have to use the old bill. Thank you.

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Question 492-17(5): Suicide Prevention Initiatives

Oral Questions

The Speaker

Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy . Member for Frame Lake , Ms. Bisaro .

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Question 493-17(5): Pupil-Teacher Ratio Funding Model

Oral Questions

Wendy Bisaro

Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to follow up with some further questions to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment .

I’m struggling with the answer that the Minister gave me with regards to the implementation of a 16 to 1 funding at 16 to 1 pupil-teacher ratio. It has been stated many times that education authorities are over-funded and that we need to fund our legislated PTR of 16 to 1.

Looking at the department’s numbers, using the department’s own numbers, and albeit they are from 2013, but it is entirely possible that if we have a 16 to 1 pupil-teacher ratio across the board, we will end up with five schools that will have one staff, or maybe even half a staff.

So, I would like to again ask the Minister, how is the department or this government going to implement a 16 to 1 pupil-teacher ratio in all of our schools across the board? Thank you.

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Question 493-17(5): Pupil-Teacher Ratio Funding Model

Oral Questions

The Speaker

Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro . Minister of Education , Minister Lafferty .

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Question 493-17(5): Pupil-Teacher Ratio Funding Model

Oral Questions

Jackson Lafferty

Monfwi

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. When I met with all of the school boards on May 23rd , I did commit to making some changes.

Part of the changes, of course, is providing

flexibility. Providing anything beyond 16 to 1 teacher ratio in their school system, the education authority will be provided a subsidy from my department. That is a commitment I have made. It is based on an average throughout the Northwest Territories.

There will be some impact, in some cases, where there is a high enrollment of students entering our school system. Those are some of the areas that we will continue to monitor, but at this point I did make a commitment that anything above 16 to 1 we will provide that subsidy to that organization. Mahsi.

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Question 493-17(5): Pupil-Teacher Ratio Funding Model

Oral Questions

Wendy Bisaro

Frame Lake

Thanks to the Minister. So, I guess, it is an average across the territory. We’re going to make sure that no school or no education authority is beyond 16 to 1, which is appreciated for sure. But if that’s the case, then the Minister is going to subsidize from within the department. So we are going to end up reducing education authority funding and then he’s going to add money back in. Is that correct? Thank you.

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Question 493-17(5): Pupil-Teacher Ratio Funding Model

Oral Questions

Jackson Lafferty

Monfwi

Mr. Speaker, as I stated, I have committed to providing district education councils anything above 16 to 1, we will provide a subsidy. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

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Question 493-17(5): Pupil-Teacher Ratio Funding Model

Oral Questions

Wendy Bisaro

Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have to take that as a yes.

Junior Kindergarten now has 23 schools; sorry, Junior Kindergarten is being offered in 23 schools and I have to assume that that JK program in those 23 schools is fully funded.

So I would like to ask the Minister, how are those schools being funded if next year there needs to be more money taken from education authorities’ budgets? Is it being fully funded this year? If it is not being fully funded by the budget reductions, is there an internal reallocation that is funding part of the JK program? Thank you.

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Question 493-17(5): Pupil-Teacher Ratio Funding Model

Oral Questions

Jackson Lafferty

Monfwi

Clearly, the statement was made in this House that the Junior Kindergarten will be continuing this year and next year. Based on the funding that has been allocated to date, it will continue for this year and next year. That was in the statement yesterday. Mahsi.

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Question 493-17(5): Pupil-Teacher Ratio Funding Model

Oral Questions

The Speaker

Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty . Final, short supplementary, Ms. Bisaro .

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Question 493-17(5): Pupil-Teacher Ratio Funding Model

Oral Questions

Wendy Bisaro

Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am still trying to find out how JK is being funded, if it’s the budget reductions that are funding it.

I would like to ask the Minister, if we are going to have reductions to education authority budgets in ‘15-16, what will that money be used for? Thank you.

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Question 493-17(5): Pupil-Teacher Ratio Funding Model

Oral Questions

Jackson Lafferty

Monfwi

For the 23 communities, JK has been funded out of the $150 million budget. Those are the areas that we have discussed with the school board chairs back in May

and even before that. We will continue to address that, even part of the review process that we have committed in this House in the 23 communities. This year JK is being delivered into our communities on an optional basis, this year and next year as well. We will continue to monitor those areas. Mahsi.

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Question 493-17(5): Pupil-Teacher Ratio Funding Model

Oral Questions

The Speaker

Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty . Member for Yellowknife Centre , Mr. Hawkins .

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Question 494-17(5): Construction Of New Housing Units

Oral Questions

Robert Hawkins

Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The other day I asked the Minister of Housing how many houses we built in the last fiscal cycle. He said it was 38, so if you average that across the 33 communities, that’s 1.15 house per community. Of course, we all know that we don’t build 0.15 of a house, that’s just the way it averages.

Maybe for the public’s health and, certainly, clarification, how many new housing starts, as in new houses, not replacements, new houses will be available and provided by the Housing Corporation going into this next cycle? Thank you.

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Question 494-17(5): Construction Of New Housing Units

Oral Questions

The Speaker

Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins . Minister of Housing , Mr. McLeod.

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Question 494-17(5): Construction Of New Housing Units

Oral Questions

Robert C. McLeod

Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is correct; most of the units we do put up are replacement units. We do have I believe it’s 30 market housing units that are going up this year. But as far as the stock goes, the Member is correct; the units we do put in are replacement units for old public housing units. Thank you.

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Question 494-17(5): Construction Of New Housing Units

Oral Questions

Robert Hawkins

Yellowknife Centre

I want to thank the Minister for that direct and clear answer. My math now tells me we’re doing, or sorry, the government is proposing into the next fiscal cycle to build 0.91 houses on average across the 33 communities. If you are one of those communities who is lucky to get one of those houses, or if it’s two or three of them, you are very fortunate.

I want to ask the Minister, as the Minister of Housing , what is he doing to increase the new housing portfolio, increase our stock of public housing, increase our ability to provide the affordability housing measure? At this rate, we are not meeting the demand. If we are not meeting the demand, we continue to put good families at serious risk. I want to hear how the Minister is fighting to increase the new start of new assets in the portfolio, because I have yet to see it and we are not keeping up with existing demand. Thank you.

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Question 494-17(5): Construction Of New Housing Units

Oral Questions

Robert C. McLeod

Inuvik Twin Lakes

What this Minister is doing is working with Social Programs committee and getting some feedback from them. This Minister is providing direction and leadership to the

NWT Housing Corporation as to how we can distribute our resources equally across the Northwest Territories, and also trying to work with the federal government to ask them about our CMHC declining funding because that’s affecting our ability to put new houses on the ground. We are fortunate that this Assembly stepped up to the plate during the last O and M budget and gave Housing an additional $1.2 million to replace some of the money that we are losing from CMHC.

We continue to try to be innovative, try to get as many units on the ground as possible