Item 6, oral questions. Mr. Patterson.

Minister of Education, Mr. Nerysoo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am leaving it to the recommendation of the report and discussions with the board to address that particular matter.

Thank you. Mr. Patterson.

So, is the Minister saying now that it will be decided by a consultant's report and backing down on his commitment yesterday which was, "While I wish to move the students back to their home communities, I will not do it at the risk of programs." I thought that was a commitment from the Minister, Mr. Speaker. Does that commitment still hold today?

Mr. Nerysoo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I was under the impression that Members of this Assembly supported the expansion of high school programs in the communities, which included the whole issue of advanced education. That was the impression I was receiving. Now, if the honourable Member is saying we should not develop those programs in the communities as per the discussions my staff held with the board and the advice given by the board then, obviously, community high school programming would be in jeopardy.

I made this point yesterday. The honourable Member points out only that the report will affect the decision and, in fact ,I said clearly that if the honourable Member was consulted, as other Members were, to give advice, then part of the recommendations coming from the report would be based on the advice given by the honourable Member. In the end, the fact is that programs in communities for students are of importance and will be given high consideration and priority. As Minister, I'm not prepared to sacrifice the quality of education for our students. If the case is that some of the residences have to remain open, then that will be part of the recommendations. But, I think time will tell that and we have until March 31st for the report to be returned, with its recommendations, at which time I will review all of the issues. And, Mr. Speaker, we are requesting meetings with the divisional boards to discuss this particular issue and the draft formula.

Supplementary, Mr. Patterson.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to make it clear that I'm all for community high school programs, but I think a high school program in a community is not a high school program if it doesn't include the matriculation or advanced diploma option. Mr. Speaker, I know that the Minister has assured us repeatedly that all options are open and no decisions have been made to close regional residences, although I think we've been given some indications to the contrary: like the 2010 strategy; like the terms of reference of the consultant's report; and, like the proposed new draft funding formula. But, I would like to ask the Minister, if he ends up making a decision to close the regional residences down, what would happen to students who are now in those residences who are, say, in grade 10 and who are doing well? Would those students be grandfathered and allowed to complete the course of their high school education? Thank you.

Mr. Nerysoo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm not at the point yet where I can make that definitive decision here in this Assembly and I'm not prepared to do it until the report is returned to this Assembly. I think it would be premature of me to make any decisions until the report and advice from the regions have been received. I'm not prepared to say yes or no to grandfathering any program until I know what the recommendations are from the regions.

Thank you. Final supplementary, Mr. Patterson.

So, Mr. Speaker, given that the Minister is not prepared to make any decision now, is it correct then that the proposed draft funding formula, which caused great alarm when it was circulated to the divisional boards in December because it appeared to drastically reduce the funding for residences, is merely a draft and has not been finalized and may be substantially changed as a result of the recommendations of the report, debate in this Assembly and discussions with the Minister? Is that the status of the formula today? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Nerysoo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, for the last two or three days, I've been trying to advise the honourable Member that is in fact the case. The honourable Member raised the concern yesterday about the certainty of funding, and the problem with uncertainty of funding is it causes the kinds of discussions that are going on in this House. Part of the formula discussions is that we wanted to create some discussion issue about certainty of funding. What requires further discussion is what happens in future to the residences, what happens to the residential program? I have not made any final determination as to whether or not those programs will, in fact, be disbanded.

The comments the honourable Member has made to me for the last couple of days are integral in concluding any final decisions. They're very important. We can't make a decision on closing matriculation programs if they're not being offered in the community high schools. As such, those have to be considered, and they're an invaluable part of the decision. I'm not going to make a decision in the absence of knowing that I'm not going to offer programs and services to the community.

Secondly, the boards are the responsible agent for deciding the programs that are to be offered to the high school students in the communities. They have to be involved.

Thank you. Item 6, oral questions. Ms. Mike.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, regarding the residential schools. Yesterday, during question period, Mr. Nerysoo pointed out that the Ukiivik Hall which is located in Iqaluit in Baffin is costing this government $1.644 million. My question to the Minister is this: since the funding formula has been cut to divisional boards already, are there any plans or intentions of this government to reallocate these dollars to the communities to implement high school diploma certification -- most of the communities right now have only certification, not diploma -- to upgrade the programming in high schools in communities should the Ukiivik close down? Thank you.

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Nerysoo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just to indicate to the honourable Member, part of the discussions that we're holding on this whole issue of reducing residential services does include the question or the matter of redistributing the dollars into programs and services for students. That is part of the discussion that we want to consider.

We are not at a point yet where I can say one way or the other which programs would be considered for additional resources, because I need the report that is now being conducted, I need discussions with the board to take place, I need the advice, the constructive suggestions and the comments that have been made. I may disagree with some of the way in which it's being presented, but I think the issues that are being raised are important ones and, as such, need...(inaudible)...of the reinvestment of these dollars in education.

Thank you. Item 6, oral questions.

Supplementary, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. He also indicated the differences between Kivalliq and also Grollier Hall with 53 students. I don't think this is fair because in the Inuvik region you have road systems, whereas we have 13 communities in Baffin and the Baffin region is a very large region. For the information of this House, Baffin is the fifth largest island in the world which could be the reason why the cost in operating this high school residence is high. Mr. Speaker, I am concerned if this does in fact close down, a lot of the communities in Baffin will not have a high school program that will give the students a diploma because most of the communities are not diploma programs, they are high school certificate programs. I just want some assurance from the Minister, will he make sure he considers all aspects of other alternatives, including reallocating the dollars should Ukiivik residence close down? Thank you.

Mr. Nerysoo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes.