Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, schedule A of the Public Service Act sets out who is included in the public service. We are proposing an amendment to update schedule A of the Public Service Act to reflect changes in other legislation and regulations.
Prior to the fall of 2000, Ecole Alain St. Cyr fell under the Yellowknife Education District No. 1 Board, which is not part of the public service. Regulations pursuant to the Education Act created the Commission Scolaire Francophone de Division as a separate education body. Under these regulations the commission is part of the public service. This change would affect the French teachers.
The commission was created in this manner for three reasons. First, this enables the commission to have programs in different communities in the same fashion as divisional education councils. Second, the commission more closely resembles the divisional education councils as opposed to the two Yellowknife boards, which both receive funding from local taxes. Third, the commission does not have the capacity to be a separate employer, which would include costly administration, payroll and financial functions.
At the time the commission was established, a consequential amendment to the Public Service Act was overlooked. The proposed update to schedule A of the PSA will merely rectify this. The proposed changes confirm that the employees of the Commission Scolaire Francophone de Division and the president of the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation are included in the public service of the Northwest Territories. The president of the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation is currently treated as a public service employee. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.