Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I think the next question for the Minister from me would be that I'm just trying to determine whether the priority is identified in this special report. I was wondering if there was a move or trend towards having more aboriginal language and culture used in the school. Some of my constituents were talking to me. They're saying, Kevin, the way it looks to me is that the government has a priority in languages and culture, yet we're actually only spending five to 10 percent of our time in these endeavours. So what's the real priority? I'd just like to ask the Minister if, in fact, there is a move to utilize aboriginal languages and cultures more in the school.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, in terms of total funding in 2002-2003, we provided school boards with almost $6.5 million in total towards aboriginal language and culture programs. As I said, there hasn't been a lot of consistency in how that has been spent, and there has been some concern about whether or not we can demonstrate to this Assembly that it has been spent in ways that Members would consider appropriate. Knowing that, I've talked to the chairs of the boards and advised them that we need to work on a directive to make sure that the spending is able to be demonstrated to the Members of this Assembly as being spent appropriately. That's what we will be ensuring is happening starting this fall.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much. I can appreciate also some of the local resource problems with regard to aboriginal languages and culture. Some of the things that lead me to think that it can be improved more efficiently is if we use the languages and culture more and it's more supported by our government and as a result by our education department. For instance, it was brought to my attention the Jewish people in Ontario are all really strongly knowledgeable in their languages and in their culture. I was wondering how an almost dead culture continues to be fluent in their language and their culture. It was pointed out to me that what happens is that they got buy-in from the school boards in Ontario to spend a huge amount of time utilizing their language and culture to be taught in the schools. For example, it would be taught all day on a Friday.

It kind of made sense to me that that's something I'd like to pursue as an elected Member to this government, that we should be using our aboriginal languages all day. The way it's situated right now, it's just not working to be speaking English all evening, come to school in the morning, speak Slavey for an hour and then finish off the rest of your school in English. I'm gravitating towards increasing this component. Yes, it's every day, but perhaps let's set it aside for a Friday and spend most of our time in the aboriginal language.

It might take a huge shift in our thinking because now we're not just going to be teaching languages all day, we're going to have to start concentrating on the fundamentals of math and sciences. That's a huge undertaking itself, but I'd like to steer the government in that direction, saying it's valuable enough and this is the direction we should go to maintain our language and culture, and to reaffirm them for our youth and for our future. I'd just like the Minister's comments on those thoughts of guiding our aboriginal languages and culture and firmly entrenching them in our education system.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Right now DECs and DEAs can do that sort of thing. That's permitted. We would welcome seeing it happen. The problem is often, as the Member has already noted, the resources and finding teachers who are fluent in the local languages is sometimes a problem. There's no question that it can be done. There can be more done in aboriginal languages in the school and we encourage more and more of it to take place. I think it's important to remember that the schools can't save the language. Again it comes back to family and community buy-in. There has to be more than just an hour a day or all day Friday at school in order to make the language stay alive and thrive. It has to be something that people in the community are supporting and happy to use at home.

One of the areas where we have tremendous success in the school systems is in the Tlicho region. You visit Chief Jimmy Bruneau School and when you walk through the halls there you don't hear teenagers speaking English. You tend to hear the teenagers speaking in their own

language. When you know that the kids are comfortable in their own language, they're speaking it without being in a classroom, without being forced to speak it, that's when you know that the language is going to stay alive and thrive. That's what you need to see. That's not happening because it's being taught at the school, it's happening because there's community leaders' support for the language, and the leaders and the community use their language all the time. The schools are part of it, but there has to be a real broad support for language use in the communities around the North in order to make sure that the languages stay alive and thrive.

We can do our part, and DEAs and DECs should be doing as much as they can to use the language of the communities, but we need families and leaders to buy in as well.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. What I heard from the Minister was that the authority is there with the divisional boards to allow that kind of structure to exist, which is to have a day set aside to concentrate on education of aboriginal languages. Maybe if the Minister could confirm that for me.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, that's something that is completely open to DEAs. For instance, in K to 3 the DEA could decide to do the entire program in an aboriginal language. It could be five days a week. The flexibility is there within our system to allow a significant amount of aboriginal language programming. It's a challenge for a lot of districts though to find adequate resources, to find people who can teach and speak the language as well. That does become a big problem. Then we need to make sure that our communities are being supported.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Now we'll go on to Mr. Villeneuve.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just have one more issue with the education and culture. I just wanted to touch on a subject that I'm sure we've all had questions about and we're all familiar with. That has to do with sex education in our school systems. Just noting that, I know that people and students that are well educated in sex, and the outcome of irresponsible sexual behaviour would make more informed decisions with respect to the actions they take and some informed decisions in modifying their sexual practices. It would help alleviate a lot of problems we have with combating STDs and other diseases such as HIV and AIDS, and just basically improve the overall eternal health of students. I know it's something that has always been an issue with a lot of families and high school students and a lot of DEAs.

I'm just wondering if the government has a policy with respect to how sex education is conducted, or if it is in any of our school systems and how they could develop a system where students wouldn't be so compelled to take it lightly and be more diligent when considering courses of this nature. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Courses that teach the sorts of things the Member was talking about -- I believe it's called Healthy Relationships -- is part of the health curriculum and is required to be taken. I think it starts in Grade 8 or so. There is a requirement that it be taught. I can tell the Member that when I was Minister five years ago, I would often take the opportunity when I was visiting schools to ask high school students their thoughts about AIDS and so on. I found that the students were actually very well informed about sexually-transmitted diseases and the implications, yet, after I asked the question, they would often indicate to me that it didn't seem to matter in terms of altering their behaviour. There seems to be a bit of a problem in altering the behaviour, not teaching it. They were very well informed and able to prove that they had taken the course, but they didn't seem to think it was all that important to them. So we have some work to do there.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Mr. Villeneuve.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just to top up on that question. I know in a lot of communities there are high incident rates of teen pregnancies and what not. I know that it has always been a conundrum for district education authorities to try and tackle and find ways to resolve and educate youth in that area. I was just wondering if it is a DEA role whether a school incorporates a program like that, Healthy Relationships and such.

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. No, that's not an optional program. It's a required part of the curriculum, it must be taught.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Mr. Villeneuve.

If there are no further general comments, we'd like to proceed with detail. One moment. Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have one small question under this area, and then two motions that I'd like to move. My question, Mr. Chairman, has to do with the waiving of...We're still on page 9-17, right?

Yes, we are.