I have seen nothing, nor am I aware currently of any plan to do any of this work, consult to modify or any other work required in secret. We know that we have to be accountable and we will definitely be keeping the issue of making sure the public are fully informed in mind as we go forward. Thank you.

The Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

The Minister of Education, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to thank the Member for asking that question. I think it’s important to highlight that initiative that we’ve undertaken, the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative. We were given

indication last year sometime that enrolment was down and there were challenges with identifying students, where they’re at with their grades and so forth. So, Mr. Speaker, that area has been identified and we have a committee that’s in place that had several meetings already and they’ve made recommendations to our department.

On providing additional funding to the school boards themselves to deal with the enrolment issues, we’ve conducted that; a laptop for the grade 12 students. So those are the areas that we’ve improved so far. These are just bits of it and there will be more packages that will be coming out this year and I’m looking forward to it and providing recommendations on what we can move forward on. We will certainly be dealing with the student enrolment and attendance and also their grade levels as well. Mahsi.

Some of the reporting from this morning spoke about low attendance in smaller communities. I have a riding with many small communities, six in fact, and it didn’t say in the report, but I’ve got some factual information that aboriginal students are missing up to 41 days per year. I’m glad that the Minister has the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative.

What processes are currently in place to address this and what are some of the initiatives the department will be undertaking? Thank you.

Mahsi. The process itself is working closely with the school boards, the school board council and the district level as well, because we provide funding to the organization to provide the operation and maintenance of the school and to deal with the students. Enrolment issues are becoming an issue, but at the same time we have provided funding just in the last several months, now we’re seeing some results, but it’s going to take some time, but we are progressing on the enrolment issue.

So, Mr. Speaker, that’s great news. Even though it’s just a short period since September, we are seeing positive results and with that there are other initiatives that will be underway. There is a lot of discussion happening at that table, at that level, and there are representatives in all jurisdictions. The five regions are involved and we have representatives from the Member’s riding as well and it’s valuable to have their input into making a difference for the schools, making a difference in the students’ lives, because every one of us would like to have our students succeed in school and in life. Mahsi.

As I indicated, the aboriginal students in our smaller communities are missing 41 days of school per year with the equivalence up to about two years of schooling by the time they reach grade 9. I know that the Education department and our school boards consider this very seriously and I

think they coupled some of the monitoring stats, like the Alberta Achievement Test, which shows that our use of English is being impacted because they’re missing a lot of that. So what kind of projects are being undertaken this fiscal year and planned for the next year, in terms of addressing this concern?

The overall plan will be in these coming months. What I’ve highlighted is we’re currently working closely with the school boards themselves, the literacy councils in the communities. Also just dealing with the enrolment issue. The Member is right; that is one of the top priorities within our Education department. If a student misses one day a week, it adds up to almost a year by the time they reach grade 10. A year of schooling is a lot. So those are the topics of discussion that we’re having with the experts around the table, the committee members. They’re the ones that are the experts at the community level and we’d like to get their advice and recommendations on a going forward basis. So when the package is available I will be sitting down with the standing committee to provide or highlight the key findings. We will certainly move forward from there.

Final supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.

As a Regular Member, I certainly would like to see some of the measurable results. I know there’s only been one semester this year, but certainly if the Minister can commit to continuing to keep us informed of the progress. If the Minister has any information with regard to my particular riding and with the Dehcho Divisional Board and some of the progress or initiatives they have planned, if he could share that with me.

Yes, I definitely will commit to the Member to provide the information. As we move forward, we’re seeing some progress already that I will certainly share with the Members and we’re starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel. We’ve dealt with the enrolment issue and now we’re seeing progress. So we’ll certainly share more as they become available.

The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have some more questions today for the Minister of Transportation. It gets back to the subject of the Deh Cho Bridge Project. Yesterday I had mentioned the fact that the project was sold to Members of the last government on the basis of a fixed-price contract. It was also sold to Members of the last government on the basis that benefits on

the return on investment to the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation would accrue to the community of Fort Providence. At the 11th hour the Deh Cho Bridge

Corporation didn’t have the $5 million in equity when the concession agreement was signed and in fact had to go to the contractor and another company the contractor owned, Atcon Holdings, to supplement that $5 million in equity. Now that Atcon is out of the equation, I’m just wondering what the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation is going to do to ensure that they have the $5 million in equity so that the benefits do accrue to the community of Fort Providence in the future.

The honourable Minister responsible for Transportation, Mr. Michael McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, the Member is asking a question that should be directed to the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation. Our involvement and our agreement with that company requires an equity portion be invested in this project. They have so far been able to commit to a portion of it; roughly half of what the agreement was involving. They have now, as the Member has stated, no longer a partner that was covering the rest. I believe, and I would have to check with them, that they are now seeking a new partner and looking at options of how they can come up with the rest of the money, including talking to the federal government about some of the agreements they thought they had with them.

I’d like to ask the Minister who exactly the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation is responsible to and what the working relationship is between the Department of Transportation and the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation. How are they held accountable in their role in getting this project completed?

I’m not sure which one of the three questions he wanted me to answer in that barrage of questions he just tossed out there. The Deh Cho Corporation, of course it’s accountable first and foremost, I guess, to the owners of the company, which are the Dene and Métis in the community of Fort Providence. They have an obligation to us as a government through our agreement to build and construct and design this facility that we’re working on, which is the Deh Cho Bridge.

I’m just wondering if the Government of the Northwest Territories, given what’s happened -- the project’s been delayed for a year, the inability to raise the required equity, the troubles with the designs -- are there any plans by the Government of the Northwest Territories to re-evaluate that relationship with the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation?

This project, without a doubt, has had its share of challenges. We have

continually worked with all the players, all the people involved in this project, and we have reviewed the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation and their responsibilities. We’ve also reviewed and looked at the contractors and sub-contractors. We’ve also at the end of last season, and we’d like to do this again, sat down and brought all the people involved with a facilitator to look at what we possibly could have done better. We’ve had some good discussions on how we can change our relationships. The short answer to the Member’s question is yes, we do it on an ongoing basis and will continue to do so.

Final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

My fear is that this relationship and partnership that we’re involved with, with the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation, is causing the Government of the Northwest Territories to expend funds that it normally wouldn’t; i.e., our involvement in the project management now with the project. I’d like to ask the Minister what would trigger our severing of ties with the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation. Is it not getting a contractor in place by March 1st ? What

would that trigger be?

The Member’s assigning a lot of blame to the Bridge Corporation. I’m not quite as ready to do so. He’s mentioned a lot of extra costs that are being borne by the government so far. I guess there’s been a position and a portion of another position that’s dedicated to the project and maybe some of the travel. The rest of the costs that are being incurred are being absorbed by the project and the project budget. We have and will continue to see how our partner in this P3 program is working. We have to remember it’s probably the largest project we’ve had for this government and it’s one of the first in this whole country that has been involved with a P3 type of layout, and of course we’re going to encounter challenges. There is no template for us to follow. However, we still feel we’re on track and we still have the target date of November 2011 to have this project done.

The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.