This is page numbers 4463 - 4502 of the Hansard for the 16th Assembly, 4th 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 health.

Topics

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

Then to the Minister: if these are observations, then I am a little bit concerned. These three things are prefaced by a statement which

says there are a number of things we need to change about uninsured health benefits. That doesn’t sound much like an observation to me. If the Minister feels that these are observations and if these are, indeed, observations, I’d like to ask the Minister, is there an opportunity during the consultation process, which is going to go on or is going on and has just started, is there an opportunity to amend these observations, as she calls them, modify them, add to them, delete them? Thank you.

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Range Lake

Yes, the public has the opportunity in their town hall meetings to challenge the observations, facts, data, and they could suggest their own solutions about what we should do with the information we have. I think it’s really important for people to have a productive, and to be engaged in, conversation. They need to have lots of information. So we are looking forward to getting the feedback from the people about the information that we have there, what suggestions they may have and what additions they could add. That’s exactly what the public working group has done so far, and we look forward to hearing from the committee also. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Your final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

I can assure the Minister that she will hear from the committee, I am positive of that.

To the questions that are a part of the document, I’m very glad to see that the questions are there. We could argue about the content of the questions for quite some time so I’m going to leave that, but I am a little concerned that the questions don’t leave it open for changes to the observations. So I would hope that anybody listening to the Minister takes her point that all of this is possible and any comments will be accepted.

I’d like to ask the Minister, the questions and this document that’s out there for discussion, I’d like to know from the Minister how it will be distributed to generate the largest number of respondents and to get the greatest feedback. Thank you.

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Range Lake

Mr. Speaker, I just want to make it clear, because I think that going back and forth questions may sound like, you know, we are in any way not open to receiving anything. We are open to hearing from the committee members, public, any interested organization, feedback to that discussion paper and the questions we have and in whatever format they want to do.

Secondly, we are going to -- now that the final document is on and because it went through some changes -- be distributing them as widely as possible. We’re going to put them on the website; we are communicating with the regional health authorities so that they can give it out to regions and communities; we are distributing to NGOs; we

will have them in government offices; we will have them on cable TV, radio, everywhere, because we do want to have a dialogue with our residents about this program. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, Mr. Speaker, my Member’s statement was the education in today’s world and the education in Nunakput. The education in the world requires many resources, even through the buildings that house our students, the books, our basic supplies, all the school needs in today’s world. Much more is needed, Mr. Speaker. Our kids are increasingly left behind.

Mr. Speaker, this is Education Week across the Territories and across Canada. Considering all the unique educational challenges for our youth in Nunakput communities and considering that compared to the national standards of our students and the students are far below average in everything from the textbooks and per square footage for students and staff, Mr. Speaker, is the Minister looking into getting a report done with the Beaufort-Delta Education Council to see what’s needed in the communities of Nunakput? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if there is a report, it will be up to the Beaufort-Delta to produce one. And if they are, then we are looking forward to a report. At the same time, there is an Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative that’s underway. There are several meetings undertaken about the success of students and the programming, the schools and the enrolment issues. So those are the areas, the key target discussions that they are having. So if the Member can elaborate on the actual report that’s been worked on. I’m not sure what specific documents he’s referring to, if there is one. Mahsi.

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Mr. Speaker, I’m asking for a report to get done in regards to the schools in my communities. The student-ratio is too big for the schools they are providing in the communities of Tuktoyaktuk and Sachs. I mean, I’m looking for a high school in Sachs Harbour that needs another whole classroom and little bit bigger facilities.

Mr. Speaker, I have eight kids in the community of Sachs Harbour that we’re failing them in the community of Sachs because we have nowhere to house them and no teachers to provide. Here this week, Education Week, we’re sending teachers

down to Edmonton for basically a nice trip. Good job. Thank you. I’m really happy with all the teachers but, Mr. Speaker, for $50,000 we could salvage the students’ last two months of school. What is this Minister going to do, other than hiding behind the Beaufort-Delta education board? What is he going to do to fix the problem? Thank you.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

We’re not hiding behind the Beaufort-Delta Education Council. We gave them the empowerment; we gave them the funding, because they’re the experts at the regional level. They provide us advice, recommendations, and also going forward on decision-making. So, Mr. Speaker, we’ve heard over and over from this Assembly and the First Nations assembly, First Nations community, the communities, that they want to have the power to make decisions. We gave them that authority and we have to respect that.

In my role as Education Minister, we do have the Education Act that we follow. All across the board, schools follow that. Mr. Speaker, with respect to the review that the Member is asking for, I need to work with the Beaufort-Delta Education Council and the superintendent. If they feel that there’s a need for that to happen, then, by all means, we’ll be more than happy and willing to assist in that area. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

You know, Mr. Speaker, they may be the experts in regards to what’s needed in the communities of Nunakput in the Beaufort-Delta, but, Mr. Speaker, sometimes we have to give direction. He’s the Education Minister. I have eight students in the community of Sachs Harbour not being educated right now that I want something done. They have two months left in the curriculum. They’re done school in May. What’s he going to do? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mr. Speaker, I have to correct the Member: we do not have eight students out of school. As of today we have one student that went back to Sachs Harbour, one student from Sachs Harbour that’s enrolled in school and supported the independent study, the other seven students are in school. A total of 10 students; sorry, a total of seven students. So, Mr. Speaker, these students are in school, second semester, and there’s only one that went back to Sachs Harbour for personal reasons. This is accurate information from the superintendent of the board of education council of the Beaufort-Delta. Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final supplementary, Mr. Jacobson.

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That’s good that they’re getting the job done, getting those students back into school. But, Mr. Speaker, the bottom line is we have to start providing services to the communities of Nunakput instead of looking for

handouts and table scraps in regards to this government’s allocation of funds for the education system. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister come up to the communities with me and see firsthand what’s going on? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I would be more than willing to visit the communities of Nunakput and other communities as well, just to visit the schools, the board chairs, the board councils. Those are ongoing initiatives that we are currently undertaking and we are making commitments to visit all schools. Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

(Inaudible)…Culture and Employment, Mr. Speaker. In the goals of the department here, on goal five it says “Northerners will actively participate in communities and societies to their fullest.” Then later on in the binder it talks about the different opportunities that the department is going to initiate throughout 2010-11. Mr. Speaker, I wanted to ask the Minister in terms of the programs and training, as I spoke in my Member’s statement, in terms of training of young people. Can the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment tell me what’s been done to prepare and implement training programs related to the Mackenzie Gas Project, Mackenzie Valley Highway or even the projects, and when will these programs become available to the young people in the Sahtu?

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, through our Department of Education, Culture and Employment we do provide various subsidies and also training programs to the communities, whether it be apprenticeship, occupational certification that falls within the Apprenticeship Program, Occupational Program, Training on the Job. Mr. Speaker, we also provide Labour Market Development programs to the communities. That essentially involves building essential skills, self-employment, training on the job, apprenticeship, and youth employment and so forth, Mr. Speaker. Just recently we signed off with the federal government the Labour Market Agreement for those individuals that are youth and also that don’t qualify for EI, and work experience, skill development, community initiatives and building capacity. Mr. Speaker, these are just some of the training programs that we offer to the

communities and there will be more in the other departments as well. Mahsi.

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Mr. Speaker, the Minister did talk about the Labour Market Agreement. Also in the binder that I’ve been reading, the department is going to be developing a new framework, multi-year annual plans and program guidelines. I want to ask the Minister in terms of this initiative going forward in terms of involving the people in the Sahtu. Would he involve the people in the Sahtu in terms of going forward to have training programs in place, implemented and ready to go within the life of this government for the young people in the Sahtu region?

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mr. Speaker, by all means. Those are consultations that we need to have. We do have representatives at the regional levels; not just Sahtu region but other regions. We depend on their expertise because they’re fully aware of the community needs, the community programming, and what’s needed, what’s lacking. So those are areas that we need to have continuous consultation and dialogue with the Sahtu region.

Mr. Speaker, yes, we will have a dialogue with them. Mahsi.

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Mr. Speaker, as I said in my statement, we have a high population of youth, young people under 25. It’s actually 45 percent of our population in the Sahtu that needs some attention. I want to ask the Minister in terms of helping the students in our regions, in our communities, to help them get into Aurora College programs in our communities under the Apprenticeship Training Program and working with them in terms of putting this Labour Market Agreement together so they could see people be productive members of society and to their communities.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mr. Speaker, yes, we’ll definitely do what we can as a department, but I would encourage the Member to assist, as well, identifying those organizations that would pick up these apprentices. It’s almost as challenging a task for us as a department to seek out those organizations that are willing to take on these apprentices, but we’ll do what we can to train those individuals and provide subsidies for them to be trained as an apprentice. But at the same time, if the Member can assist in this area, that will be very helpful as well. Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.