Mahsi, Mr. Chairman. There has been a lot of discussion from the Members and I appreciate that, and a lot of good ideas, some concerns, so I will have to work with that. There has been talks that there shouldn’t be any cuts to the breakfast program and, as you know, the schools provide those programs and have been very successful, so we will continue to work with the educational authorities in that respect.
The teacher housing subsidy that was raised in the House earlier, in Tuktoyaktuk, this is an area that there has been agreement with the NWT Housing Corporation for a number of years. Apparently it is sunsetting, so this is an area of concern, as well as we have to look after our teachers, but I understand that the units are still available for those teachers, so this is an area that we have to look at, what kind of options there are.
Overcrowding, that has been addressed already in this House as well. Actually the motion that came forward as well today, lack of teachers, they want more teachers, students maybe under 10 students. This is another area that I did commit to looking at as a department. Not only that, there are other initiatives that are on their way, such as Aboriginal Student Achievement initiative, they have heard this already, so it won’t be part of the discussion.
Some of the students drop out of school in Inuvik, coming from a small, remote community, this will definitely have the opportunity to discuss this in the Beaufort-Delta during the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative and that is going to be on the way in the next couple of months. I am looking forward to more response in that respect.
The same with the retrofitting schools, we have heard about that and we need to look at where things are at with that, Mr. Chairman. Shops and science labs, similar to discussion that was addressed earlier, whether it be CTS, this is an area that we definitely need to explore, see what kind of options are out there, working with the educational authorities, because we provide funding for operations and maintenance of the schools, but we want every student to be successful, so those are just some of the areas that were brought to our attention.
Income support funds, paying out vouchers instead of cash has been brought to our attention. We are waiting for the community to give us a letter of support and then it is just a matter of issuing direction in that respect. Mr. Chairman, this is an area that is a concern to us, as well, because we want the wellness of every child and to be fed as well. We need to monitor this area. I will be working closely with the Member that raised that issue in Tuk.
There is also a concern about social passing. That has been addressed through ASA, Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative. There is going to be a recommendation coming out of the initiative. I am looking forward to ideas and suggestions from the communities.
The elementary playground, that has been addressed here today as well. The Member alluded to similar in Liard. This is an area that we need to work with the DEA and the parent group is currently fundraising. We need to closely monitor that and see where things are at. I did make a commitment to work with the community of Simpson.
Wrigley’s high school students, there is a concern that was brought forward. I did commit to the Member that I will have my department and DEA possibly meet with the parents and just explain what is truly happening with those students. There are stories, but we need to get out the facts of what is happening, because there are strict guidelines as
well when you are in residence and so forth. Mr. Chairman, this is a commitment that I made.
SFA review, it is going to be happening once we go through this budget planning process. The Member also stated possibly paying for rent. If those ideas come forward, we will definitely look at it and see where we go with it. I would like to hear ideas from other students and parents and community members as well. We are reaching out to all Northwest Territories, as well, and the students that are outside.
Seniors home fuel subsidy, this is an area that I did instruct my department to look at seriously because it is not the first time we heard about that. There has been a discussion on stat declaration, income tax that takes long to get that information. We understand if it is minus 40, we need to act on it. We have done that in the past, but I think we need to seriously look at this overall.
Schools in Trout Lake and Nahanni investment and retrofit, we did look at Trout Lake and we are looking at other schools, as well, to see what their status is. If it needs to be a retrofit, then we need to discuss that in the upcoming capital planning process.
Official languages, the dollars are identified. The need to stress the importance of revitalizing our language and keeping our department focused on official languages has been earmarked. There has been good praise on summer employment, the $925,000 we have allocated. We heard from the Members and we decided to move forward on that.
Early Childhood Development Framework, that is underway, as mentioned in this House. We are working with various parties on that. ASA and then Phoenix School were combined when the discussion arose. It was mentioned it was a chopping at the knees. This particular program has been very successful to date. The program dollars, the money is continuing. There have been some changes to the way it has been funded. We are not saying we are going to stop the Phoenix programming. The money is continuing, just in a different format. We can provide more information on that. We have done that through Fort Smith and Hay River. We can provide that to Members as well.
Increased support for arts over the years, as you know, Mr. Chairman, we have increased a heavy investment in this area. We will continue to do so. I believe this area will definitely and truly benefit the Northwest Territories.
The $300,000 TEP in South Slave, the TEP program which Ms. Bisaro also alluded to, maybe we can re-evaluate the program and based on... Has it been successful to date? I think with any program there are always changes. We can definitely look at the program, but I did indicate and
committed in this House that I wanted to reach out to all regions to deliver a TEP program and we are doing that. I don’t want to stop now and want to continue with other regions as well. I agree that if we need to change our programming, then that is an area that we definitely need to look at because we do need Aboriginal speaking teachers. We want to produce those teachers in the Northwest Territories so we can rely on them so they can teach our children.
The milk subsidy was raised through the nutrition foods program that we allocated $400,000. Of course, as you know, it is sunsetting March 31st .
This is an area that we have looked at as well. The $400,000 has been used in those regions. So we continue to discuss with other departments, as well, when it comes to nutritious food.
The veterinary services, as the Member alluded to, again SFA review, as you mentioned, Mr. Chairman, that could be part of the discussion that can be brought forward to our department. We have to look at all options. We have to look at what has been brought to our attention. Also, the renewable tech admin and other areas, we have shared this with the college already. The college is fully aware. They are looking at other jurisdictions, what has been offered. I will be going back to the college to see where things are at, the current status on this particular matter.
ALBE review, the question was a part of this budget. ALBE is still under review as we speak. It will be finalized in June 2011, this year. Obviously it is not in the budget, but we will be planning for next year’s budget.
ASA literacy coordinator, increasing funding for community libraries. I understand Ms. Bisaro will be asking more detailed information, so we can provide that as well.
The review of Income Security Framework, the Member also brought up the Anti-Poverty Strategy, if it could be somehow linked together. Yes, we will tie our income security review with the Anti-Poverty Strategy so we will work hand in hand with that.
Income security, the $1.43 million increased regional budget and also retention of PYs due to caseload increase, of course our number one goal is to get people off income security, but we can’t just say we’ll cut off the funding because there are a lot of people out there who are on income security right now. The 1.4, especially in the regional, the money is going to regional community. I must state again in this House that is our goal. As Members have alluded to, we want to get people off income security. One of the areas we continue to look at is productive choices. I’ve been trying to work closely with the communities to kick-start what we can do to get people off income security. Whether it be splitting wood or checking fish nets for the elders,
those are just some of the examples we’ve thrown around.
The $200,000 increase to the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre reflects northern perspective and is a worthwhile investment. The Member also shared with us a curated showcase that could fit in this area. This is an area that we need to seriously look at. So we’re fully aware of that.
He also touched base on the infrastructure. The Member also wants us to closely monitor what’s happening and some buildings need upgrading. At Mildred Hall the Member referred to windows in the back area; finding solutions. We clearly heard that and we need to work with that.
The college, the stand-alone college, as you know, the lease is coming up in 2012 which is not too far off in the distance. We need to have a plan in place. Coming this fall we may have to extend the lease agreement again because in order to plan for a facility, then we need to have at least a two or three-year planning process. It’s not just our department. We’ve been talking to outside organizations and interdepartmentally as well. This is a matter that’s very important to us and to find out what options are there for us when it comes to an Aurora College stand-alone building.
It’s important that daycares and preschools need to put more emphasis on this. I think we’ve done that in the past and we’ll continue to do so. As I stated in the House, there are certain programs that communities can fit the criteria. We’ll continue to monitor this area as well.
Post-secondary PYs, whether it be wellness coordinators, as Mr. Beaulieu alluded to, the higher rate of success the whole North will benefit. We truly believe in that too. Post-secondary is an area of interest to our department because we need those post-secondary students to come back and run this government and organizations in the communities. There have been some changes. SFA, as you know, is currently well beyond the review. We’re listening to the Members and to the community-at-large; the students most specifically. We’ll do what we can in that respect.
Apprenticeship programs in small communities, need for tradespersons and apprentices. As you know, the Apprenticeship Program has an increase in funding and even into the regional communities. That will continue.
The Member also stated the possibility of hiring, I guess, or creating employment in small communities. I think that $925,000 is a good start and having the Apprenticeship Program in small communities will create opportunities as well. Having a partnership approach with the communities, the corporations. Just GNWT alone cannot do this successfully. We need partnerships
in the communities. So this overall will be an interdepartmental approach with community partnerships.
CTS in the schools. The Member has approached us on various occasions. We have initiated some schools with CTS. We feel that if we deliver more CTS into schools, it will be beneficial to students in the communities. Similar to the ones we have here in Yellowknife and other communities.
Those are just some of the main areas that the Members have touched on. Of course, I’m looking forward to more detailed information as well.