I’d like to note that the child worker programs we have at Aurora College do not produce child workers that meet the current federal standards. Will this include an assessment of that specifically? Hopefully towards correcting that gap.

Yes, this would also cover that area as well.

I’m very glad to hear that. I think the Minister has heard me speak numerous times on the important opportunity and key opportunity we have during early years of a life, to really provide the essential support to that person developing to their full potential. I think having qualified people working in our child development system is an important aspect of that.

The other thing I just want confirmation on, the Minister said in his response to general comments that he will consult with various parties involved. I’m wondering if he could just give me a little bit more information on who that might be.

That information we can certainly provide the list of names of organizations. Part of the discussion that I was referring to in general comments was the Aboriginal organizations that also deal with the Head Start Program. Those are some of the areas that we’ll be consulting with.

That’s good to hear. I can think of a number of others. Would the Minister be planning to come to committee to have some input into that and maybe the terms of reference for this review?

I would be more than willing to do that, too, with the Members. Mahsi.

Before I go on on this one, I want to confirm that this is part of this section, the student financial assistance. Is that part of this program on page 10-17, education and culture?

Mr. Chair, no, it’s not.

I’ll wait on questions on that for later. I just want to comment a little bit on the Aboriginal language and culture-based education and the official languages.

The Minister has again heard me and has made commitments to help tune up, I think, it’s the community Aboriginal Teacher Education Program. It has been where it’s impossible to complete the degree short of 10 years sort of thing with courses

only being offered in Beaufort-Del, and I see now it’s going to be offered in the South Slave. Will this resolve the problem of students who want to get this program under their belt, having to do it slowly and agonizingly over quite a number of years? Is it now possible to take care of that issue and allow them to finish this program in a reasonable time frame?

Mr. Chair, the TEP program, the Teacher Education Program that we delivered in the past and we continue to deliver as well going into the South Slave, definitely, those students are involved with taking the program, whether it be the Aboriginal Teacher Education Program, the ALCIP program. There’s a great opportunity for them to pursue even more with the TEP program, Mr. Chair. That’s an area that we need to explore further, how we can attract those individuals to taking on these particular programming. Mr. Chair, I believe this is an opportunity for them to pursue these with this program. Mahsi.

I don’t doubt that this is an opportunity to pursue this. I’m particularly concerned about the ALCIP program. How many courses are required to complete the ALCIP program and how many courses does this department offer per year in the South Slave or Beau-Del? Thank you.

Mr. Chair, the ALCIP program has been around for a while now. It is an area that we continue to focus on and put more pressure, because definitely we need those Aboriginal-speaking individuals that can come back to teach our kids. There are 20 courses over the two-year period and we realize some individuals are taking a course at a time, but this is another opportunity that they can take advantage of. We are also focusing on the ALCIP program, how we can improve in those areas. The Member did address that concern with me and we are looking at how we can improve in those areas as well. Mahsi.

Thank you to the Minister for those remarks. I guess if I can try and paraphrase both the text and the subtext here, we are not offering programs, courses that allow students to complete this in a reasonable time frame. Presumably, the South Slave program is an improvement and contributes to an improvement of that, but a student can grow pretty long in the tooth before they’re able to complete the program because of the lack of offerings. Would the Minister agree with that? Thank you.

The ALCIP program, we’ve extended that from one year to two years, a diploma program. Really, it’s up to the students as well. Some students are taking it full time, some students are taking it part time. We have to respect that as well. But I am working

closely with the Aboriginal organizations on identifying those individuals who are willing to pursue a higher education to become teachers, of course, so we will continue to do our part in that respect. Mahsi.

Thank you. I have other Members on the list so I’ll get back to you if you want to add your name to the list, Mr. Bromley. I have Mr. Menicoche, Mr. Beaulieu, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. There’s certainly lots of activity under this description here, but I think where I’ll begin first is in the opening comments. I didn’t have a chance to raise with the Minister that the access to a public library is still high on the agenda for residents of Fort Simpson, and I will continue to pursue it and find a resolution about how to house the one in Fort Simpson to make it more than a resource centre and re-establish it as a full library. I do see an increase in the public library service line item by about $500,000. Maybe if I can get the Minister to explain what the increase is for.

Minister of Education, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. We have been working with, of course, Fort Simpson, the community, and we have developed some options. We’re also waiting for them to get back to us, I guess, on those options, but we’ll continue to work with that.

With respect to the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative of $600,000, it’s to provide public library services as an ASA Initiative shifting its focus, of course, to literacy, and the investment will be used for a new community library coordinator and to fund five more school community libraries. That’s in the area that has been allocated. Mahsi.

Maybe I can get further details on where the library coordinator is going to be and which five communities are getting libraries, Mr. Chair. Thank you.

Mr. Chair, yes, we can provide that information, but my understanding is that the position will be based in the region, Hay River. Mahsi.

If the Minister has got the detail of which communities are being focused for increasing their library service, I would certainly like to hear that, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Chair, those services will be based on an application basis. We haven’t identified the communities yet. We’re still waiting for applications to be submitted, so we are just waiting. Mahsi.

Just with that, knowing that even though the district education authority in Fort

Simpson is still deliberating on their library services, is this a possible pool of funds they can access to further their need to develop a library in Fort Simpson? Thank you.