The information that we have is that through ASA, as well that we gave money to schools for attendance projects and absenteeism is definitely before us. But we did provide additional funding to deal with absenteeism. Again, it’s part of the ASA as we move forward. Mahsi.

On another topic, I’m wondering if in the culture and heritage I recently encountered a situation where there are youth that are catching on to the whole issue of hand games and hand games has become quite a major event in gatherings. In fact, it’s an event that’s not even tied to any

meetings or anything; they’re just events on their own. They’re just having hand games. The government seems to feel that it’s an issue of maybe some gambling involved in the hand games, but I don’t see it that way. I think that the hand games would be nothing different as far as going and having a hockey tournament and having prize money for second and third, having ball tournaments and having prize money. I see hand games as something similar to that. So I’m having some difficulty getting the government to fund or to support youth groups out of Tu Nedhe that wish to attend hand games. Especially in Lutselk’e there’s the whole issue that they’re an isolated community. They’re either going to have to skidoo out or fly out at this time. You know, you can’t skidoo a bunch out of a community like that, and to fly is expensive for them to attend. So I’m wondering if this department has anything that they can use, any program that they can use to pay for or to support a group such as that. I’m not asking for 100 percent support, but some support along with other organizations that support hand games as a sporting event and very positive for the youth. Thank you.

Hand games have become a popular form of games in the communities, the traditional games. We as a department sponsor to some degree in association to hand games. We may not directly sponsor the hand game tournament.

As you know, I’ve been to a lot of hand games in the past and I guess one can see it as gambling, where money has been dispersed left and right. The perception is out there and we have to be careful as a Department of Education, Culture and Employment. We support the cultural preservation and what can we do to support that. If youth are getting involved with various hand game demonstrations, training that’s happening, we work with the school, because they receive funding as well pertaining to the cultural aspect. So this is an area that comes up.

Every time there’s a tournament they always ask for a donation across the Northwest Territories, and we’ve always referred them to the school boards because we provide funding to them. It’s just one of those things where they apply to all organizations hoping to get some money out of it, but as I stated, we have sponsored in some areas with respect to the hand game demonstrations, but this is an area that there’s been a lot of requests. We’ve been looking at this, how we can get around the system. But, Mr. Chair, we need to work with it and, again, I need to work with the organizations that we provide funding to. So we’ll continue to work with that. Mahsi.

Thank you, Minister Lafferty. Next on my list is Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr, Chair. I have a couple of questions here. I’d like to ask, it references a contribution I think on the next pages, but I believe it falls in this section. In the last couple of years the department has made a grant or a contribution to the Food First Foundation, and from a letter, which I mentioned to the Minister of Health last week I think it was, it came from the Executive, it was on Executive letterhead but it was signed by the Minister of Education and it sounds as though, in the letter, as though the Food First Foundation will not receive any funding in the 2011-12 fiscal year. I’d like to know from the Minister if my interpretation of his letter is correct. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Minister Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The money that was being referenced in the letter was the one-time money that was available in the current budget, the 2010-2011 budget. Certainly that funding does sunset on March 31

st

of 2011.

That’s rather distressing if this foundation is not going to receive any further funding. The Food First Foundation has received rave reviews from our schools. They have been doing excellent education work in terms of teaching the kids about healthy foods, what they should be eating, what they should not be eating. They’ve been providing foods in the schools and I think they’ve also been providing some education to our staff, as well, to help them to continue with that sort of education and awareness.

To the Minister: what is the department going to do to replace that work that the Food First Foundation has been doing? Who is going to do that work now as we go forward?

Mahsi, Mr. Chairman. This, as the deputy stated, is the money that’s been identified last year and is going to be sunsetted. The organization that’s been delivering that have, of course, been doing good work in this area. We have to look at this from an interdepartmental perspective. It’s not just our department. I need to work closely with Health as well, and other organizations, I guess. The money has been run out at the end of this fiscal year. That’s where it’s at right now.

The Member is asking who is going to be delivering that. I’m sure that we provide funding through various programming to the schools to deliver things such as the breakfast program and other programs. I’m sure that will continue. In this specific area it’s unfortunate we couldn’t allocate the funding that was identified last year for next year. That’s where it’s at.

I appreciate the answer from the Minister but it is very concerning. There is a $400,000 line item in the budget which is going to

sunset. The NWT nutritious food study, I presume that’s it. It bothers me in that we are again ignoring the issue or benefits of prevention and intervention at an early age. The Minister talked about working with other departments and cross-departmental. I have to say, as I’ve said a couple of times in the last week and a half, that early intervention from kids zero to age six at least helps in breaking the cycle of poverty. The department is talking about working with other departments but I don’t hear anything about working to try and break the cycle of poverty, to try and work within the development of an Anti-Poverty Strategy, which apparently is being developed. I think again we are thinking too small and too narrow. We need to rethink how we deliver these programs and services.

We’ve had $400,000 which is going to sunset. My question is: where is that money going to be spent now? Obviously it’s being spent because the budget for this department has increased not decreased from last year to this proposed budget year. It’s one thing to say that the schools have pots of funding where they can do these particular programs, but this was a program which was delivered with the schools, which provided research, which provided background, which provided mentorship for the schools to get into sort of healthy food education for our students. I really think this is a step backwards.

We have an organization that is fully willing to do this work pretty much on a volunteer basis and we’re basically telling them no, this is not important, we don’t really care what our kids eat, let’s just go back to the way that it was awhile ago. I’d like to hear from the Minister again where this $400,000 is going to be spent now, if it’s not being spent on healthy foods or healthy food initiatives. Again, apart from the schools having a pot of money to access, what are we actively doing as a government to make sure that our kids are educated relative to healthy foods?

That $400,000 is going to the schools for a Nutrition Program in the Northwest Territories. It will be expanded into the schools. I know this was an issue when we first brought that up were issued on administration, but I did commit the whole $400,000 to the schools in the communities. The schools, of course, can augment on the budget required for a school Nutrition Program by accessing other funds, as I indicated earlier.

I just want to break down that through government sources like Aboriginal Student Achievement, we have various programs that have been identified: Healthy Food for Learning, Drop the Pop, Together for Healthy Learning, and non-government sources such as Breakfast for Learning. We do have community councils, as well, band councils and

also private sectors. So those are areas that we need to work with and we’ll continue to do that.

Just one last question, I guess. I’d like to know from the Minister whether or not there was an evaluation done of this particular program that Food First Foundation was running. If the money is not going to Food First Foundation but it is going into the schools, what’s to guarantee that they’re going to use it for the same sort of program that Food First Foundation was running? Are we taking a program... If there was an evaluation done and it proved that the program was working well, why are we cancelling it?

I just again have to say that I think we’re missing the boat. The Minister mentioned four or five or six different programs which exist, but they all operate sort of independently. There’s no coordinated approach to prevention and education of our kids at an early age in all manner of things, and this is just one more opportunity for us to get them early and to get them learning the right things. The end result is we have healthier children and healthier adults and less of a drain on our health and social services system.

I guess I’d like to know from the Minister how he expects that this sort of, the same sort of thing that’s been provided by Food First Foundation, how is that going to be accomplished in the schools. I may have asked that question already but I still haven’t heard a decent answer.

Mr. Daniels.

We’re on page 10-17, Education, Culture and Employment, activity summary, education and culture, operations expenditure summary, $190.945 million. Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just had a couple quick questions on the Food First Foundation as well. First one is: have we been contributing to them over the last three years and how much?

Mr. Daniels.

My last question is: do we expect this organization or business to continue in the absence of the support they had this year?

My last question. I just want to confirm that the $400,000, all of that went to Food First Foundation for administration and delivery this year. Is that correct?

Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Chairman. That $400,000 did go to the schools in the communities.

Thank you for that information. How much went to Food First Foundation?