Mahsi, Mr. Chair. The Member is correct; there is proposed funding for a planning study. That is to deal with the long-term needs of the school. So it’s been identified in the ‘14-15 Capital Plan. Part of the planning study is to provide a review of the existing school that we’ve been talking about in this House for years, and the needs analysis of the school. Also the operational plan that will be identified to determine the required scope of work that needs to happen. From there we will be pushing through the capital planning process as we move forward. So those are just some of the processes that we will definitely be going through. Mahsi.

Thank you, Minister Lafferty. Mr. Menicoche, any closing comments?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. No, I think the Minister laid it out there, but it still doesn’t squash the concern that there’s no capital in the future years upcoming. I think the only thing I saw in the books is 2018 or 2019, but I’d like to see it certainly moved up and the community would like to. So if there’s any further remark, it would be that, Mr. Chair. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Minister Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Chairman. With this particular project and other projects that are identified as part of the planning process, we will be going through the capital planning on an annual basis, of course, and the funding has been identified particularly for Trout Lake. Once that scope of work has been identified, we can put it into the system. Then the decision would have to be made from there. This will give us a tool to push that even further than where we are at now. Mahsi.

Thank you, Minister Lafferty. Moving on with general comments I have Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I also want to add some of my comments to Mr. Menicoche and Mr. Bromley’s comments to the Minister. As I have noted, the community of Colville Lake is looking at expanding, developing their young students, young kids, and looking at a proper

education facility. I also noted those comments in this House that Colville Lake was going to be in the books for planning studies for a new school.

I have been talking to the leadership in Colville Lake, the chief and council. They are asking that for any type of planning studies, that the chief and council be 100 percent involved with the planning studies. They also want to help out with the construction of any type of school that they will receive. They want to be reassured from this department and government that the Colville Lake chief and council will be part of the planning study so they can feel part of the ownership. No different than the people in Colville Lake to build the $14 million dollar runway, done by the people in their own way.

They are looking at this project and looking at the planning study, that the department gives the commitment in writing and verbal tonight in this House that the planning study will involve them 100 percent in this process. After that, there will be another step to look at securing the funds to build. Even in saying that, they have talked to me and they say they could be a contributor to this process also. They are that confident that they would like to move this project for their community.

The issue of developing the Sahtu has been a long-standing issue of mine, and the Sahtu leadership over the years has known that we need several regional institutions in our region to properly develop our young people. We do have a high population of young people. As a matter of fact, in one of the GNWT’s stats and profile for the Sahtu people, in there I found it interesting that there are about 218 young people ready to work, who potentially have that ability right now. With the high interest and the oil companies coming in and working on our lands, it definitely shows that we need to get our people ready for these long-time careers, jobs, either in decentralization, oil and gas, possibly mining, or even self-government initiatives that the community want to take over. So the communities of the Sahtu region have been asking the government for a regional institute, because that is where the activity is going to be concentrated for the next five to 30 years if we get the green light to go ahead with the hydraulic fracturing operations. That is a long-time industry that will be in the Northwest Territories and we need to have our people be prepared for the trades, the academics, to help in the community. Any type of development in oil and gas is going to require some type of certification. Even with the development of the oilfields in the Sahtu region, they possibly will bring in some union organizations. The union is going to have to certify them. If development takes off, oil companies are going to contract the unions to handle their product. That makes for good business sense. The unions are going to hire people who are

certified and trained and they are going to want you there.

In a good business case it makes sense to invest into a regional training institute in the Sahtu. That’s where it’s going to be needed and required. We should start planning for that, start building for that.

Right now our students go to Yellowknife, Inuvik and Fort Smith. If you want to learn trades, you have to go to Fort Smith. That’s where the institution is. That’s where the equipment is and it has been there for a while. At the same time, we want to have a training institute in the Sahtu. It makes it easier for families, especially the young families, and it makes good business sense to have it in our region. Partnering with the oil companies makes good sense. I believe they want that too. So I will be speaking on that.

The last point I want to make with our Minister here – I hope we can have some discussion between now and the next election – is looking at beginning a discussion on a regional high school. We have seen the numbers of graduates; we have seen the reports of the quality of education in our communities. Each community is fighting for something that they can have to improve their students’ education. We are spending a lot of money building trade centres, additional schools. I think it’s time now to have some discussion on the benefits of a regional high school, where the schools could possibly have their grades go up to Grade 9 and have a regional infrastructure building in the Sahtu that can go from grades 10, 11 and 12. Think about this again. It makes a lot of sense. Every school is always fighting for the dollars. Some schools are different from others. Colville Lake is certainly different from Fort Good Hope, Norman Wells, Deline and Tulita. All our schools are different. Even outside the Sahtu we have different schools, larger centres, regional centres and small schools. We’re not all the same. We are treated differently and we know that in the Sahtu, in the small communities, we know that we are treated differently. So when I go back, people say, why can’t we have a biology class or a chemistry class. It always comes down to dollars and cents.

We don’t have the dollars, and it doesn’t make sense to have biology in all of the schools. Only certain schools you could, so then we are cheating our children out of good education. In order for them to go into a university program, even one or two students, we have to send them to a larger centre so they can take the required courses, the really true required courses to enter into a profession of a doctor or a nurse. I want to leave it at that, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. I would like to thank the Member for bringing up

some of the areas, whether it be a concern or ideas and suggestions. First and foremost is the planning process obviously would consist of community involvement, DEAs and DECs and also leadership. We did receive a correspondence via the MLA from the chief, asking how they can be part of the process. By any means, we want them to be involved because it will have a positive impact into the community and they need to be part of that. So we will be involving the DEAs, DECs, leadership as well.

I agree with the Member that the Sahtu region, with the economic boost that is happening, there are a lot of activities that are coming. Obviously, we need trained personnel, trained community members. A regional training institute has been brought forward in this House and also in my conversations with the Member as well.

We are working closely with the regional training committee that has been established to identify communities’ needs and a five-year plan. That has been discussed. We will be moving forward on that based on those needs, and working closely with the community, the leadership again. As we move further along, we will identify what kind of training is required. I will be working closely with the Member on this particular file.

Just for Members’ information, my department will be going to Colville to talk further on the school itself in November, next month, to move things along so it is not at a standstill. I have committed already that we need to move on this.

Regional high school, this is an area that we have done in the past for establishing a regional high school in the region based on the wish of the communities, the wish of DEAs and DECs and also, again, leadership, that we need to work closely with, if that is the wish that we can work with the communities, the region. Some of the programs may not be offered in isolated communities, such as biology or chemistry. We are learning fast. There is e-learning that is happening in the Beaufort-Delta. I believe that is the way to go now as a short-term measure at this point, and could well be part of the long-term, as well, that we need to take advantage of to deliver. As yourself and other Members have been to Beaufort-Delta and witnessed the e-learning, it is a spectacular program that we need to take advantage of. That is what we are pursuing and I will keep the Members up to speed on the process. Mahsi, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Continuing on with general comments I have Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just want to reiterate some of the comments that I made in some of my general comments to the budget as a whole. Like Mr. Bromley, I’m extremely

disappointed in the amount of money that we are putting into education in this capital budget.

I want to focus a bit on some of the projects that are not there. I mentioned those in my general comments to the budget as well. In June of this year, committee received a document which outlined the 20-year needs assessment from the Department of ECE. I appreciate that that document hadn’t gone to FMB and the capital budget had not yet been determined, but in looking at that document and looking at only large capital, because there is small capital and large capital and I’m looking at large capital, so school renovations and new schools, additions and so on, there were five schools in the document that committee received in June: Sissons, Lutselk’e, William McDonald, Mangilaluk School and Chief Jimmy Bruneau. They were all on that list as being a priority of the department for renovation, addition, replacement, whatever, but they were a large capital project. So you take that list and you compare it to the list that we are looking at here in this budget for Education. There are no large capital projects for schools in this budget. There is one large capital project and it is a software project. It is a CMAS replacement or upgrade, whatever it is.

I have great difficulty understanding how we can have such a variation in documents. From June to October, in five months’ time, we have lost five major capital projects for schools. If these are important and priority projects for Education, Culture and Employment, then there is something wrong with the way the department is asking for these things to be dealt with. It’s a priority in June and they are nowhere on the list in October.

The one school that is in both places – and that is the Colville Lake School addition – in June it was going to be an addition. There was construction money in the budget. In this particular budget there is money for a planning study and then there is no construction money, so we are going to plan for the addition or replacement of Colville Lake School, and we will do the planning, but in 2015-16 there is no money in the budget, that I can see, where we are going to start construction.

I’m really concerned that what Education wants to do and what gets into the budget just do not jibe, from what I can tell. I am concerned that schools across the territory are missing out. We have projects that are on the list now that weren’t on the list in June. We have all these projects that were on the list in June that are not anywhere on the list now and I fail to understand why.

Sissons School, for instance, in June it was down for a renovation and addition starting in 2014-15. You look at this budget that is before us, you don’t see the words Sissons School anywhere in the education and culture activity in the Education

budget. So in five months’ time, Sissons has disappeared off the map. Even if Sissons was on here and was planned for two or three years down the road, that would be helpful, but it’s not anywhere that we can see.

That is what I wanted to focus on. If the Minister can enlighten me as to how things can change so much in five months’ time, I am all ears. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. For that we’ll go to Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. Again, we do go through a process. Members alluded to various projects in the riding and also other ridings. All of those have been submitted. At the end of the day, we get some projects earmarked or approved as we move forward on this particular planning process. We have to, like all the departments, follow through the guidelines that are set before us.

I will get Ms. Allison to just give us a detailed process because she’s actively involved with all the projects that are going through our department along with the process itself. If I can allow Ms. Allison to elaborate, thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Ms. Allison.

Thank you, Ms. Allison. General comments. Mr. Blake.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just a couple of brief comments. I know we have a long way to go here for the education system. Some things I would like to see in the future budgets are proper facilities

for extra curriculum; for example, automotive shops in our smaller communities. I was very surprised, as I mentioned last year, we are building a multi-million dollar school in Inuvik, yet we didn’t include a facility or a portion that had an automotive shop in there. I know they do have a small engine shop that’s nearby, but times have changed and we need to offer these programs to get our students encouraged in different fields.

Also we had the opportunity this spring, when we were touring with the Wildlife Act, to visit Nahanni Butte. I was really surprised. I thought it was an office building that was their school. A small building that had I’m not sure how many students in there. I just briefly went in to say hi and give them some Tim Horton’s. We need to upgrade our facilities.

I feel very fortunate that in the riding I represent we have three schools and one is near being replaced even though it’s not on the wish list. I just wanted to make those brief comments. I think they need to start planning ahead here and offer a lot of courses that are really lacking in our schools right now. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Blake. Minister Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I totally agree with the Member that we need to deliver additional programming into our schools. That’s the way to go. The Trades on Wheels has been very successful in the Beaufort-Delta. It’s a stand-alone facility on wheels. At the same time, future projects, as the Member alluded to, this is something we need to bring to the DECs and DEAs and also the leadership. If that is the wish, we can definitely work with them. At the end of the day, we will come to a partnership-driven approach, such as we did with Trades on Wheels. The reason I am referring to that is it has been very successful. Those are the areas that we will share with the board chairs. I hold quarterly board chair meetings in education and I can share with them some of the ideas and suggestions brought forward by the Members. Mahsi, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister Lafferty. Is committee prepared to go into detail? Okay, I’m getting agreement. Committee, we are going to defer 8-2 in your capital estimates binder. We are going to go to 8-4, Education, Culture and Employment, activity summary, labour development and standards, infrastructure investment summary, infrastructure investment, $754,000. Does committee agree?

Thank you. I’d like to go to 8-7, Education, Culture and Employment, activity summary, education and culture, infrastructure investment summary, infrastructure

investments, $2.986 million. Does committee agree? Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Again, I just want to emphasize here my complete chagrin in not having significant educational infrastructure projects profiled here, especially given the deferred investments in this area and the great need that the Members have been profiling for the last seven years that I know of.

There is also the area of early childhood development, of course. Apparently we are just putting all of these things on the backburner. I think Ms. Bisaro has profiled a number of things that were on the 20-year plan just a few months ago and are missing now in action. Maybe I could just ask, to start with, with the Sissons project that we are currently doing a planning study on but have no indication of funding, obviously that means you’re not intending to spend money to fulfill this plan this coming year. Could I get some clarification on when we intend to act on the plan or whether that will be stored on the shelf and become dusty and outdated?

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Minister Lafferty.