This is page numbers 1977 – 2026 of the Hansard for the 17th 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 chair.

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Mr. Speaker, I look forward to seeing reports on how successful this program is. Is the

Minister going to be doing a report on this Not Us! program? If so, when will the standing committee see the report on the Not Us! program and the effectiveness of this program, as I am sure did help in a lot of the statements that the Minister said earlier? Will we be seeing a report? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Minister of Justice

Mr. Speaker, the department is actually currently developing an evaluation framework to assess the success of the campaign and to inform future direction on the program. I don’t have a timeline for it, but I will commit to getting you some additional information during this sitting so that we can have an idea when that evaluation framework will be in place and when we can actually expect to see results. Of course, I am happy to share any results that we come forward with, with committee and with the Member. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Moses.

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Being one of the volunteers that helped start up the Not Us! campaign in Inuvik and get the funding for it, I know how successful this program can be in empowering our residents, our students, our teachers, everybody that works with children and works in the community. Specifically, there is a very successful program called the Lights On Program that happens that we do in Inuvik but we don’t have the funding to keep it on or provide a safe environment for students in the school.

Would the Minister look at specific funding for the Lights On Program outside of the Not Us! funding? A lot of the committees are using the Not Us! funding for that specific program which is very successful as well. Can the Minister let me know if he would be looking at allocating specific funding for the Lights On Program? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Minister of Justice

Mr. Speaker, I’m not familiar with that particular program, but I would love to sit down with the Member and have him educate me on the program. As far as funding goes, it’s hard to commit funding when I have no idea what the program is. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I understand we’re doing all we can to advance the educational goals in the NWT. Current core values of the education system work to ensure that we have educated and well-trained professionals in the Northwest Territories. Recently, advances have

been made in terms of trying to be inclusive in respecting First Nations’ culture and values and principles in the educational system.

My question to the Minister is: What is the department doing to promote the philosophy of strong like two people in addressing educational needs of the Northwest Territories residents? Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. There are two parts to this within our educational system. First and foremost is the students-on-the-land program. I’ve given directive to the school boards to conduct on-the-land programs specifically. We provide money for that and it’s been very successful to date. So elders take students on the land, it’s all in their language and on the land, and in a classroom as well.

The other side of the coin is that educators themselves, through the access program, the TEP program, we’ve incorporated the cultural base, spirituality, as well, through the Behchoko Access TEP program and we’ve conducted one in the Beaufort-Delta, now on the Hay River Reserve and others are coming into the regions as well. So we are incorporating those important elements to this programming, whether it be for the students or whether it be for the teachers. Everybody should be fully aware of that. Mahsi.

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Thank you. What plans does the department have for increasing the number of Aboriginal northern teachers, especially in the Deh Cho and South Slave regions? Mahsi.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi. Part of our goal is to produce as many language speakers becoming qualified teachers, whether it be in the Northwest Territories or from outside the Northwest Territories, because we have a lot of our people for the North attend southern post-secondary. We want them to come back. A lot of them do speak their language as well.

So those are some of the priorities that we have in Education, Culture and Employment, to produce those qualified people that can come back and teach the children in our school system the language. As you know, the various languages we’re losing, Gwich’in is a prime example. So we’re doing what we can to produce those teachers. That’s why we started this access program, the TIPP program into our communities, into our regions and we’re going to spread it out to all regions as best as we can. Mahsi.

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Thank you, I’d like to thank the Minister for that. What plans does the department have for engaging parents, especially Aboriginal parents, in the education of our youth? Mahsi.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi. That’s an excellent question. That’s the same theme, a common theme that we’ve heard through the elders’ gathering, part of the Early Childhood Development Framework and through the stakeholders, as well, also through the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative. How can we involve the parents, the grandparents? So now we’re developing plans towards that. Even through the Early Childhood Development Framework I work closely with Mr. Beaulieu, Health and Social Services, how can we engage those parents. So that’s a key factor in our discussions and the parents will be involved. In what capacity? Working probably with the teachers, working with the elders, working with the students and helping out, maybe tutoring, or any roles and responsibilities that are available. So we’re doing what we can as a department and we are working closely with the school boards to make that more of a priority for them as well. Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Nadli.

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I like the Minister’s response on some of the initiatives. Of course, the major initiatives are very progressive. My final question is: When will the department recognize that the NWT needs a university? Mahsi.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi. I kind of knew that was coming. This is an area that we’ve explored and we have extended our NUP lease agreement. Currently, we are discussing, between my department, PWS and also the Executive, how we can look at options at this level. We want to see a stand-alone campus. That’s part of our long-term goal, that is our objective and we need to work towards that. So the discussion is happening and we’re asking for our outside options, as well, how the private sector can play a key role. So those are discussions that we’re currently having. We can provide some of the updates to the Members as to where we’re at with our discussions. Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment and my question is simple. Does he support inclusive education and can he explain it? How and why?

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I think there were three questions there. I can

answer one of them. I do believe that we need to support our students in our school system. Mahsi.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you. Maybe the Minister can enlighten us on his master plan why he reduced inclusive education money and how that’s benefitted the school boards and the students.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi. During the last budget debate we went through some challenges and had to work closely with the standing committee to make some changes. It wasn’t just my decision. The early childhood development was the forefront of our discussion. So we had to allocate money from within and we had to find the funds.

But I must remind the House that there is a comprehensive review that has been undertaken for inclusive schooling. So I’m looking forward to the input from engagements and the stakeholders. If we’re going to make changes, I need to stand before the standing committee, make a presentation and then, more than likely, it will be in the House here as well. So there will be more debates on that particular topic. Mahsi.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

: Thank you. If the Minister responsible for Education doesn’t want to be responsible for the inclusive education, maybe we should be asking him today who should be responsible for this and how has it improved the lives and education of students who need inclusive education money. Thank you.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi. Through our engagement and also visiting communities we’ve been hearing about inclusive schooling, how can we best address the special needs in our schools, how can we have a speech therapist and other professions in our schools, how can we provide support. So based on that, and we’re doing a comprehensive review, and that will address what the Member is alluding to. So I am looking forward to the outcome of the project itself, and it is comprehensive, it will take some time, but it will make some changes to our educational system. Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.