Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There’s a saying in Quebec, a child without an education is like a bird without wings. I’m glad to report that the staff and students at the Colville Lake School now have running water and fully functioning bathrooms.

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Since October 10th . That’s 18 days ago. Can the

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment tell me that since the community has been asking for a brand new school in their community, can the Minister update the House as to where that issue is at with the community of Colville Lake? I had a meeting this morning with Chief Alvin Orlias and the SAO band manager, Joseph Kochon, and that’s the first question they asked, where is our brand new school that we’ve been asking for?

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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Colville Lake’s school has been in the discussions for a number of years now, even through the local DEAs and at the regional level with DECs. We have to go through, obviously, the capital planning process where we have all these different areas of capital infrastructure coming forward. We, as a department, hope to get those key initiatives such as Colville Lake into the hopper. So based on that, we’re following through on what will be approved through this Assembly and moving forward. Part of that, obviously, is the Colville Lake School that we’ve been talking about for a number of years. Mahsi.

Thank you. I’ll meet with the chief later on and have more discussions on their wish for a new school.

My questions are going to be all on the education in the Sahtu. So, I’m finally getting to see our schools moving into the 21st century with the fully function of

running water and toilets. Yesterday I addressed the needs assessment and we’re showing there’s a great need for these programs in our region. Also, I understand there is a feasibility study underway in regards to a Sahtu tech, preparing our students for the labour force.

Based on the needs of a Sahtu technical institution, is that something that’s going to be reported by the end of this Assembly in regard to the outcome of this feasibility study, planning a Sahtu technical institution in the Sahtu?

Mahsi. Yes, we’ve just completed the Sahtu feasibility study, the needs assessment, I should say. Based on that, it will give us a tool to work with for analyzing training

institute requirements for the Sahtu region. There is a process that we still have to go through, as well, but this is just a preliminary discussion that we’ve been having. We involve the stakeholders and they provide us with a needs assessment of the community. Now the next step will be focusing in those areas where the information has been provided to us and how can we work with that. So we will be working closely with the region of Sahtu as well. Mahsi.

Thank you. My questions on the education of the Sahtu people, we have students going out of jurisdictions for long periods of time, out of our communities. We have a great need for seeing a Sahtu tech in our region. So my third question, I understand from the information I got from the department, impressive facts, that we have 30 students from our Sahtu communities attending the Thebacha Campus in Fort Smith. In total, we have 79 students attending some form of college programs in the Northwest Territories. In regard to our students at Aurora College in Fort Smith, yesterday I was shocked to hear that the students who are in that residence have no study desks, no lamps.

What is the Minister doing to ensure that our students who are coming down from the Sahtu to attend these college institutions have the basic supports for a good learning environment and these dorms are being fully equipped with the proper supports? Thank you.

Mahsi. Yes, we need to provide as much support to our students as we possibly can, especially students coming from the remote communities, and all communities as well.

This is an area that I need to address with the college because the college dorms are under their umbrella. So, that message will be relayed to the board chair and president, what’s the status on that and how can we assist those individuals, the students, if they’re struggling. I will get the status for the Member. Mahsi.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I talked about the self-government realities of Deline.

Will the Minister be creating a K-12 trades program with the shop that they’re planning to build in Deline?

Mahsi. When we talk about those areas of academic studies, whether it be regional schools or even technical schools, obviously we have to work with the community of Deline. Even through their school boards as well. As you know, there has been self-government arrangements being discussed and

eventually these educational authorities will fall under them as well. So we’re very much looking forward to working with those parties as we move forward, discussing the future prosperity of educational facilities in the Sahtu region. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Earlier I spoke about the need for a full-time student counsellor in the community of Fort Liard. So I’d like to ask the Minister of Education, as I laid out the case clearly that there’s a need for a full-time counsellor in Fort Liard.

What formula is used by the Department of Education, Culture and Employment to determine whether a community merits a full-time school counsellor, and does the community have to meet a particular threshold?

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The Minister of Education, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Obviously, there is a school funding framework that we follow through with and it does consist of various categories for individual school boards to qualify for. Some of the areas for counselling, obviously, the funding would be for school community counsellors, inclusive schooling, that there is funding for counsellors and inclusive schooling and funding for counselling and healing. These are just some of the areas that we’ll be capturing what the Member is referring to as community school counsellors. Part of the Dehcho Divisional Education Council, we are contributing up to $537,000 a year to capture the school community counsellor positions, but at the same time, it is at their discretion to hire those individuals as well as from the communities’ perspective.

Of course, a student’s well-being is one of the Education Renewal Initiatives, and I’m pleased that the Minister brought out some other funding areas, so if the Minister can bring that document to me. Also, pooling all this money, does the Minister think that the Dehcho Education Council can translate the resources available into a full-time counsellor for the Fort Liard youth?

That $537,000 to the Dehcho Divisional Education Council, they decide where the money should be expended, whether it be in Kakisa or another small community. It would be up to their discretion to deal with that. These are just some of the positions that have been highlighted, such as Fort Liard, Fort Providence, Fort Simpson, Jean Marie, Kakisa, Nahanni Butte, Trout Lake and Wrigley. Some of them are half-time positions, three-quarter positions based on the

funding that has been allocated to them. But again, at the end of the day, it will be up to the district education authority, working with the district education council, to decide how many positions should be hired in their school system.

I continue to reiterate that we certainly need these types of supports for kids with complex needs. Once again, our at-risk youth in all our small communities, we need a wraparound approach that involves school counsellors and teachers working closely with other mental health and social services professionals.

As an MLA who represents some of the smallest and least resourced communities, can the Minister commit to bringing this wraparound approach to Fort Liard?

Within our Government of the Northwest Territories, we’ve been talking about, just recently, the wraparound, the services. That has been in discussion. Obviously, this will be a topic of discussion that the Member alluded to when I meet with interagency and other departments here when we talk about the funding itself. Yes, this will be, obviously, part of the discussion that we’ll be having.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Just for clarity, if he’s working with the Department of Health and Social Services, as well, is he able to work with them to see if there are some resources to help with the need of filling this gap in the Fort Liard school system?

Any funding that Health and Social Services can provide to us is greatly appreciated. At the same time, it is an interagency meeting that we need to have with the Department of Health and Social Services and my department because we talk about the school community counsellors and also counselling and healing. There are separate pots that we provide, as the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, to Fort Liard and other communities. Yes, I did commit to working with the Department of Health and Social Services. They have been our partner along the way and they will continue to do so.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.