This is page numbers 4691 – 4742 of the Hansard for the 17th Assembly, 5th 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 program.

Topics

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Minister of Justice

Thank you. I will check with the department on whether or not it’s too late to get another submission from the Member. Thank you.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

It shouldn’t be from the Member, I’m asking a question to the Minister. What can he do? What’s the point of being Minister of a whole department? I’m asking you a question. What can you do as Minister? Thank you.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Minister of Justice

Thank you. We will continue to work forward with the process that we have in place. We’ve received submissions and we will be bringing forward amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act later this year, which will be debated in this House. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Mr. Speaker, the Minister is well within his ability to say I’m going to examine this issue in the public’s good, but maybe he’s more interested in I don’t know what. I’m not going to suggest anything, I’m just saying I don’t know what he’s more interested in. Maybe he doesn’t think that people are important. I do, and I’m certainly sure he’s going to stand up and say he cares about them as well. But all I’m asking him to do is take this initiative very seriously that we should have some type of tenant bill of rights, because when a tenant is shown the door due to construction or delay or whatnot, the landlord continues to take their money and they’re left at their own avails and we have to hope that the landlord steps up and makes sure that they are not left in the dark or on their own or on the street. That’s the problem. So, frankly, I’m just looking for a bit of leadership on this issue that we will ensure that when families are in crisis, they’re not left to the street, that’s it, because a hearing could take three weeks, seven weeks, and if they don’t appeal, that’s fast. Thank you.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Minister of Justice

Thank you. I certainly do care about people. I’ve been in this position for almost 12 years now and I do take my job very seriously. If the Member is so inclined, he has got the opportunity to move a motion on the floor of the House if he wants to pursue his idea. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to return to my line of questioning with the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment and see if I can, one last time, try and get some clarity as to two conflicting statements and a package of fact sheets, which the Minister tabled the other day.

I would like to know from the Minister when a Junior Kindergarten Program starts, say in September of 2014, will the school district that runs that program get the money in September 2014, or will it have to wait a full year to get it in September 2015 like they do now for most students? Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Minister of Education, Mr. Lafferty.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My department met with the superintendents of all regions and those 23 communities are rolling out their junior kindergarten programming. Part of the package will be for them to utilize the PTR, the funding that will be allocated towards the Junior Kindergarten Program. Mahsi.

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

Thanks. I think that was a yes, but I’m still not sure and I would really like to get that question clarified and I think the school boards would as well. However, I guess I have to leave it at that.

The Minister has spoken in regards to the fact sheets and he has spoken, as well, in his statements to the pupil-teacher ratio and stated that we are 13.8 to 1. Across Canada the best PTR is 11.8 students to 1 in Newfoundland; the worst, so to speak, is 16.8 students to 1 in British Columbia. So I’d like to ask the Minister, we are currently at 13.8, but the road that we are on seems to be taking us to put our student-teacher ratio back to 16 to 1, the legislated PTR.

Is that the design of the Minister and the department that we will make sure that we go from 13.8 to 1 to 16 to 1 and put us at the very top of the list, which is the worst? Thank you.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi. The ratio will vary from school board to school board. Some would have around 14.5, I believe, and some would have 15, 15.5, 16 and a couple of the school boards will be just beyond 16. But I did commit in this House that I will be subsidizing those

individuals who work beyond 16 to 1. So as the fact sheet indicates, we’re at 13.8 at this point and then according to our legislation it’s 16 to 1. So that’s where we’re getting back to our legislation level. Mahsi.

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

Thank you. I totally understand that things vary. We have small schools, we have large schools, and yes, we absolutely vary. The average across the territory is 13.8 to 1.

The Minister just said, if I heard him correctly, we’re moving back to 16 students to 1, 16 to 1. Is that what I heard? Am I correct in what the Minister said? If that’s the case, do we really want to go to the top of the list and be worst in the country for PTR? Thank you.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

When we talk about legislation passed by this House, 16 to 1. So there has been a generous contribution over the last decade because we had money, we had funds at that time which we don’t at this point. In order to roll out the junior kindergarten, we won’t be the worse. British Columbia, as you see here, is 16.8, we are 16 to 1. Yes, it may be at the bottom, but it’s something to work with.

Then we have our Finance Minister in Ottawa meeting with the Finance Minister of Canada. There could be some changes coming. Certainly, we can re-evaluate our situation at that time. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will try to be short. Lastly, I would just like to ask a question of the Minister with regards to a couple of comments on the fact sheets, which bothered me. I did say earlier that something in the Minister’s statement was disturbing and the fact sheets were disturbing as well.

There were two statements which I have difficulty with. “It is not unreasonable to expect the education authorities to absorb and plan for a minor decrease of 0.4 to 1 percent over a three-year period.” That’s hardly a fact, Mr. Speaker. The numbers are a fact, but the expectation is not a fact. I would also like to say, in another sentence from the fact sheet, “With the size of the education authorities’ budgets and their flexibility on how they spend their budgets, we are confident that they can manage the successful introduction of junior kindergarten.” I would like to ask the Minister how those two statements can be considered factual. Thank you.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

I’m glad the Member raised that profile. The department expects that YCS will not only look carefully at the cost of JK, $1.2 million, but also how they can restructure their overall programming in order to absorb the $436,000 that the Member referred to earlier, Member Bromley. This should not be an

unreasonable undertaking given that their overall budget has consistently been around $18 million from this government to the school board. This is an area that can be absorbed.

The $436,000 represents approximately 2 percent of the overall budget. That’s where it’s at, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The time for oral question period has expired. Item 9, written questions. Mr. Bromley.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Lands. According to Section 6.5 of the Devolution Agreement, the GNWT assumes overall liability for the operating sites listed in Schedule 7, Part A.1 of the Final Devolution Agreement.

1. Could the Premier please provide the following

information for each of the 13 sites listed: • amount of financial security currently held

by the federal or territorial government;

• the form of that security, e.g. irrevocable

letter of credit;

• the authority under which each security

amount is held;

• the expiry date of each security instrument; • the amount of security as set out in relevant

water licences, land use permits, surface leases or other instruments for the specific site;

• whether there has been an independent

review of the liability; and

• if there has been an independent review of

the liability, what was that amount?

2. If there is a gap between the amount of security

held and that which is authorized in relevant water licences, land use permits, surface leases or other instruments, does the GNWT still intend to take over the liability or will it exercise its right to not accept the site under Part 6.5 (d) to not accept that operating site?

3. How does GNWT plan to manage these

liabilities and what are the plans to prevent any further public liabilities?

4. When does the GNWT intend to make public a

list of financial securities held for the sites that it will manage into the future?

5. As of June 1, 2014, have any of the 61 sites

listed in Schedule 7 Part E – Operating Sites

(Oil and Gas, Industrial and Mining Dispositions) been transferred to the GNWT, and what is the status of the financial security being held for these sites?

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Item 10, returns to written questions. Madam Clerk.

Clerk Of The House (Ms. Langlois)

[Translation] Mr. Speaker, I have a return to Written Question asked by Ms. Bisaro on May 30, 2014, regarding the GNWT funding provided to education councils and authorities.

The Department of Education, Culture and Employment allocates school contributions based on School Funding Framework, which determines allocations primarily based on the number of full-time equivalent students.

Later today, at the appropriate time, I will table “Enrolments and Contributions by Education Authority,” which provides total student enrolments by education authority in September 2013, as the determining factor in calculating 2014-2015 school year contributions. The “Enrolments and Contributions by Education Authority” document also lists basic school contribution funding allocations by education authority for the 2014-2015 school year, in total, as well as specifically for inclusive schooling and Aboriginal languages and cultural programs. Not shown in the “Enrolments and Contributions by Education Authority” document are additional contributions to education authorities, such as for extraordinary enrolment, student success initiatives and staff benefits that are distributed throughout the school year.

Because the Yellowknife education authorities are expected to collect school property taxes as revenue, the contributions provided to these authorities represents approximately 82 percent of the calculated amount as per the school funding formula. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Madam Clerk. Item 11, replies to opening address. Item 12, petitions. Item 13, reports of committees on the review of bills. Item 14, tabling of documents. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document, entitled “Northwest Territories Economic Outlook 2014-2015.” Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I’d also like to table the following document, entitled “25th

Annual Report Victims Assistance Committee

of the Northwest Territories, 2013-2014.” Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document, entitled “Education Renewal and Innovation Support Documents.”

Also, further to my Return to Written Question 17-17(5), I wish to table the following document, entitled “Enrolments and Contributions by Education Authority.” Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.