Good afternoon, colleagues. I would like to wish everyone a happy Inuvialuit Day today.

---Applause

I’m supposed to have a day off, though.

---Laughter

First, I would like to say Happy 30th Anniversary to

the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation. Thirty years ago I was a little kid in Tuk watching our land claim being signed. To see where it has come from to now, it’s awesome. I’m a proud Inuvialuit. I would like to thank everybody up in IRC for doing all the good work they are doing for us in our local communities as well as our community corporations. Thank you for all the work you’re doing for the beneficiaries.

Today I would also like to take the opportunity to congratulate all the students in Nunakput for graduating from Arctic College, to our graduates in the communities and all the determination and hard work they’ve done to get to where they are at in their life. One thing today, I’m a really proud dad because my son is graduating today in Whitehorse, Yukon.

---Applause

I would like to congratulate my son Matthew, and my daughter Kirstin, who will be graduating in Tuk. To all the graduates in Tuk, I’m proud of you all and the accomplishments you’ve made. I hope they take the opportunities for post-secondary education, do a little bit of travelling and I wish you all the best for the exciting time life has to offer you. To all the hunters on the coastline who are hunting geese, please be safe in traveling and happy hunting to you all. To all the people who are hunting all over in Nunavut who are still on the coast hunting on the Yukon side, happy hunting. It’s a good day today; it’s our last day here.

Item 2, Ministers’ statements. The honourable Minister of Justice, Mr. Ramsay.

Mr. Speaker, it is with a heavy heart, shock and sadness that I speak to you today about the tragedy that occurred last evening in Moncton, New Brunswick. Three RCMP officers have lost their lives and two officers have been injured in the line of duty in a way that makes no sense to any of us.

I know that I speak for all of us in extending our deepest condolences to the families of the members who gave their lives, and to the families of every RCMP officer serving in New Brunswick, in the Northwest Territories, across Canada and throughout the world. I have family in Moncton, so this strikes very close to home for me.

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to have the RCMP as our territorial and national police service. It is an honour to work with Superintendent Ron Smith and all the members and staff of RCMP "G” Division who work hard to make our homes and communities safer places, and to witness the commitment that members of the RCMP bring to their job every day, knowing the risks they face. These are our community members, friends and neighbours.

Mr. Speaker it is not certain what took place last evening, but when tragedies such as this occur, it strikes deeply in the heart of all of us. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the fallen members and the entire RCMP. I sincerely hope that our condolences bring some comfort to them during this very difficult time. We pray for Moncton. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Our thoughts and prayers are with the members’ families back in Moncton.

The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.

As Members of this House are aware, the Government of the Northwest Territories will host the 32nd Annual Meeting of

Federal-Provincial/Territorial Ministers responsible for the Status of Women on June 19 and 20, 2014, in Detah. I look forward to co-chairing this important meeting with the Honourable Kellie Leitch, the federal Minister for the Status of Women.

My colleagues and I will discuss a number of key priorities shared by federal, provincial and territorial Ministers. One issue that has been a long-standing priority of Ministers is ending violence against women and girls. This is an issue for all of us and a particular challenge in the North as Aboriginal women and girls experience violence at a disproportional rate in the Northwest Territories and across Canada.

The Government of the Northwest Territories has a number of initiatives aimed at addressing the issue of violence against women and girls in the Northwest Territories. We work with local organizations that are helping women, men and families to prevent violence. At the meeting in Detah, we will share how the Government of the Northwest Territories is working with community partners to develop action plans to reduce poverty, develop the economy and keep our communities healthy and sustainable.

Status of Women Ministers will also be discussing their work in promoting and advancing women in leadership. This includes fostering women’s active participation in community, regional, territorial and federal electoral processes and increasing the number of women appointed to corporate boards. We also want to encourage women’s participation in growing economic sectors like resource development and other non-traditional occupations. This is an area where we are seeing progress in the Northwest Territories. On a recent visit to Inuvik, I was particularly impressed with the number of women that I saw driving 40-tonne rock trucks as part of the construction of the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway Project. As Members are aware, many of our industry partners are looking for ways to increase the number of women in their workforces in many of the trades and non-traditional occupations.

While we have made much progress in advancing women in leadership, including within the Government of the Northwest Territories, there are many other women who face barriers and miss opportunities to contribute to the success of our territorial prosperity. Increasing the role of women in leadership is about equality, but it is also about the contribution that women will make if they are

given the opportunity. It is about strengthening our territory for the benefit of all Northwest Territories residents.

Mr. Speaker, I am looking forward to this meeting. It is an important opportunity for the federal, provincial and territorial governments to come together to discuss how, by working together at all levels, we can address the serious barriers to equality that continue to exist in Canada today. By coordinating our efforts, we can improve the safety, security and prosperity of women living in every community all across our country. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister of Lands, Mr. R.C. McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, the long-term health of our land, water and environment is critically important to Northerners. Devolution has given the Government and Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories new powers for managing the land and its resources sustainably and responsibly. The new Department of Lands has been established to help fulfill our new responsibilities and meet the expectations of Northerners. I am pleased to speak to Members today about the work that the new department has been doing since April 1st .

The role of Lands is to manage, administer and plan for the sustainable use of public land in the Northwest Territories in a fair and transparent manner that reflects the interests of its people. It is responsible for land use administration, including permitting and securities and for compliance and enforcement in relation to land use. It plays a key role in coordinating our government’s participation in reviewing projects going through the development approval process. It is also responsible for developing land use sustainability standards, guidelines and policies guided by the Land Use and Sustainability Framework released in the last session.

Mr. Speaker, the new department is successfully meeting the challenge of protecting the northern environment already. On our first day there was a spill incident. When the spill was reported, inspectors were immediately called into action. Our quick assessment and enforcement advice ensured the spill was cleaned up in a timely fashion without harm to the environment. In total, there have been 38 inspections completed by the regional office inspectors since the beginning of April, and of those, there is one compliance issue under formal investigation.

Project assessment coordination is an important component of the resource management function that Lands became responsible for post-devolution. The Department of Lands is responsible for coordinating GNWT participation in project reviews, ensuring government takes a consistent, thorough and timely approach to reviewing development applications. Since April 1st the department has

provided technical advice or coordination and input into nine project submissions on behalf of the GNWT. Our effective and efficient process for environmental assessment coordination supports the responsible, sustainable management of NWT resources and ensures that Ministers have sufficient time to review and agree on a government response and forward that information to the board.

Managing northern lands and natural resources sustainably requires clear priorities and a consistent approach that is supported by land use planning. The department has already begun discussions with Aboriginal governments on land use planning processes in unsettled regions, a land use plan for the Deh Cho region and a review of the Gwich’in Land Use Plan. Research and development of a recreational leasing policy has also begun, as this is a pressing issue in the Northwest Territories. This important work is detailed and complex, Mr. Speaker. Although I expect to see progress immediately, I also recognize that this will take some time in order to ensure that all parties are comfortable with the proposed plans before moving forward.

Requiring securities as a part of the development approval process helps ensure potential environmental liabilities can be remediated and the northern environment protected. Under devolution, GNWT departments now have responsibility for administration of securities related to their respective legislative mandates. Lands is responsible for holding and coordinating land-based securities for resource projects such as securities related to land use permits or surface leases. In order to institute a coordinated and government-wide approach to management of financial assurances and potential liabilities on public lands, the Department of Lands proposed the creation of a liabilities and financial assurances division. I will be moving to establish this office in the coming months and will update Members on its role and activities as work proceeds.

Since April 1st , staff have been developing

departmental processes and procedures, filling vacant positions, implementing a building relocation plan, developing consultation, French language communications, and divisional work plans and attending required training. This work has provided the foundation for the department to begin focusing on its priorities.

As a new department and in taking on new legislation, there were several immediate matters that needed to be attended to. Several small legislative amendments were required, a plan to create the NWT Surface Rights Board was developed, and Lands continues to work with the federal government to implement the changes to the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act, resulting from the federal government’s Regulatory Improvement Initiative, including the implementation of timelines.

Although much has been accomplished since establishing the Department of Lands on April 1st ,

Mr. Speaker, there is still a lot of work to complete. One of the most important priorities for Lands is the amalgamation of the Northwest Territorial Lands Act and the Commissioner’s Land Act. This work will begin soon and will be a significant effort which will take several years to complete.

Mr. Speaker, I am confident that the team we have established is well placed to make significant progress on the priorities that have been outlined for Lands. Again, recognizing it will take some time, we are committed to working with all landowners to responsibly and sustainably manage the lands, waters and natural resources of the Northwest Territories for the benefit of current and future generations. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mr. Speaker, our work on Education Renewal and Innovation is well underway, with more feedback, information and support coming forward as we share our work with northern stakeholders and experts in the field.

As you know, we have held extensive engagements with many of our stakeholders, including our education partners. This inclusive approach has continued into the development of the action plan. As we speak, the ERI team is out in the communities and regions talking to the public, teachers, parents and students. Early feedback from these meetings is very positive and people are engaged and asking good questions. All this feedback will help shape our three-year action plan.

Because we have heard from many education authorities that we need to get out into the communities, the finalization of the action plan will be a little delayed. I now expect the draft action plan to be ready this fall, coinciding with the development of business plans.

Mr. Speaker, education is changing around the world. Studies and research are emerging daily on

the need for change, that our children are not prepared for the world today. We agree, and we are gratified to learn that others do as well.

In fact, we are hearing from national and world leaders in education and related fields, providing us feedback on our proposed approach.

This past January some of you had the opportunity to meet Dr. Stuart Shanker, a world authority on self-regulation. He wrote:

“My immediate thought when I read Directions for Change was that it presents us with an inspiring “vision for the future” that applies to all children in Canada. Directions for Change will not only shape the future of the NWT but will, I hope, be read and embraced by the entire country.”

We recently also received a letter from Dr. Allan Luke, an international leader in education research. In his letter he indicates that the work he is doing in Australia strongly supports the approach we are taking:

“We have a decade of evidence from Australia but also from the U.S. and New Zealand systems that “back to basics” approaches – no matter how appealing to many – simply do not begin to address the core issues that, I believe, your Directions for Change

document

addresses head on… What is so laudable about your work is that it is “whole scale” – at the system and school level. It offers a realistic but positive overview of challenges, and then proceeds to provide a larger template for moving schools and classrooms, teachers and administrators, students and communities forward.”

Mr. Speaker, this is the feedback we are receiving from experts that live and breathe educational change. To see these words volunteered to us after a review of our Directions for Change is emphatic reinforcement that we are doing good work, it is work we need to do, and work that is moving in the right direction.

I will be tabling a collection of northern, national and international comments on the framework later today. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, one of the aims of devolution was giving Northwest Territories residents the powers and authorities they need to turn northern potential into prosperity for themselves and the country.

I have said many times that the North is the future of Canada and that our potential is bright. We have

a strong resource base that includes diamonds, gold, tungsten, rare earth metals and other minerals. We have world-class oil and gas reserves that stretch from the Beaufort-Delta through the Sahtu and down into the Deh Cho. We have untapped hydro potential that could provide clean, affordable energy for our homes and businesses and drive economic growth at home and in the South. With all this potential, Mr. Speaker, it is time for this territory to make its mark on the national and international stage.

I am pleased to say that awareness of northern potential outside of our territory continues to grow. Last month the Conference Board of Canada released its “How Canada Performs Economy” report card, which found that the three territories are outperforming most of their provincial counterparts economically. GDP for the three territories combined is expected to grow by 3 percent, exceeding the Canadian average. This confirms earlier forecasts by the Conference Board that the GDP of the territories could double by 2020, driven by long-term global demand for minerals and metals.

The Northwest Territories received an A-plus on income per capita and an A on GDP growth, with real GDP expected to grow by 1.7 percent this year. They predict that high public sector investment and the anticipated development of a new diamond mine and three new metal mines this decade will help the economy grow and generate new jobs between 2016 and 2019. While our score on labour productivity growth was low, based on weakness in the mining sector, the Northwest Territories still has the highest labour productivity in Canada and is second only to Norway among 16 international peers the Conference Board used for comparison in drafting its report.

This positive outlook for the North was confirmed late last month with the release of a policy brief from the Centre for International Governance Innovation, called “The Northwest Territories and Arctic Maritime Development in the Beaufort Area.” The report called the Northwest Territories “arguably the most promising economic region in the Canadian Arctic in terms of public and private potential, scale of resources, variety of transport routes, well-functioning territorial government and close cooperation with neighbours.” Our territory was noted for its impressive achievements in responsible resource and community development, and devolution was cited as an important step that will enhance our economic self-reliance.

For all these positive predictions, though, the CIGI stated that the lack of adequate transport corridors and infrastructure arising from complex permitting regulations and governance is preventing the territory from fully realizing its economic potential. The report’s authors called for greater federal fiscal

leadership and planning and recommend the Government of the Northwest Territories use devolution as a new opportunity for enhanced land/marine partnerships with the federal government, similar to federal/provincial nation building transportation projects in the South.

Mr. Speaker, these two reports and their recommendations highlight the message I have been delivering since I became Premier: The Northwest Territories has the resources to create prosperity and drive economic growth here at home and across Canada. Federal partnership and investment in the Northwest Territories continues to be necessary and will help this territory create jobs and economic opportunities that will benefit all Canadians.

Our government is doing its part to capitalize on the North’s potential. Devolution was an important step that gives Northerners the tools they need to manage and promote responsible, balanced development that creates prosperity while protecting our land and environment according to northern priorities and values. We continue to plan for and invest in strategic infrastructure projects that support economic growth and development, projects like the Mackenzie Valley fibre line, hydro expansion, the Mackenzie Valley Highway and the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk highway, which includes a substantial financial investment from the Government of Canada.

Our government’s agenda for prosperity is about more than just economic development, Mr. Speaker, although economic development is a foundation that we must have for success. Our agenda also includes plans for social and human development like education renewal, early childhood education, the Anti-Poverty Strategy and Mental Health and Addictions Plan. It includes plans for sustaining and protecting our environment like the Land Use and Sustainability Framework, Water Strategy and Energy Conservation and Alternative Energy initiatives. Our agenda includes plans for sharing the benefits of a prosperous and environmentally sustainable territory with all communities and regions through initiatives like decentralization and regional recruitment and capacity building initiatives, supported by plans like the Economic Opportunities Strategy and Mineral Development Strategy, that will help grow and support diversified economies throughout the Northwest Territories.

The Northwest Territories is being recognized

across Canada for its great potential, Mr. Speaker. We have known all along that we can be a strong, contributing member of Confederation. Now is the time to fulfill our promise and build the strong, self-sufficient territory we have described in our vision, in partnership with the Government of Canada, Aboriginal governments, community governments,

business, non-governmental organizations and all the people of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise Members that the Honourable Michael Miltenberger will be absent from the House today to meet with the federal Minister Joe Oliver in Toronto. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Colleagues, today I’d like to rise and draw attention to the gallery of Andy and Delphine Langlois. Our Clerk’s parents are here visiting. They are formerly from Yellowknife but they’re living in Vernon, BC. Welcome to the House.

---Applause

Item 3, Members’ statements. The honourable Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s great to see some youth in the audience today. Like you indicated today, there are quite a few graduations going on in the Northwest Territories.

I guess I’d like to speak about the education system right now. It’s in a bit of turmoil and the fact is there are lot of DEAs and authorities that are looking at what’s going on in the education system today.

Junior kindergarten is being rolled out by the government. We’ve had lots of questions in this House. This session has been mainly about asking… Every MLA has asked questions on junior kindergarten or education renewal and what the situation is.

They are definitely in turmoil. People currently in the education system are doing their hard work, and I don’t doubt that the Department of Education and the Minister are trying to make our education system better, making graduation levels higher and getting people educated in the Northwest Territories.

But right now there’s turmoil in how they’re doing it. How these two initiatives are being funded is under question in a system that was already under stress. You know, student-teacher ratios and people not having enough assistance, not enough people to support the youth that we have in our system.

We continue to ask questions and I’ll have more questions today on how we’re funding these

programs without any additional funding. It is causing turmoil throughout the Northwest Territories and it seems like the Department of Education wants to steamroll these initiatives through without even consulting or getting feedback. They’re getting tons of feedback on how are we supposed to do this, how can we do this with the same amount of dollars.

I will have questions for the Minister of Education on junior kindergarten. It is very difficult. It is frustrating from this side that we’re not getting much direction from the department on how we can do all this work without any additional funding. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One of my fondest memories from early childhood was visiting O’Callahan’s amazing and magical cabbage patch near where the Explorer Hotel now stands.

In those days if you wanted fresh vegetables here or, indeed, anywhere in the NWT, you usually grew them yourself. Back then, home and market gardens throughout the Territories supplied people with enough vegetables to meet their needs for a healthy diet. After losing that tradition, the Growing Forward II Program, a joint funding program between Canada and the GNWT, was meant to support a local produce revival. Unfortunately, red tape and delays, changing rules and inconsistent management are delaying delivery of this vital support to an industry that is extremely time sensitive. While pouring timely and large pots of money into the Take A Kid Harvesting portion of the program, growers’ applications and appeals are literally delayed for months.

Community gardeners are increasingly frustrated. After debilitating delays, delivery of the wrong soil products and other royal faux pas, we had hoped ITI would be tuned up this year. No such luck. Sadly, we see a repeat pattern this year.

Meanwhile, however, the Yellowknife Farmers Market is moving forward with the unhesitating support of the City of Yellowknife. I am very pleased to note that this Tuesday the market opened for the first evening of the year. With more vendors than ever and more customers than ever, leading to long but excited lineups, it was a very successful start to this year’s season.

While we were busy here in session, Marianne, my wife, was able to attend the market and come home with two bags of fresh lettuce and spinach, amongst other purchases. Last night, on the 4th of June, we

ate our first fresh local green salad of the season.

These market pioneers in food security are bringing back the old days in new ways. Last year the exchange at the Yellowknife Market Garden not only led people to a more active lifestyle that was better for our environment and health, they contributed half a million dollars to the local GDP and a stronger community. I have even greater expectations for market success this year. Please join me in congratulating Yellowknife Farmers Market launch of year two.

I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

With this activity and fresh greens on the table, I’m really getting in the mood for summer, and I bet you are too. I’d like to wish you, my colleagues and staff and all of your families the very best for a safe, fun and restorative summer. I’d like to say that for all the people of the Northwest Territories as well.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Over the last two weeks here we have been coming down hard on the Department of Education with some of the programs they’ve been implementing, and it’s also people from the public and other organizations, but sometimes we have to draw attention to and we can’t overlook some of the successes that we see with these guys, the department, and the support they give to our students.

Tomorrow is going to be a big day in the community of Inuvik as we graduate our second graduating class from East-Three Secondary School. At this time I’d just like to congratulate the 36 graduates reaching a significant milestone in their lives and setting a standard for future grad classes. Thirty-six is probably one of the biggest graduating classes we had out of Inuvik. A lot of these students I’ve seen grow up through the elementary school system and helped assist in coaching them, so it’s great to see them reach this milestone. I congratulate them and wish them all the best.

Actually, I also want to congratulate and recognize any of the graduates who had to face extra challenges by coming to Inuvik to do their schooling from some of the surrounding communities.

I’d also like to give special thanks to the teachers for all that they do to assist our youth to succeed and graduate and be able to walk tomorrow. Not only them, but we had assistants, we had school staff in keeping the school operating, and they all

had a big part in seeing these 36 students walk tomorrow and receive their diploma.

The commitment and hard work of these graduates has finally paid off and tomorrow will certainly be one of the biggest days of their lives. I just want to give a quick message to these students that I wish them the best in their future endeavours in whatever they do, but I’ve always been a big supporter of education and I hope a lot of them continue to further their education whether it’s in a trade, a skill or go receive post-secondary education in an institution down south or enrol in the Aurora College system as well.

Tomorrow the graduation ceremonies take place. I know there are going to be a lot of happy faces. Minister McLeod and myself attended last year, and a lot of the individuals that were there, we saw a lot of families who actually were so happy and filled with joy to see their students graduate. Sometimes it was the first child in their family to graduate.

Tomorrow, I think, is going to be a very happy day for a lot of people in Inuvik. Families, friends, educators, supporters, but a special thanks to the parents who get these students up in the mornings, get them out the door to the classrooms and make sure they get their homework. As I said, tomorrow will be the biggest day in the lives of these students. I just hope that they celebrate responsibly. These graduates are role models and leaders for their younger siblings, their peers and the community of Inuvik.

Good job. I just wanted to express my happiness to the graduates and their families and the community of Inuvik.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Ten days from now, June 15th , is Elder Abuse Awareness

Day, and I’m wearing purple today to again highlight and bring awareness to the problem of elder abuse.

Elders make a difference in our communities every day. They are deeply involved in our communities, and their contributions, big and small, benefit NWT residents of all ages. Elder abuse, though, is a significant threat to the older residents of the NWT in both small communities and larger centres. In the last 30 years or so, elder abuse has become an increasingly important issue and is now seen as a public problem that needs attention.

The NWT is celebrating Senior Citizens Month for the first time this year and we’re the first jurisdiction in Canada to set aside a whole month, this month of June, to recognize and spend time with older adults.

Just a reminder, elder abuse is defined as any kind of physical, sexual, psychological or economic abuse as well as neglect. Perhaps surprisingly, male elders are at almost the same risk for abuse as female elders. Elders are taken advantage of because they are physically frail or have diminished capacity. Family members often extort money from their elders or force them to sign over property. Elders, unfortunately, are an easy target.

Mr. Speaker, elder abuse does not discriminate. It happens in institutions as well as private homes and to elders of all ages.

Our elders should be respected and honoured. They hold the wisdom, the history and traditional knowledge of our communities and our territory. We must not ignore elder abuse, and understanding it gives us the power to fight it.

Society has to recognize that elder abuse and neglect is occurring and raise awareness of the problem. We must inform health and social services practitioners and the general public about elder abuse. We all must know how to identify the signs of elder abuse and know where to find the help to combat it.

We need to use the media to change attitudes and reduce stereotyping of the elderly. We need to educate our elders, as well, to help them fight back.

All of these actions bring the problem of elder abuse out into the open and encourage acknowledgement that it is a problem and let’s start to eradicate it.

So to all my colleagues, on Sunday, June 15th ,

wear purple as you did on Monday. Find an elder, show them the respect they deserve and let them know you care. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are just taking our first steps in a new regime in which a Minister responsible for non-renewable resources is also the regulator of these developments. This structure is quite common across Canada, but this is now a new reality for the Northwest Territories consensus-style of government.

I believe many Members of this House are still a bit perplexed on how we will plan to collaborate as a Caucus in our roles in consensus government with senior bureaucrats and other key stakeholders to establish a balanced and reasonably sustainable approach to project development in the Northwest Territories.

Therefore, today I wish to provide a homework list of my top eight questions for the Minister and

department to work on during our down time this summer. At times the regulator is privy to information that would not be in the public’s best interest to disclose or debate, such as a company’s net profit projects, so how will situations like these be dealt with in response?

How can we ensure that information disclosure will respect the public’s best interest and not place any corporation, agency or other organization at a significant advantage or disadvantage?

How will corporate involvement and development of government programs and strategies, such as the Mineral Development and Economic Opportunities strategies, continue under this new regime?

How can we ensure that all residents of the Northwest Territories will have the opportunity to be represented in the Legislative Assembly’s decision-making process?

Will the Legislative Assembly be able to convene a joint committee on matters related to oil and gas operations similar to the Yukon’s current all-party committee on hydraulic fracturing?

Will Regular Members and committee staff still be able to participate in fact-finding missions, representations or other reviews of oil and gas development and technology?

How will decisions be reached in situations where the views of departmental advisors differ widely from the oil and gas committee or the Members of the Legislative Assembly?

Finally, Mr. Speaker, outside their review process, are other Cabinet members allowed to make their opinions known to the regulator?

Clearly, my concern today is how consensus-style government will withstand the rigour and complexity with that of devolution authority and regulatory control. The Cabinet and Premier are now tasked to ensure transparency and accountability and I look forward to hearing responses to my concerns the next time we gather.

Until then, to all my colleagues, residents of the Northwest Territories and to you, Mr. Speaker, I wish everyone a very safe summer. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Nadli.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have been paying attention to the debate about junior kindergarten. At this point several things are clear, but the debate is like a puzzle with a few missing pieces. It’s clear that junior kindergarten is just one component of the Early Childhood Development Action Plan. It’s being delivered without new

funding by addressing the pupil-teacher ratio. It will be free and optional, providing alternatives for parents who need daycare. This is especially valuable in small communities where no daycare options exist. I get all of that, Mr. Speaker.

What I’m concerned about is how junior kindergarten will affect Aboriginal Head Start sites in the eight communities where they are operating. For the past 17 years, with the funding from Health Canada, the NWT has hosted several Aboriginal Head Start programs. They are now operating in Fort Providence, Hay River, Fort Smith, Yellowknife, Behchoko, Paulatuk, Inuvik and Fort McPherson. All combined, over 200 preschoolers attend each year.

The Head Start program focuses on Aboriginal culture, language, school readiness, nutrition and social skills. Parents and elders are actively involved. The curriculum has been refined in recent years, so it’s a really impressive operation, exactly what our preschoolers need.

Yesterday on the radio, some disturbing comments were voiced by Ms. Reanna Erasmus, an experienced Head Start educator and chair of the Western Arctic Aboriginal Head Start program. Ms. Erasmus is worried that junior kindergarten will duplicate the Head Start program and jeopardize its viability. She also wonders if the quality of JK programming will match the quality of Head Start programming. Ms. Erasmus says the Education Minister has rebuffed any discussion on modelling the new program off the existing one. She said, “We don’t like the idea that Minister Lafferty may be unintentionally killing the Aboriginal Head Start program.” Ms. Erasmus says, “It’s too expensive and there aren’t enough children to warrant running two early childhood programs in the small communities.”

Those are pretty strong words, Mr. Speaker. I want to know the extent to which there’s truth in them.

I will have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today my statement is on members of my constituency who are either full-time or part-time harvesters.

Many of our people in the Northwest Territories have cabins on the land where they go to harvest food for their families or where they take their children to teach traditional survival skills. Culture is high on my list of priorities, Mr. Speaker, and it gives me great pride when I see families who spend

time on the land, who take time to share their cultural values with their children and who, at the same time, are surviving off the land.

Many people in the Mackenzie Delta in my communities of Tsiigehtchic, Aklavik and Fort McPherson, still live on the land. They go for the spring, summer, fall and winter. Each season brings an abundance of wildlife, trapping, fishing, harvesting, and the list goes on.

When you are in the bush or on the land, it gives you a renewed strength and energy and makes you proud of what you are doing. I want to remind the Members that in the spring of 2013 there was a flood in the Mackenzie Delta. During this flood, cabins were damaged by water. Some cabins were ruined by the ice jamming and the majority of these cabins are unlivable.

Disaster compensation forms were filled out and these people who had their cabins ruined have been denied any kind of compensation. Like I’ve said, all these people take time to go out on the land to spend time with their families, to teach children to eat our healthy, traditional foods. Our policy needs to be revisited in order for cabin owners to have some sort of funding coming to them so that they can rebuild their cabins, take their children back to the land and to continue teaching and sharing what we were taught.

It’s been over a year and our constituents continue to wait for answers regarding these flood claims. When will the department give us answers? I would also like to know when they last visited their policy and revised it. How soon can the department take another look and reconsider these claims? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Blake. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to use the occasion today to speak on something that is very important to many of us and it actually touches many of our lives.

The Canadian Cancer Society has just released their statistics report for 2014. It provides an estimate of cancer rates for Canada for the current year and highlights cancer trends.

This report is prepared annually through the partnership of the Canadian Cancer Society, the Public Health Agency of Canada, Statistics Canada, and they also have partners in provincial and territorial cancer registries.

This year’s report includes a special chapter on skin cancer with the emphasis on melanoma, which is the deadliest form of skin cancer and a very

common form of skin cancer among young Canadians. Melanoma usually appears on the skin, but can be found in the eyes or in the lining of the nose, mouth or even in a person’s private parts.

Like these types of skin cancers, it’s about 90 percent preventable. Melanoma rates are on the rise in Canada, which highlights the need for better efforts to ensure we work to prevent these things. Tanning beds and sunlamps give off ultraviolet rays, which we all know are many times stronger than the natural light. The Canadian Cancer Society, in tandem with the World Health Organization, recommends that no one under the age of 18 use these types of tanning equipment.

On many occasions I have raised this particular issue and even in late 2013 – as the Minister scrambles to catch up on this issue in his briefing notes. Frankly, the Department of Health did act, so he doesn’t have worry. He doesn’t have questions today.

The fact is the Department of Health did listen to this issue that I’ve been raising and I’m very thankful for that. Last year the Government of Canada introduced legislation under the Public Health Act prohibiting youth from using tanning beds, another good step in ensuring that we’re fighting the battle against melanoma rates and certainly taking care of our youth where it matters.

I, as many people know, have been a long-time champion of this particular problem, but I have to thank the Canadian Cancer Society, the Alberta-NWT Division not only for their inspiration and insight but certainly their stewardship on what they provide Canadians and Northerners for advice. Their goal is to help people by bringing awareness to this problem, and they are doing a great job of it. They believe if we could focus on melanoma and educate the public about the risk of skin cancer and the prevention steps, we can do much better.

We can’t do it alone, but we need everyone to join in on this fight, become more aware and take better care of ourselves. If I may finally say, Mr. Speaker, as we roll into the summer, we all know what that means. Northerners want to be out more on the land or the beach, whatever the case may be. So cover up, take care of yourselves, especially your loved ones. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Being this is the last day of session, I wanted to use this as an opportunity to highlight some of the events that are going to be taking place

in Inuvik and the Beaufort-Delta during the summer, but before I do that I want to express, on behalf of some of the Members who went to Hay River last night, our appreciation to the organizers of the Hay River Track and Field Meet for their hospitality. It was a great event, one that we always support and I think the kids appreciate that.

The one memory that stood out, though, was at the opening ceremonies, without prompting, you had close to 900 kids belting out O Canada as loud as they can. That was really something to see. It made you proud to be from the NWT and proud to be Canadian when you see our young people doing that without prompting.

We’re also working on a four by 100 relay team for next year. I think they meant 400 metres, not 100 feet. So we’ll have to do a little bit of training. We’ll have tryouts and whoever can survive 100 feet is on the team.

Okay, that part of it is done. I want to talk about some of the events that are going on. Again, as Mr. Speaker pointed out, today is the 30th anniversary

of the Inuvialuit Final Agreement and they’ve done a fantastic job preserving the Inuvialuit culture and giving the Inuvialuit opportunities to succeed. They have an excellent post-secondary school support program, as do the Gwich’in. I think we have fantastic post-secondary school programming in the Northwest Territories, supported by our Aboriginal government.

Also this summer in Inuvik is the Inuit Circumpolar Council will be holding their annual general meeting, I believe, July 21st to the 24th and we’ll

have over 600 delegates from Alaska, Russia, the NWT and Canada and Greenland and this is a good opportunity again. It’s going to be a fun time to see the cultures of all the other Inuit people from across the circumpolar world and this started out in, I think, 1977 they had their first meeting in Barrow and it just built upon this.

So we’re looking forward to that. Their theme this year is “One Arctic, One Future” and as my colleague from Boot Lake pointed out, the Aurora College grad we had just recently and we congratulate all those that have graduated, and I think the Premier pointed out that there was only one male amongst all the graduates. So the ladies have done a fantastic job and a lot of them do it raising families, too, which makes it that much more incredible. So hats off to them.

East 3 grad is happening and my colleague and I… Well, he said it’s going to happen tomorrow. So he and I are going to show up tomorrow. We’ll be the only two there because it’s actually happening on Saturday. So we’ll wait till then, Mr. Moses.

Inuvik Petroleum Show is happening in June. Again, it’s another exciting opportunity for people in

Inuvik, and even with the slowdown we still have a lot of industry people coming. We appreciate that.

The Gwich’in Assembly is taking place in Aklavik August the 19th to the 21st .

So I wanted to just highlight a few of the events that are taking place in Inuvik, and being that we’re just starting the summer I want to wish all my colleagues here a safe summer, and all the people back home, summer is a great time to get out with the family, enjoy what the Northwest Territories has to offer. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Lafferty.

HON. JACKSON LAFFERTY: Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. [Translation] I would like to tell the House about things that are coming up in our region in the Tlicho Nation. We have received a letter from the Northwest Territories Human Rights Commission. We have received a letter from them, the Tlicho, and on the letter, Whati, Gameti, they have now opened an office for them and they will be representing disabled people and elders. They will also be able to support all the disabled people by providing the facilities for disabilities. So that will be happening in the Tlicho region.

I am the MLA, so I would like to recognize the work that they have done and I would like to recognize that there will be an opening. So I would like to say thank you to our community and the Tlicho region. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Item 4, reports of standing and special committees. Mr. Nadli.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, your Standing Committee on Government Operations is pleased to provide its Report on the Review of the 2012-2013 Annual Report of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of the Northwest Territories and commends it to the House.

Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Frame Lake, that Committee Report 9-17(5), Report of the Standing Committee on Government Operations on the Review of the 2012-2013 Annual Report of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of the Northwest Territories, be deemed as read and printed in Hansard in its entirety.

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The motion is in order. To the motion.

Question has been called.

---Carried

Committee Report 9-17(5) is deemed read and is to be printed in Hansard in its entirety.

Introduction

The Access to Information and Protection of Privacy (ATIPP) Act came into force on December 31, 1996. The law was created to promote government accountability by balancing access to government information with the protection of individual privacy rights related to that information.

Under the act, the Information and Privacy Commissioner (IPC) is appointed for a five-year term as an independent officer of the Legislative Assembly. The act requires the Commissioner to file an annual report on her activities and authorizes the Commissioner to include recommendations for amending the legislation to improve the act’s efficiency and effectiveness.

The Standing Committee on Government Operations conducted a review of the 2012-2013 Annual Report of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of the Northwest Territories, which was tabled in the Legislative Assembly on February 11, 2014. Members would like to thank Ms. Elaine Keenan Bengts for her report and for her appearance before the committee at the public review on April 25, 2014. The committee also wants to take this opportunity to thank Ms. Keenan Bengts for her continued commitment and dedication to all matters relating to access to information and the protection of privacy by public agencies in the Northwest Territories.

Commissioner’s 2012-2013 Activities

In 2012-2013 the Commissioner opened 16 new files, down from 27 in 2011-2012. Of the 16 new files, seven dealt with health information. Ms. Keenan Bengts completed 12 review recommendations, an increase of two over the previous year. Of these recommendations, seven were focused on the collection, use or disclosure of health information. This, undoubtedly, prompted the

Commissioner to call 2012-2013 “the year of health privacy concerns.” As noted in the Commissioner’s message at the opening of the report:

“The issues ranged from patient concerns about the way in which their personal health information was being shared within the confines of a health authority to concerns raised by patients who were also employees of one of the Northwest Territories’ health authorities who questioned whether or not fellow employees or supervisors had access to their personal health records. And, once again, there were cases of misdirected faxes containing personal health information.” (page 7)

Of the cases resulting in review recommendations, the recommendations of the IPC were adopted in full by the relevant public body in six cases; partially adopted in two cases; not applicable in two cases, as no recommendations were made; and not accepted in two cases.

Eight public bodies were involved in 14 matters before the IPC in 2012-2013. Of these, the Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority, the Dehcho Health and Social Services Authority, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Department of Education, Culture and Employment each had two or more matters before the IPC.

Recommendations for Legislative Change

As already noted, the Information and Privacy Commissioner is authorized to make recommendations for legislative change. This year the Commissioner highlighted five legislative issues. Of these, four relate to long-standing recommendations raised in her past reports and forwarded to this House by the standing committee: new health privacy legislation, access and privacy legislation for municipalities, the need for a general review of the ATIPP Act and what a revised act might include. In addition, the IPC has raised another matter for consideration, that of access to information and protection of privacy by First Nations governments.

Implementation of New Health Information Privacy Legislation

Again this year the Information and Privacy Commissioner has made her concerns known regarding the potential for breaches of privacy within the health and social services system, which were heightened with the move to electronic medical records in 2010.

Of the breach-of-privacy complaints reviewed by the IPC in 2012-2013, two illustrate the problems that can arise with respect to the handling of medical information. In the first example, Review Recommendation 12-106, a complaint was brought against the Beaufort-Delta Health and Social Services Authority (BDHSSA) by a complainant

who was also an employee. This individual requested that access to his paper medical records be restricted to protect the privacy of his medical issues from coworkers, after he received care at the Inuvik Hospital. Pursuant to his request, the paper records were immediately secured. However, when the complainant later grew concerned about his electronic records, he requested an audit and learned these records had been accessed 12 times outside the period during which he received medical attention.

The IPC’s review of the audit confirmed that the majority of times the records were accessed it was for legitimate reasons, but revealed that for several of the entries it could not be determined who was accessing the records and no reason had been recorded for the access. The BDHSSA argued there was no evidence to suggest that the information on the file had been improperly used or disclosed.

In commenting on this case, the Commissioner expressed the opinion that “the onus lies on the health authorities to provide evidence that all access to an individual’s personal health records is proper and for a legitimate reason under the act… Individuals have a right to know who has accessed their records and for what purposes. If the health authority cannot do that, there is a flaw in the system.” (pages 23, 22)

The IPC made six recommendations, detailed on page 24 of the report. Recommendations included: conducting a thorough privacy impact assessment on the electronic record system; removing generic computer names and passwords from the computer system; taking steps to ensure every access to the system includes a reason; instituting a system of regular random audits on the system; and improving training on privacy for staff, including regular messaging about the importance of keeping health records private. The BDHSSA accepted all of the recommendations in full.

In the second example, Review Recommendation 12-109, a complaint was brought against the Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority (YHSSA) by an employee of the GNWT who required accommodation in the workplace as a result of physical and psychological challenges and who was concerned that his physician had improperly disclosed personal health information, including a psychiatric assessment, to his employer.

The IPC found that, while no actual disclosure had occurred in this instance, because the information in question was recovered from the employer unopened, there were a number of problems with the processes around disclosing medical information. In commenting on this case, she found that “While the oath of confidentiality is meant to prevent the discussion of personal information

outside of the workplace, this does not address unauthorized or inappropriate access to personal health records. These are two different…issues.” (page 31)

The Commissioner recommended that a system be developed for dealing with consents, including a place on forms for patients to provide any instructions, and that when patients request disclosure, a note be made on their files. These recommendations were accepted by the YHSSA.

Review Recommendation 12-112, by comparison, illustrates a case in which the recommendations of the IPC were not accepted by the health and social services authority in question, which is not named in the report.

In this complaint regarding breach of privacy and improper use or disclosure of personal medical information, the complainant, an employee of the GNWT, was asked to obtain a letter of prognosis from his physician. He signed his consent on a form provided to him by his employer, which was to be completed by the employee and his doctor. The complainant understood the doctor would complete this letter and return it to the complainant for delivery to the employer. Instead the doctor forwarded the completed form and letter to all Human Resources staff members, copied on the original letter requesting the prognosis.

The health and social services authority argued that because the complainant signed a form consenting to disclose health information to “the GNWT” that this was sufficient to authorize disclosure of personal health information to everyone copied on the form. Regardless, the Commissioner concluded that there had been a breach of privacy.

In commenting on this case, the Commissioner noted that the doctor’s report “should have been directed only to the complainant’s supervisor... This is not just semantics or a technicality. This is about the law which restricts public bodies and employees of public bodies from using or disclosing the personal information of individuals except in accordance with the act.” (page 37) The health and social services authority in question did not accept that providing a copy of the doctor’s report to all of those copied on the request was a breach of the patient’s privacy because “the result was ultimately consistent with the purpose for which the information was collected and compiled.”

The IPC recommended that the consent form be revised to clarify ambiguities, that all health care workers be given more training and that procedures be developed to clarify what is required of health care workers when consent is being obtained.

The health and social services authority did not accept the recommendations and did not agree to review their own practices, but ultimately agreed to forward the IPC’s recommendations to the GNWT’s

Human Resources and Health and Social Services departments.

The committee notes that, with the heightened duty to accommodate employees suffering from illness or injury, circumstances requiring the disclosure by physicians of employee medical information to the GNWT are only more likely to occur in future. Therefore, it is incumbent upon health and social services authorities in the NWT and the departments of Human Resources and Health and Social Services to ensure that the forms employees are required to fill out are clear and unequivocal regarding consent.

The IPC has noted in past reports that the number of complaints focusing on concerns about the privacy of health information points to the need for health information privacy legislation. The new Health Information Act was approved on March 13, 2014.

In her report the Commissioner noted that she was pleased the legislation is under development – it had yet to receive assent at the writing of her report – but cautioned that effective implementation will rely on educating health sector workers and the public. The IPC suggested that the public needs to understand how their personal information will be collected, used and disclosed and that health information custodians will need to develop new policies and procedures.

The committee wholly concurs with this observation and strongly encourages the government to work with NWT health and social services authorities to ensure that all staff members are educated about their responsibilities under the act and that members of the public are provided with the information they need to understand how the new legislation will impact on the use and disclosure of their medical information.

The IPC also pointed out that the necessary resources will have to be put into the oversight function so that the office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner will be able to take on the inevitable increase in workload brought about by the implementation of the Health Information Act. The Commissioner advised the committee that she will be bringing forward to the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly a business plan which will include a proposal for additional resources, and she asked for the committee’s support for this evolution of her office.

While the committee feels that it is premature to offer support for the proposal until it is received and reviewed, the committee is supportive, in principle, of the work carried out by the IPC and of the provision of adequate resources to enable the Commissioner to properly fulfill the mandate of the office.

Information and Privacy Legislation for Municipalities

The three northern territories are the only Canadian jurisdictions that do not have information and privacy legislation for municipalities. Municipalities collect and retain significant amounts of personal information about citizens and employees. There is no recourse in the Northwest Territories for citizens when this information is improperly used, nor are there any rules governing citizens’ access to municipal information.

Since 2007-2008 the IPC has been encouraging the GNWT to find ways to include municipalities under the ATIPP Act or under their own legislation. The Commissioner has repeated this recommendation in her 2012-2013 Annual Report.

Two years ago the committee recommended the implementation of access and privacy legislation for municipalities, with a bill to be brought forward within the first two years of the 17th Assembly. The

government’s response, TD 51-17(3), tabled October 17, 2012, acknowledged the importance of the issue, recognized that this recommendation was outstanding and noted that a working group, led by the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, was established to review how all NWT municipalities may be brought under existing access and privacy legislation and to develop a discussion paper for stakeholders.

Last year the recommendation was again repeated that the GNWT expedite work on bringing municipalities under access to information and protection of privacy legislation. This time, in its response, TD 114-17(4), tabled October 17, 2013, the GNWT indicated that “the estimated timeline for this initiative is as follows: • complete background research – January 2014 • complete discussion paper – March 2014 • circulate discussion paper to key stakeholders –

April/May 2014

• draft “What We Heard” report – June 2014 • develop final report and recommendations –

July to October 2014.

The Standing Committee on Government Operations strongly recommends that this work, which has been outstanding for many years, be completed by the government in accordance with its own timeline and without further delay.

Recommendation 1

The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories make every effort to complete the work necessary to bring municipalities under access to information and protection of privacy legislation; and

that the government table its review report and discussion paper in the 2014 fall sitting, identifying next steps and resources necessary to complete this legislative initiative within the life of the 17th Assembly.

Review of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act

In her 2012-2013 Annual Report, as in her four previous reports, the Information and Privacy Commissioner again recommended a general review of the ATIPP Act. The Northwest Territories ATIPP Act has now been in force for 18 years. Access and privacy laws in other jurisdictions, and indeed other statutes of the Northwest Territories, provide for regular reviews at five- or 10-year intervals.

The IPC calls upon the GNWT to do a comprehensive review of the ATIPP Act, echoing the Information and Privacy Commissioners of Canada who, at their 2012 Annual Meeting, acknowledged that most access and privacy legislation in the country today has remained relatively unchanged since the 1980s and called upon federal, provincial and territorial governments to modernize and strengthen these laws. A copy of this call to action is appended to the IPC’s report as Appendix A on page 52.

In its response to last year’s standing committee report, TD 114-17(4), the GNWT reiterated its commitment to undertake a comprehensive review of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act and provided, as part of its response, a progress report on the review. However, the government qualified its commitment by noting that “the scope and pace of advancements noted in the progress report factor in the competing priorities and the resources of the (GNWT access and privacy) office which currently has one dedicated position focusing on GNWT initiatives.”

The committee is pleased that work to review the ATIPP legislation has commenced and appreciates the challenges associated with limited resources and competing priorities. The committee notes, however, the Commissioner’s observation that information is one of the most important natural resources in today’s world. The committee joins the IPC in urging the GNWT to review the ATIPP Act to ensure it can effectively address changes in government practices, such as public/private partnerships, outsourcing and shared services models; changes in technology, such as electronic medical records; and changes in the public’s expectations of government accountability and the corresponding growing demand for government accountability, as demonstrated by activist whistleblowers.

The committee asks the GNWT to provide an update on the status of its work and to demonstrate its commitment to completing this work by ensuring

that an update to the ATIPP Act is introduced during the life of the 17th Legislative Assembly.

Recommendation 2

The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories provide an updated detailed progress report to this Assembly on work done towards a comprehensive review of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act and that updates to the act be introduced during the life of the 17th Legislative Assembly.

Proactive Disclosure or “Access by Design”

The IPC recommended that any review of the ATIPP Act should include a consideration of the benefits of including the requirement for public agencies to plan for privacy implications at the outset when developing legislation, programs, policies or services. This can be done by requiring privacy impact assessments and instituting “privacy by design.” This approach is a proactive way to ensure access to more government information, notes the IPC, suggesting that the GNWT should be exploring ways to do this through new and less expensive online technologies to provide a more streamlined and less formalized route to access most government records. As the IPC noted previously, “There is no good reason not to be providing more access to more government information pro-actively.”

The committee feels that there is considerable merit in this approach, noting that in this information age it can only be of benefit to the government to plan for access and privacy considerations at the outset, rather than having to rely on remedial solutions in those instances when government’s activities are found to be inadequate under the ATIPP Act.

Start a Discussion about ATIPP for First Nations Governments

The case which gave rise to Review Recommendation 12-108 in the IPC’s 2012-2013 Annual Report highlights the matter of access to information and protection of privacy by First Nations governments.

In this case, a consultant requested a copy of the Barren Ground Caribou Harvesting Interim Agreement between the GNWT’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources, ENR, and the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, YDFN, a subject described by the IPC as being of some controversy and considerable public interest.

ENR met with YDFN and concluded that the loss of trust between the parties would outweigh the public policy benefit of accountability. ENR refused to disclose the agreement on the grounds that to do so would impair relations between the GNWT and YDFN.

During the review, the IPC sought direct YDFN input and learned they were strongly opposed to disclosure of the agreement. The IPC concluded the YDFN is not a public body under the act and, therefore, not subject to the same rules. She also concluded that ENR’s concern about impairing the relationship was founded.

The Commissioner recommended that ENR fully analyze its position on disclosure, bearing in mind that “disclosure is the rule and exceptions should be interpreted narrowly,” and that ENR carefully consider disclosing those portions already within public knowledge and those stating facts and background.

In light of matters discussed in Review Recommendation 12-108, concerning the Barren Ground Caribou Harvesting Interim Agreement between ENR and YDFN, the IPC recommended that the GNWT begin the dialogue about ensuring First Nations governments in the NWT are also required to provide access to information. The IPC recognizes that this is not a matter that the GNWT has full authority over, but recommends, nonetheless, that all levels of government begin the discussion.

The committee acknowledges this recommendation but notes that Aboriginal governments are autonomous, independent governments that are not subject to the ATIPP Act. Therefore, it is entirely at the discretion of these governments how they choose to address matters of access to information and protection of privacy regarding the information they collect and disclose.

The committee does note, however, that where the GNWT enters into agreements with other governments, the GNWT should be advising these governments as to its obligations under the ATIPP Act, so that there is a clear understanding of what information the GNWT may be required to disclose. This also points to the value of “access by design,” so that the GNWT anticipates, in advance, the possibility of such requests and can factor this into planning future intergovernmental agreements or similar arrangements entered into with parties not subject to ATIPP.

Conclusion

The committee wishes to reiterate, again this year, how fortunate the people of the Northwest Territories are to have had the services of Ms. Elaine Keenan Bengts as the NWT’s Information and Privacy Commissioner. Ms. Keenan Bengts, a lawyer in private practice, has served in her capacity as the IPC since 1997. As noted in last year’s report of the committee, this length of service provides the territory with remarkable continuity and expertise in the complex and evolving field of access to information and protection of privacy. The Standing Committee on Government Operations is grateful for Ms. Keenan Bengts’ passion for

information and privacy rights in northern Canada and respects her work in reviewing complaints and making thoughtful, well-considered recommendations for legislative change. Members are committed to giving the Commissioner’s recommendations due consideration, forwarding them as appropriate to this House and following up with the government on their implementation.

Recommendation 3

The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories provide a comprehensive response to this report within 120 days.

Mr. Nadli.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to waive Rule 93(4) and move Committee Report 9-17(5) into Committee of the Whole for consideration today. Mahsi.

---Unanimous consent granted

Item 5, returns to oral questions. Item 6, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It gives me great pleasure to recognize the grades 5 and 6 Mildred Hall class and their teacher, Ms. Deb Horen. Before I introduce them all, I want to thank them for being extremely patient and well-behaved. I know how tough it is sitting here listening to us. It’s hard for us some days too. I’d like to quickly run through all their names and I’ll do my very best to pronounce them properly. I’d like to thank them all for coming again today. I’d like to acknowledge Alexis Head, Anna Washie, Arayah Hudson, Ashton Moss, Azeen Murtaza, Brooklyn Bertram, Carter Yakeleya, Chloe Houle, Cody Taylor, Damon Dwojak, Fabiha Zihan, Tyson Williah, Jason Nguyen, Jordan Balsillie, Joseph Nayally, Kelsy Nayally, Madeline Maguire, Maiya Klengenberg, Nathanya Liske, Odin Hall, Princess Duculan, Randy Porter, Riley McCullum, Riley Savoie, Royce Doolitttle, Ryan Lafferty, Shayla Huynh, Shelby Lafond, Yamozha Beaulieu and Nahlin Jack, as well as I would also like to thank Jean Maguire, who is their educational assistant, who is there today. If everyone can give a quick wave to the camera, and I’d like to say thanks very much for coming.

Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m very pleased to have a Grade 6 social studies class from William McDonald School in Frame Lake. I’m pleased to welcome them here. I will ask them to rise so they can be recognized when I read their names, and I’ll do my best not to mispronounce.

Ivan Ceria, Logan Clarke, Joshua Donison, Safiya Hashi, Dylan Heaton-Vecsei, Cace Heffernan, Ethan Kirizopoulus, Mia MacInnis, Riley Menard, Rae Panayi, Justin Powder, Nathan Shereni, Anusha Sivakumar, and they’re accompanied by their teacher, Melanie Parisella, and their executive assistant, Carolyn Sauvageau. Welcome to you all.

I also would like to welcome here this afternoon the chairs of the two Yellowknife school boards: Mr. John Stephenson, chair of Yellowknife Education District No. 1, and Mr. Simon Taylor, chair of the Yellowknife Catholic Schools Board, and the assistant superintendent for business from YCS, Mr. Mike Huvenaars. Welcome all. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would also like to recognize all the students in the House today. It adds a certain energy to the room. I would also like to recognize that there are undoubtedly students from Weledeh, that’s the Old Town and Niven Lake and Ndilo and Detah. I certainly recognize Rae Panayi, a neighbour from down there in Peace River Flats. Welcome to the House. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s great to see so many students here. I’d like to welcome them all to the Assembly today. I also wanted to recognize one of our Pages, Delaney Beaton, who is with us today. She’s a Grade 8 student at St. Joe’s. I’d like to thank her for her work and all the work that the Pages have put in for Members during these last two weeks. Thank you very much.

I also want to recognize both school board chairs: from YK1, John Stephenson; and from YCS, Simon Taylor. I know Mike Huvenaars, the assistant superintendent, is here as well. Welcome, folks. I know I have two schools in my riding of Kam Lake, two great schools: N.J. Macpherson and St. Joseph, so I’m glad to see the folks here today. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to introduce to you and through you a number of people. Some of them have been introduced here today but I think I need to re-emphasize that. From Range Lake we have Mr. Mike Huvenaars, superintendent, and on the floor of the House here we have Page Sommer Snow, who is with us here. I would like to thank all the Pages. They have done a good job this week. Of course, our students, as indicated, our proceedings go a lot better with our students here in the gallery, and of course, our board chair is here with us today.

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. I would like to recognize my two Pages that I have here this week from Sachs Harbour: Calysta Lucas-Kudlak and Cheyenne Gully. Travelling with them is Kim Lucas. Welcome to the House.

Item 7, acknowledgements. Mr. Nadli.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to acknowledge Susan Fleck. Susan, yesterday, was the recipient of the Premier’s Award for collaboration. Susan was part of the Wildlife Act Working Group. Susan Fleck is a part-time executive director with the Dehcho Land Use Planning Committee in Fort Providence.

Susan was the director of wildlife from December 2005 until September 2011, when she lived in Yellowknife.

Susan was very much involved with the ENR personnel working group that faced an immense challenge in dealing with the 2012 bison anthrax outbreak in the summer of 2012.

She traded 25 employees for 25 sled dogs when she moved to Fort Providence. I’d like to congratulate Susan today.

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. Mr. Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize Ms. Margaret Miller, this year’s recipient of the Outstanding Volunteer Award for the elder category.

They say that time is the most precious thing we can give to others as we only have a set amount of it. If we give someone our time, we give away a little bit of our life that we’ll never get back. Giving our time is the simplest contribution we can make to help others and to make our community a better place.

Ms. Margaret Miller is one of the most dedicated and hardworking community members in Inuvik. It would be hard to find an organization, fundraiser or an event in town that she has not been a part of. Margaret has volunteered for the Great Northern Arts Festival, the Inuvik Food Bank, Santa’s Elves, and Arctic Paws, just to name a few.

May her example be an inspiration to others.

Thank you, Mr. Moses. Item 8, oral questions. The Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There has been a lot of debate around junior kindergarten and much of that has to do with funding or the apparent lack of funding that is provided to educational authorities to implement this new program. Most of this criticism was around the funding and, I believe, not the merits of junior kindergarten itself. Again, my questions today will be for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

I think the burning question here today, and I think in the minds of many, is: Why did the Minister just not seek additional funding to pay for junior kindergarten?

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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I guess simply put is that we don’t have the new funding available to us. I’ve been trying to get some actual numbers from Finance where our financial situation is and obviously we’re not in a positive in that regard. In a perfect world, obviously, we would be seeking additional funding, but since we don’t have that at this point, I had to work innovatively and creatively within our department, so that’s what we have done. We’ve reached out to the PTR that’s available to us. We’re still under our legislated level, so you’ll have to keep that in mind. We’re at that point.

I’m sure the Minister will receive more questions on this topic later today. I have heard the Minister say countless times, and many times, that the graduation rates in small communities have declined. This is a disturbing trend and I think everyone here is very concerned. All the more reason to avoid, in my humble opinion, diverting funding from K to 12 to junior kindergarten.

My question to the Minister of ECE is: How can graduation rates in these small communities be improved if ECE is just pulling away money from K to 12 and just putting it into junior kindergarten?

The Member for Inuvik congratulated 36 graduates, and that’s just one area that we should be proud of and we’ll continue to push that forward. An investment in JK is an investment in the K to 12 overall school system. That’s what we’re doing. Out of the $150

million that we distribute to the school boards, we’re using that funding to educate those individuals so that they can graduate and continue on to post-secondary.

Our research shows us that investment in early childhood of a child’s life has the greatest impact on their lifelong learning and part of their journey as children and grown-ups, and you know that 10 of our smallest communities do not have any education programming. Those are some of the investments that we’ll continue to do, and that means that parents who believe their children will benefit from quality programs for four-year-olds have no options. I believe we’re doing what we can to assist those individual communities.

I have listened carefully to the debate over the last few months and even today and have listened to constituents who are afraid that junior kindergarten will reduce the funding available to children with special needs especially requiring one-on-one attention.

My question to the Minister of ECE is as follows: Can you assure this House and the parents of the Northwest Territories that funding for students who require extraordinary assistance will not be affected through the implementation of junior kindergarten?

I can assure that will be the case. We’re inclusive schooling. The special needs that are provided to education authorities through what is called inclusive schooling and that funding will continue. We’re not touching the funding. We’re dealing with the PTR at this point to deal with the JK. Junior kindergarten implementation, obviously, will not take away from approximately $26 million in inclusive schooling funding that education authorities receive on an annual basis. The amount of inclusive requirement is the fact that it is set out in legislation, so we have to work with that as well. At the end of the day, we’re not even going near inclusive schooling on this particular subject, but we’re dealing with the PTR.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My last question to the Minister of ECE is: In light of all the confusion around junior kindergarten and the strong reaction we are getting from both parents and school boards, would it not be wise just to wait one more year to implement junior kindergarten and that maybe we’ll have more money in place so that we can work out all these problems?

There has been a lot of debate going back and forth between myself and the school board chairs and the school boards across the Northwest Territories. We’ve met just as recently as last month and I did listen to the school board chairs. We are going to have over 600

individual students registered over the two-year timespan. The fact is that 23 communities are ready to take on the role of JK. At the same time, I’ve been making some amendments to our initial stand where I provided optional junior kindergarten. At the beginning it was mandatory and everybody had to do it, but after listening carefully to the Members, I have decided that it will be optional. At the same time, I’ve allowed half-time as well as an option. At the beginning, at the get-go it was full-time. In those two areas I’ve allowed some flexibility and we’re making some changes along the way.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will continue the conversation and questions about junior kindergarten that my colleagues have been asking for the last couple of weeks. There’s a lot of frustration and it’s almost to the point where, you know, we’re very frustrated with the process. My questions for the Minister today are the pupil-teacher ratio that he indicates 16 to 1, is this a ratio that each school will be looked at independently or is he looking at the complete authority at a 16 to 1 ratio, because there’s a big discrepancy between the smaller centres and the larger centres in what the ratios are.

Is the Minister going to commit to doing the pupil-teacher ratio in every school?

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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. We have to follow the act, as well, the Education Act, which does speak to territorial-wide PTR of 16 to 1. That’s the legislation level that we’re working with that’s before us. We’ll continue to work with the school boards at that level. Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, that’s part of the difficulty and the fact that if you’re dealing with a small centre and you only have three or four students, then that ratio is thrown off completely in some of the bigger communities, Fort Smith and Hay River, for example, in the South Slave, where the ratios may be 25 or 30 to 1.

I’m just wondering if the Minister could look at individuals, especially on the implementation of junior kindergarten.

Mr. Speaker, I did commit to providing additional new money to those educational authorities that exceed 16 to 1. Those are areas that we’ll look at. Then again, we have to keep in mind the Education Act. It’s territorial-wide PTR and it is 16 to 1.

Yellowknife came at us with additional potential students projected, so we looked at that. Other community schools, other regions, those are discussions that we’ve had with them as well. Mahsi.

Again, the same question is the difficulty in the fact that when you have an authority, such as the South Slave District Authority, where there are small communities, large communities and medium-sized communities, those ratios are thrown off by some of the ratios in the smaller communities where there is maybe only three or four students to one teacher, whereas in the bigger centres you have 25 or 30 students. That 16 to 1, in theory, should be held accountable to every school, let’s say every local district education authority at least.

Is the Minister willing to look at that opportunity for the larger centres that have been thrown off by the smaller ratios?

Mr. Speaker, in order to do that, we need to change our legislation, the territorial-wide PTR, so I would have to come back to this House to do that. Mahsi.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ll continue on the PTR. I’m just wondering if the Minister can give me a definition of what PTR includes, because there are questions of whether our principals, vice-principals and classroom assistants are included in PTR. Are they included in the PTR?

Mr. Speaker, the number of educators used to calculate the PTR includes regular classroom teachers, principals, assistant principals and program support staff. It’s important to know that Aboriginal language and culture specialists are excluded from this PTR. Those are just some of the highlights. The principals are covered. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. About 17 years ago the Aboriginal Head Start program in Fort Providence was established, like other existing Aboriginal Head Start programs in the North. At that time it was the communities and the schools that worked together and basically developed a proposal to Health Canada and made a submission. That’s how the Aboriginal Head Start programs were started. It was basically a community initiative at that time.

I wanted to ask the Minister, can the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment explain why the decision was made to offer junior kindergarten right away in small communities where Aboriginal Head Start programs currently operate? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. Minister of Education, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. First, I’d like to congratulate the Aboriginal Head Start program for their 17 years of their journey on the program itself. As the Member stated, it has been successful. It’s part of the federal funding.

The junior kindergarten is an optional program to those communities that do not have educational programming. Those communities that offer Head Start programming or preschool, it’s still part of the option for parents to pursue, if they wish to do that. It is part of the option to deliver that in the communities. Mahsi.

Would the Minister consider delaying or suspending at least the options of communities that raise their concerns, and see if there’s going to be a pause in terms of trying to reflect upon the next step? Mahsi.

I believe it was in my Minister’s statement, as well, that if we delay junior kindergarten in those communities, obviously it will be detrimental to those individuals, whether they are four-year-olds in the communities.

Aboriginal Head Start has been very successful, but we have to keep in mind that I represent the whole Northwest Territories and I represent the population of the Northwest Territories. That’s the reason why we’re going forward as part of the option to deliver those programs into the communities that will benefit this JK. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

According to Ms. Reanna Erasmus, a few years ago she began working with the Head Start program. The plan was to have programs like Aboriginal Head Start in the communities, and then something changed. In the last eight months or so, the department stopped consulting with Head Start people and all of a sudden there was a junior kindergarten.

To the Minister: Why hasn’t the department sat down to determine how Head Start can inform the development of junior kindergarten in those communities? Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, in fact, my department has sat down with the Head Start programming and there have been quite a few interactions. There has been correspondence, obviously going back and forth from my department to that organization, and I can provide that information to the Member, that clearly highlights all the days that they’ve met and the discussions that

my department has had. Not only the Aboriginal Head Start programming, those individuals that we’ve met with engaged Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative and early childhood development.

We have engaged with the communities throughout the Northwest Territories. Based on the feedback came JK. Obviously, we are working with the Aboriginal Head Start program, and the JK is based on the Denendeh curricula as well.

Part of the process is we need to collaborate even more, so that’s what we’re doing. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the key word is collaboration. The expectation that is, indeed, that as we’re going down this path, we would work together.

In Fort Providence there has been a JK pilot project running since October. We have Head Start running there as well. The children go to junior kindergarten in the morning and they come to Head Start in the afternoon. The program manager, Joyce McLeod, has had to contact parents and ask them to please come and get their children because they are very, very tired. So we know for a lot of the children, a full day is too much. That’s just one of the problems that are happening with the combination of junior kindergarten and Aboriginal Head Start, yet there has been no program evaluation. No one has called Joyce McLeod to find out how the junior program is impacting Head Start in Fort Providence. This is a big oversight, Mr. Speaker.

How does the Minister account for that? Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, those are the discussions that we need to have. I am going to Fort Providence and I will be meeting with that organization.

We have to keep in mind that you’re talking about eight communities. I am responsible for 33 communities and I want to deliver the most effective programming, that’s JK, into the communities. JK is based on Dene Kede and Inuinnaqtun curriculum that recognizes northern culture. It makes learning experimental.

This is the curriculum the program came out with. We have to make it a success in the communities. That’s what I’m committed to. In Fort Providence and other Aboriginal Head Start programming, we will be working with them. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like the Minister of Education today to stand up and explain the changes that are coming with junior kindergarten. He needs to enlighten the community and certainly the territory that if you have a day home, they’ve been telling everyone it will be fine.

What evidence can he convey that it will be fine? Just a few days ago, I brought up in this House the departmental staff keep telling these day home owners, whether they are licenced or unlicensed or part of the Montessori program, you’re going to lose money and it’s time to budget better. I would like to hear the Minister’s perspective on how everything will be fine with his master plan. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister of Education, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. When the Member first raised that issue with me about day home owners, there was a misunderstanding where apparently my department told them they needed to be ready for these circumstances. I met with my department. I questioned them and they came back and are providing the support that’s out there. Through my department, we have a variety of programming. We will continue to support those day home operators as we did in the past for how many years now? We will continue to do that, Mr. Speaker. We want them to be successful. We don’t want them to be out of business. Mahsi.

I’m really happy to hear we are going to continue to support them, but we listen to the Minister of Education saying we support them by the amount of kids they have, so we give them money per kid. But if we’re taking the kids away, are we just going to support them because we want to support them?

It was the Minister’s staff who told the day home owners that you have to budget better and if you can’t do it, bring us your paperwork and we’ll budget for you. They also told them that they need to accept that there will be a loss and they need to accept it.

How does that work when he’s saying now he’s going to take care of them? Thank you.

As I indicated earlier through this session, JK is optional. It will be up to the parents to decide if they want to take their kids to JK or continue with the day homes. The budget, everybody has to budget, not only in my department but daycare operators, day home operators, they have to budget too. These are reporting mechanisms. We have to work with them. Those are some of the facts that we share with them. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

We’ve heard the Minister on the record say we’ll take care of them. We’ve had staff tell these day home operators if they were better budgeters, the changes wouldn’t be noticeable. Mr. Speaker, all we hear is that JK is optional. That’s what I’m asking.

What is the evidence that people will choose to pay $1,000 a month per child to go to the day home versus go to a free program? That’s what we want to know. Where’s this evidence in this ludicrous statement that I hear over and over again that it will be up to the parents, it’s optional? They will choose to pay rather than take the free program.

I don’t know a single person who would pay $1,000 a month if the program was free across the way. Give me the evidence, I want the evidence, everyone wants the evidence, the public wants the evidence. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I don’t know how I can justify this, but the junior kindergarten that we’re rolling out into 23 communities and then going on to regional centres next year and the following year will be to Yellowknife. I’ve indicated in the House that my department will be working very closely with the daycare operators, day home operators and we will continue to subsidize them. We have done that.

Again, junior kindergarten is optional for the parents. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister continues to fail to explain the science behind his philosophy that if we can give free spaces away, but he’s convinced the option before the parent would be that they would rather pay $1,000. That’s their choice. So what we’re doing is sinking the opportunities created by these day homes, whether they are licenced or unlicensed or Montessori programs.

Would the Minister finally put the evidence on the record so we can have a true, fact-based discussion on this problem? Thank you.

The day home operators are not sinking. Maybe that’s the view of the Member, but in my view, we will continue to support them. Mahsi.

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

My questions today are also addressed to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment as a follow-up on some questions I asked yesterday about the Minister’s statement and the JK fact sheets he tabled in the House, and also

on the package of facts that he tabled in the House. At the outset, I want to advise the Minister that I ask these questions not just for Yellowknife schools and school districts but for all NWT school boards and schools because they are all affected by the changes ECE has proposed.

Portions of the Minister’s statement were very disturbing to me. He made much of the fact that Yellowknife school boards will receive an infusion of funds, but conveniently neglected to mention the amounts that are being removed from their budgets. The net impact on YK and regional centre school districts is negative and I would ask the Minister to confirm that. Thank you.

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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My department met with the school boards and called every school board to identify what their financial situation will be with each and every school board. Mahsi.

I guess I have to assume, since the Minister isn’t answering my question, that the answer to my question is yes, it’s a negative impact on school boards. Using numbers from the department itself, numbers that have been agreed to by school districts and also Education, Culture and Employment, Yellowknife Catholic Schools will see a reduction in their budget as follows: $277,000 in year one; $744,000 in year two; $1.137 million in year three. In year three, as the Minister stated yesterday, they will get funding for junior kindergarten of $960,000. The end result is a budget reduction of $177,000. Add in the one-time top up to keep PTR at 16 to 1, which the Minister and the school boards agree with, the net result is a budget increase of $580,000. The Minister left out the revenue losses that Yellowknife Catholic Schools will face, unfortunately. If you add in those revenue losses from the preschool program that they run, and I forget what the other one is, the net result is a deficit of $436,000.

I would like to ask the Minister, does he agree with me that this one school board, as an example, will suffer a considerable hit to their budget?

What the Member is referring to is revenue generation through business. That was at the discretion of the school board to decide a few years back to offer…now it will be called JK, junior kindergarten. So, obviously, again, it will be up to the parents to decide. The school board has two years to decide on that. So, Mr. Speaker, those are the discussions that we’ve had both with YK1 and YCS and NWT school boards on these implications. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

To the Minister, yes, they are numbers, but they are numbers that have been agreed to by the department and the school board.

I made mention yesterday of some conflicting statements in the fact sheets. I need to ask the Minister again the same questions to clarify what his answer was and which one of the statements in the fact sheets is correct.

When a district implements a junior kindergarten program in the fall of 2014, for example, and it would not be in Yellowknife but one of our small communities, will the school district that is running that program receive funding for those new JK students in the year the program starts or a year later as is the usual practice now according to the school funding formula? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, as has been indicated in this House, the PTR funding has been re-profiled across the Northwest Territories on a three-year phased approach. If an individual community is delivering the programming to the community and there’s a surplus of students that accidentally show up, those students would be identified through extraordinary funding through my department, my shop. We would provide that to the school board and it would be up to school board, at their discretion, if they’re going to hire an additional teacher or not, based on the funding we provide to them, based on the number of student enrolment. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

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