This is page numbers 5977 – 6020 of the Hansard for the 17th Assembly, 5th Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was plan.

Topics

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Mr. Dolynny.

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to continue my questions with the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Last week we celebrated and gave attention to anti-bullying here and I want to continue my questions around the fact that the Minister, almost two years ago, said legislation alone was not enough to deal with bullying. He did indicate back then that the territorial Safe Schools Action Plan to address bullying and regulation policies and procedures were to be created by his department. So, I’d like to continue that line of questioning.

With schools facing budget and human resource challenges and trying to implement safe school guidelines, WSCC standards of safety and overarching government occupational health and safety expectations, can the Minister indicate how the department is helping school boards, DEAs and DECs meet all those demands? Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. When it comes to the safety of our school children, that is a priority of this department, working with the DEAs and DECs. The Safe and Caring Schools Initiative, obviously supporting schools and teachers in developing tools needed to create such an environment and we do also have a working group. It deals with all the partners, the parents, the educators, administrators in our school system. Even at the DEAs and DECs and they also work very closely with all the education authorities to make sure that they’re complying with all the safety rules and regulations.

So it is a factor that’s in place and we’re fully supportive of that. Mahsi.

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

Parents play a key role in accountability when it comes to bullying. Can the Minister indicate how does his department ensure the accountability of parents preventing bullying in our schools? Thank you.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi. As I stated, the parents are also engaged when it comes to bullying because they need to be involved, they need to be engaged and there is a standard process that’s in play with the DECs and DEAs. Whenever there is a bullying incident that happens, we involve the parents, we involve the educators, the community members, even the community leaders to that matter.

So those are just some of the processes that we are currently following, and we provide resources to the school boards as well. Some of the resources, obviously, are Creating a safe School Environment, some of the pamphlets…(inaudible)…for online training. So, those are just some of the key aspects of how we want to deal with the bullying in our school system. Mahsi.

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

Bullying takes on many different forms. Can the Minister elaborate what his department has done to deal with bullying involving students with special needs and gender specific situations? Thank you.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

We’ve worked with various experts throughout Canada, even internationally, working with a national expert such as Ray Hughes, very known as an expert in this field. Part of the programming that is taught in our schools is to help young people to learn and also work with others within the school system to deal with the bullying and to address issues that are also related to part of the gender issues. So, we work very closely with those experts in their fields. Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One of the last recommendations of standing committee on bullying, back in 2013, was to have the department to immediately, and I stress the word “immediately” work on a broader anti-bullying legislation that addresses bullying in general society and cyberspace. Basically beyond the classroom.

Can the Minister give us a progress update to this committee recommendation? Thank you.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi. The new legislation has amended sections 34 and 45 of the Education Act to require educators and school administrators to strengthen policies and procedures, a law that involves bullying and safety. That’s the very reason why we’ve developed a Safe and Caring Schools Initiative and having the DEAs

and DECs having their own protocols, having their own policies and regulations to deal with their discipline as well.

When it comes to bullying, it is a priority of this government and we continue to push that forward with all the education bodies across the Northwest Territories. Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mrs. Groenewegen.

Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. I was having a chat with my 25-year-old daughter the other day and not that she was a top student, but she was bemoaning the fact to me that she’s 25 years old, she’s a young adult, she’s living here in the North and she doesn’t know much about savings, budgeting, credit, banking and that she feels that she should have maybe learned something about that in school. Now, I know there’s a role for parents to play, too, in teaching these things, but I’d like seriously to ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, is there anything in the curriculum of our high schools where students learn about financial management? Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The Minister of Education, Mr. Lafferty.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. This has been brought to our attention from some of the parents who want their child to be fully aware of financial awareness. Based on that, we’ve been dealing with our DEAs and DECs. If they haven’t provided an actual curriculum relating to the fiscal outlook, the financial management, time management, those are areas that we talk about, CALM class. We have some of the communities that do the program delivery of CALM class, a career and life choice management course that’s also taught in our high schools. So that is an area that students can take on courses to learn life management. So, we know that we need to do more and I’m open to some ideas on how to deal with those issues. Mahsi.

Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

Thank you. I just think that we have a really golden opportunity with our young people in the school system to learn something about this, because it is a life skill that is extremely important and will stand them in good stead as they go out into the work world.

Has the Department of Education ever considered inviting banking institutions into the school where they could also provide some information and perhaps help students with something like setting up bank accounts? I know there aren’t banks in

every community; but there is online banking and most kids these days have access to the Internet.

So I’d like to ask the Minister, have they ever thought about involving any of the major banks in coming and doing some awareness and some teaching and perhaps even helping young people set up accounts? Thank you..

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Obviously this is an excellent idea. Even when I was in high school, we had different professionals coming to the community, for example, bankers, talking about accounting. This is an area I need to share with the DEAs and DECs. It’s their school, as well, and I need to work with them. I’m sure they will be more than receptive because they are always looking for ideas on how we can have educational awareness around accounting, around banking. I’m glad the Member has given us some ideas that we can generate within DECs and DEAs. I will be bringing that to their attention. Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are following up on my Member’s statement for Minister Miltenberger, Environment and Natural Resources. It is anticipated by mushroom experts that this summer’s harvest of morels will be the largest ever, this spring’s harvest. The industry that last year brought in a few million dollars is set to bring in exponentially more and perhaps for years to come.

Can the Minister indicate what plans are underway to capitalize on this renewable resource harvesting opportunity? Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are going to build off of the work that was done last summer as we started to mobilize to be more efficient, organized and coordinated with morel mushrooms. Just today we have a legislative proposal to make a modest amendment to the Forestry Act that would give authority to do the work and address some of the issues that the Member raised. That will be making its way to committee. If there is willingness, we can get that operational by May. The Member raises good points about timeliness. We are also at work in terms of policies and regulations, one way or the other that will go into place, but it’s getting them out in time. So that work between ENR and ITI and with MACA is underway. Thank you.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thanks to the Minister. It sounds like he heard my Member’s statement. I appreciate that. We have a challenge here and I’m just wondering what the Minister’s early thinking is on handling it, given that these things need to be in place in the communities, available in the communities and so on. Thank goodness it’s an electronic age, I guess. By May 1st , that’s about

seven weeks from now. Is this doable, and if it isn’t, how will the Minister handle that situation? Will there be a phase-in period or something? Thank you.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

Mr. Speaker, we believe it’s doable. Whether it will be fully operational with everything that needs to be done is an issue of some debate, but we do commit to getting the work done. We will be better than last year. If we get that legislative change through, it will allow us to really structure ourselves over the next few years as we rewrite the Forestry Act in its entirety. Thank you.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

I know the Minister is aware that we are in a vulnerable situation. We don’t want to undermine the industry from the very start, so I’m sure there will be sensitivity to that. While most of our mushrooms are world-class, clean and safe to eat, some areas that have been tested showed high concentrations of contaminants. Areas near Tibbitt Lake and west of Yellowknife, for example, may not be safe. World markets will test morels from the NWT as they have done in the past. Findings of contaminated morels would make it hard for the mushroom industry to rebound from the negative publicity. This has happened in areas of the world too.

Does the Minister have any plans in place to test mushrooms and soil and to restrict harvesting in areas that could present a health hazard? Mahsi.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

My

understanding is that, in fact, not a lot of jurisdictions set themselves up to regulate the mushroom market after fires. So we are looking at some places like, I believe, Alaska, but there aren’t a lot of best practices out there.

The issue of contaminated soils, I have to commit to the Member that I will follow up with the department to see what the intention is in the areas around Yellowknife that the Members have highlighted so that we, in fact, avoid issues if we’re going to get into this in a big way of having one batch of contaminated mushrooms possibly ruin the market for the whole Northwest Territories.