Thank you, Mr. Chair. I welcome the Minister and his staff. I appreciate this opportunity. I think I support many of the comments I heard from my colleague Ms. Bisa

ro. I’m happy to

see some of the work going on in our schools in the smaller communities, Lutselk’e certainly and some of the others that have been mentioned already. I am very glad to see the sewer line finally being fixed at Sir John Franklin. That’s something that’s been there for years and I know has been an issue.

Again, I appreciate the Minister putting forward some planning money for a couple of Yellowknife schools that are long overdue.

I just want to make sure the Minister heard my comments earlier about the need to actually provide a new school in Detah, replace the Kaw Tay Whee structure which is a couple of portable units established there about 30 years ago. Since then they’ve gone from a few classes up to 10 classes and it’s a four-room school. So Kaw Tay Whee is not able to have any longer the language and culture program they used to have because there is

simply not the space to do that. So, again, four rooms, 10 classes.

In association with that, the Detah school, Kaw Tay Whee, does not have a sprinkler system and I would like to ask the Minister, is that not a standard for our schools? Should our schools not have sprinkler systems to ensure the safety of our children? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Minister Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. There were several issues brought to our attention by the school principal. My department has been working with the principal to resolve those issues, whether it be a site investigation. PWS has obviously been working with them as well. They have contracted the PSAV architect as late as this month, September. So that work is ongoing.

The sprinkler system obviously is part of the discussion, I believe. It

’s also, from the principal’s

perspective, brought to my department’s attention and PWS is aware of that as well. My department is doing what we can to work with the school and also the school board, the principal, to resolve those outstanding issues that are brought to our attention, Mr. Chair. Mahsi.

I know Minister was out earlier today, I believe, or perhaps that’s coming up that he’s doing a presentation at the school. So I’m hoping he will have an opportunity to look directly at the scho

ol himself. I know he’s familiar with it.

I guess I would ask when we might expect to see some of those things happen that are under discussion and if the Minister will commit to getting a new school on the capital plan for Detah. Partly the situation is that without having a proper facility there, parents are having to bus their children into Yellowknife. As an example, I met, at a constituency meeting a couple of days ago, with a family with teenage daughters who get bussed in, but the bus leaves at such a time and school starts at such a time that these kids are left sort of footloose and fancy-free in Yellowknife for an hour, and that’s plenty of time to get into trouble. I think I certainly would have if I had that opportunity at that age.

This is a sep

arate community; it’s recognized as a

separate community and we need to recognize that in providing appropriate facilities. The same thing goes for housing, which is another topic. But we don’t want people moving away from their families because we don’t have proper facilities there. So, there are a couple of questions there. Maybe I’ll just mention the hope, or seek a commitment to also get Aurora College Yellowknife Campus on the capital plan. I know perhaps the Minister has toured that building, as committees have, and it is one crowded facility. We can’t expect them to be doing

good work in those sorts of quarters for very long. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Obviously, in the meantime, those concerns and issues that have been brought to our attention,

we’ll continue to work

on with the principal and the school board. With the new school that the Member is referring to, obviously that’s an area that I need to work with PWS. My department is willing to meet with the school board to talk about the next step and how that’s going to look. We’re reaching out to the community. We want to sit down with them and develop a plan. Obviously, there’s a process in place that we need to follow in order to come to this table. So,

we’re more than open to discuss that with

the school board. As I’ve indicated, we’re reaching out to them as well.

The Aurora College is an area that has been brought up on numerous occasions in the House. Just recently our Finance Minister highlighted that the Stanton facility we’ll be vacating to a new establishment, so that’s an opportunity that we want to explore further how that’s going to look. We’re going to have an existing tremendous amount of infrastructure space

. That’s a discussion that we

want to have. We’ve been approached by Aboriginal governments, as well, the business arm. They wanted to build a facility for us and lease it back over a long period of time, 30 to 40 years. So we’re awaiting for those types of discussions to happen. These are the exploratory options that we’re currently discussing with the parties involved. Mahsi, Mr. Chair.

Thanks for the Minister’s

comments and commitments there. I appreciate that. I agree; there are some exciting opportunities coming up with the Stanton building and so on.

I guess maybe just to confirm, I believe I heard the Minister say he was committing to meet with the Detah District Education Authority about the possibility of a new school and the process that will be required to achieve that. So if I can just get confirmation that he will be setting up that meeting, and if it’s possible to do that during the life of this Assembly by October 23rd , that would be great.

Thank you.

Mr. Chair, I did commit that we want to meet with the DEA for Deta

h to start the discussion. So we’re more than

open to have that type of discussion. Mahsi.

Thank you, Minister Lafferty. Continuing on with questions on this activity, I have Mr. Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just a couple comments in this section here. I’m glad to see that we’re putting some funding into some of the smaller communities and the schools that they have. But I know in some of the past work that I’ve done when

I’ve gone and done work in the schools – presentations, workshops, those kinds of things

–

there’s always areas of concern, renovations that needed to be made. In some cases there were schools that had mouse problems and rodent problems. I just want to make a comment that I think there should be an overhaul in the overview of all our schools, especially in the small communities, that that is a safe working environment for our teachers but also a safe place to get an education for our students. I think that’s a project that needs to be done by the department. As I said, mainly in the small schools is where I saw it, so I think that’s something that needs to be addressed.

This government has also taken a really good stance in terms of adult education, and this area deals with community learning centres. I’m not sure what our inventory… I think we have 23 community learning centres; I’m not too sure. But if that’s the case, there are some communities that don’t have a learning centre, and whether or not that will be put into the books because we do have a lot of adults out there who do need that upgrading. Even in some of our learning centres that are in communities now, they also need some upgrading. I know the Aurora College is looking into programs similar to what the Beaufort-Delta Education Authority has in terms of e-learning and putting that infrastructure in place. So students who don’t want to go to Yellowknife or Fort Smith or Inuvik can get some type of education through an e-learning program through their community learning centre. I think that needs to be addressed moving forward.

As mentioned earlier with the early child care centres, if you look into the feasibility study that was tabled earlier this summer, one cost of child care centres was mentioned that a capital expense of eight to 15 million dollars would be required. However, they could be housed in surplus space in elementary schools. So I think that if we are looking at building any type of new schools, that’s something that we take into consideration, or any existing schools now, that we identify surplus space to look at developing some of these child care centres. The economic benefits that come from universal daycare that was said in this study, there are some really great benefits and I think that needs to be addressed. It would be great if it could be addressed before this government finishes this term.

The one other big thing that I just wanted to bring to your attention was the renovations, once again, at East Three Elementary with the dental facility. I’m not sure if there’s an update on that and if there was any kind of funding dollars to get that room up to code, up to standard so that the dentist can start practicing there.

I haven’t had an update on that in a while. So, if we could get an update and whether that’s going to be

somet

hing we’re going to be addressing in the

future. As the Minister knows, questions in the House with the dental care, issues that we have throughout the North, that’s probably one of the contributing factors as well. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Moses. We’ll turn it over to Minister Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. The 49 schools that we’re responsible for, any issues or concerns brought to our attention we have to work with PWS, Public Works and Services. We have addressed a lot of them, but they are continuous challenges that we’re faced with, whether it be the mice and other issues that the school boards bring to our attention. So, we’ll continue to work with that through Public Works and Services and to deal with those matters immediately.

The community learning centres, this is an area that Aurora College is responsible for under their umbrella. If there’s a request that comes in from the college, I believe the Member is correct that there are 23 community lea

rning centres and that there’s

an appetite for adding a couple more into the remote communities that may not have it. That’s the discussion that we need to have with Aurora College, with the identified community and put that forward. We haven’t really had that type of discussion, but I’m open to discussing that if it arises.

Early childhood, the Member is referring to whether it will be new schools or existing schools that have experienced a surplus of space that could be possibly early childhood or a child centre could be made available. I believe that’s been discussed in the past, as well, and we’re doing what we can to maximize that opportunity. This will also be addressed with the school boards, as well, that we represent throughout the Northwest Territories. We feel that the early childhood is a priority for us, as well, and also for the school boards. So, if it hasn’t been made a priority when a space becomes available, then that needs to be addressed by the school board and we will be reminding them of that as well.

The East Three, the dental area, the Member is correct that it’s been brought to the floor, as well, and it’s going to be addressed in the future. My understanding was that I thought it was dealt with, but I could be mistaken as well. We need to follow up on exactly where that is. Like the Member, it’s been a while since we last discussed this particular subject and I will make a commitment to provide the Member with the latest information and how can we move forward on that. Mahsi.

Thank you, Minister Lafferty. Continuing with questions, I have Mr. Blake.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just a couple of comments, questions as well. As you know, both Tsiigehtchic and Fort McPherson have a fairly new school in each community, but our school in Tsiigehtchic is fairly small for providing nine grades with the new junior kindergarten that’s coming into effect here. We only have four classrooms in our school, and trying to control that many children in different grades, some teachers have to deal with students, like three grades. They’ve got one grade, you know, my hats off to those teachers trying to control the environment. Something needs to be done in the future in the schools such as Tsiigehtchic.

Also with Moose Kerr School in Aklavik. As I mentioned earlier, it is up for retrofit or replacement in 2019, but in the meantime a parking area is really needed. A lot of people are parking right on the public road. It’s just a matter of time until we have a child that runs out at recess and gets hit by one of the vehicles; it’s just a matter of time. It seems like that’s what the department is waiting for, some serious accident to take some action on this. We have some people who are driving off the road, you know, right up on the lawn just to have a safe place to park, but in this day in age it costs maybe $10,000 to $20,000 to resolve this problem. I don’t see why the department is not taking any action on this. It’s been almost a year since I brought this up. It’s time that we take some sort of action and make a safe environment for our children at the schools. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Blake. We’ll go to Minister Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. Tsiigehtchic, we have to keep in mind the utilization of the space. There are 49 schools that we’re responsible for, but we are working closely with the Beaufort-Delta District Education Council and we identify the capacity as 27 percent versus a 90 percent capacity in other schools, it becomes a priority for this Assembly. But we’re mindful of that and at every opportunity, if I visit a community, I like to visit the schools to see the capacity itself, to see what the real issues are. So that’s what we’ll continue to do.

The Moose Kerr School that the Member highlighted earmarked for retrofit in 2018-2019, they’re still on target, but there are areas that the Member has addressed. The public area of parking. Obviously, we’re not waiting for a student to get hurt and our first priority is the safety of our students. That’s the very reason why we’re doing a technical assessment really soon to deal with that matter that’s been brought to this House. We’ll keep the Member informed and also the school board on the progress we’re making on this particular area. Mahsi.

Thank you, Minister Lafferty. Continuing on with questioning, I have Mr. Bouchard.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have some questions and a few comments. First, it’s good to see some of the schools that are getting on there. Obviously, I’ve heard Mr. Menicoche talk about that facility a few times. I guess this department is not much different than all of the other departments that we look at. We’re talking about capital infrastructure and how it’s being assessed and I think the Minister talked a little bit about that, but how the different schools get assessed on when they’re going to be retrofitted or when there’s going to be a new school being built and how is that communicated to Members.

This capital budget for Education is no different than a bunch of other capital budgets that we have where the Members may see that it’s on the ‘16-17 budget, but when Public Works and Services and the department re-evaluate on an annual basis, that number could drop down to 2022, 2021. So, I mean, when we’re evaluating this stuff and when we’re changing the dates of these retrofits, are we notifying the Members of the changes and why? Like, which schools are being bumped ahead and which ones are being bumped back? That would be my first question as far as that discussion.

Are we communicating those changes, when it comes off a red circle list, or when it’s on the red circle list and it gets bumped down or back a year or two, are we communicating that with Members?

Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. We’ll turn it over to Minister Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. As part of the capital planning process, obviously there is a process that we have to follow. There are five steps that have to meet the criteria within the capital planning process. If one of the projects that we push forward doesn’t get approved, the Members should be notified. If it’s not happening then we need to deal with that. I totally agree with the Member that we should be communicating with the Members. If a project that has been identified as a red flag but didn’t make the hopper, there’s got to be a reason why, and maybe we need to improve that communication. We’ll do our part as the department if we haven’t done so in the past. I’m hearing the Member that we need to be notifying those individual projects that may not make it to the final stages, why and why not. Those are communications that we need to improve on.

I appreciate that commitment to communicate with Members if their projects are getting dumped back. I would recommend that to all the Ministers when they’re coming forward on this discussion. I think that’s going to be a factor I’m going to bring forward, because we’ve seen that in

thi

s deliberation of the capital budget when we’ve

reviewed it, that some of those projects, those dates seems to switch and some Members are saying,

when did that happen, we didn’t hear that, I

didn’t hear that. If we could start to communicate that when that does happen.

Obviously, I’m concerned about, as I mentioned, the two schools in Hay River. I know we just did Diamond Jenness Secondary School, but we have Harry Camsell and Princess Alexandra. Obviously, you guys have the list of all of the schools and where they fit in the mid-

life retrofit, so I’d like to

know exactly if the department has that information of when the two schools in Hay River would be deemed ready for mid-life retrofit.

We have more detailed information here if I can get my deputy to just elaborate more.

Thank you, Minister Lafferty. Mr. Stewart.

Thank you, Mr. Stewart. Mr. Bouchard.