Masi. Members' statements. Member for Hay River North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment has received virtually all the blame for Members of this House and from the public for the cutting of Aurora College's Teacher Education Program.

I, too, blame the department, but not for cutting the program -- that was Aurora College’s decision. I blame ECE for allowing the college to operate in a manner that resulted in a teacher program that the college saw fit to cut. The Teacher Education Program costs two to three times more to deliver than similar programs in the South, has a 75 per cent dropout rate, and costs anywhere from $250,000,000 to $750,000,000 per graduate. The worst part, Mr. Speaker, is that the graduates of the program, solely because of where their degrees are from, have a hard time finding teaching positions not only in the South but also in the territory. These are failures of the college, not the students. However, again, I put the blame on ECE for handing tens of millions of dollars over to the college without the oversight to ensure that the people of the NWT get what we pay for and that the graduates of the college get a world-class education and a degree that is respected throughout Canada.

Many of my colleagues have stressed that the decision to cut the Teacher Education Program should be informed by the college’s upcoming strategic plan. There have been strategic plans in the past; the last one was for 2006 to 2015, and arguably it left the program in worse shape. Besides, Aurora College has had 47 years to develop the Teacher Education Program. It should be the college’s crown jewel. Instead, it is the first program that Aurora College has ever cut.

If ECE did not reduce its contribution to the college, there is no doubt that the program would continue on. However, ECE did not tell the college to cut the Teacher Education Program -- the college made that call on its own. Much like what government does, the college found it impossible to find any savings in what many have commented is a bloated administration, and instead chose to cut a program that they knew they were failing to deliver appropriately.

Mr. Speaker, just so there is no confusion, I believe that we should be educating teachers in the Northwest Territories, but I believe that they should be receiving an education on par with anywhere else in Canada. So do we continue to fund the Teacher Education Program regardless of the program’s quality or success, essentially throwing good money after bad? Demanding that the Minister reinstate funding for the program and maintain the status quo might win me political points, but it will not do justice for the people of the Northwest Territories, and that is my concern. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. The first thing we have to do, obviously, is honour the commitment that was made to any of the students in the college’s access program who were assured that they would be able to enter the Teacher Education Program this fall, because I am sure the college knew this cut was coming.

Second, and most importantly, we need to change the way that Aurora College does business. For too long it has operated in a bubble, with this government demanding little from it in the way of financial accountability or educational outcomes. There is no need to wait for the next strategic plan to begin making changes. Strategies, action plans, strategic frameworks: these are too often excuses for inaction. I would say that the cut of the Teacher Education Program is the canary in the coal mine, but for many years many people have been aware that changes need to be made of the state of the college. Hopefully, this cut is a wake-up call that will spur the government to begin making the foundational changes needed to give us the educational institution that the people of the Northwest Territories need and deserve. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Members' statements. Item 4, reports of standing and special Committee. Item 5, returns to oral questions. Honourable Premier. Item 6, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and as you acknowledged earlier, one of the Yellowknife North residents joining us today is the former everything, but is a current resident of Yellowknife North, and that is Mr. Tony Whitford. Welcome.

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Hay River North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to acknowledge my resident and constituency assistant, Ann Peters, for joining me here this week and appearing in the gallery. She is helping me with all the stuff that falls behind when we are in session. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to take this opportunity to recognize a couple of former constituents of Inuvik, Mr. Alex White, as well as Ms. Danielle Deslauriers. Welcome, and I hope you enjoy the proceedings. As well, it is always great to see Mr. Tony Whitford in the gallery, and welcome. Thank you.

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I am sure he is used to it every time he appears, but I would also like to recognize Mr. Tony Whitford, former Member for Kam Lake. Thank you.

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Item 7, Acknowledgements. Item 8, oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with the tragedies that have occurred recently in my riding, and this is questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services, can he please advise this House if there are any policies or procedures in place to address tragedies that occur in small communities? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is no formal written policy; however, it is a common long-standing practice within the health and social services system that responding to a tragedy is a priority for the government of the Northwest Territories. Recognizing that every situation is different, that every community has a different response, what we tend to do is work with the community leadership to find out what it is they expect or what they are hoping to get from the Department of Health and Social Services when a crisis arises, and providing that service as best we can and working with the community to make sure that we are meeting their needs. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I think the Minister kind of answered my second question, but I am going to ask it anyway so we can get a little bit further information. Mr. Speaker, when dealing with these tragedies, will the Minister explain what the department does to ensure that there are necessary supports that are available to the communities besides just talking to them?

There have been a number of tragedies in the Member's riding, and the Department of Health and Social Services has responded to each one of them, but in each case the response was different based on what the community told us they were looking for as far as supports. We recognize that smaller communities do not necessarily have access to all the supports that exist in some of the larger communities, and where appropriate and where desired by the communities, we have sent professionals from other communities in when those crisis occur.

So we tailor based on need, we tailor based on expectations, and in some situations communities have indicated to us that, you know, they want to handle it on their own; others, they are like, we need some psychologists, psychiatrists, we need some support staff in there. In some situations we found that there is a particular professional out there in the Northwest Territories that the community really feels comfortable with, that they want to bring in. We supported those individuals coming in, but there is no one model, Mr. Speaker.

We work with the communities, we listen to the communities, and we tailor our response based on what we are hearing from them on what they would like to see and how they would like to see that delivered.

I thank the Minister for that answer. Then to the credit of the department in the regional health and social services, we have had a unique situation in the last couple of weeks here and they have done an amazing job with our tragedies, but in regard to dealing with these type of tragedies, can the Minister tell us if the department tries to utilize traditional acknowledge or healing in addressing these issues?

Absolutely. I will give an example. In Sahtu we had a situation where there was a tragedy in one of their communities and what was requested of us was to support a bunch of the youth to go out on the land in order to experience healing and get out of the community, which we supported fully because it was the right thing to do. It is what the community wanted. It is what the youth needed. Listening to the community is critical. We do those types of things.

Sometimes, we hear, we want something done on the land immediately. Sometimes we say, give us a couple of weeks to stabilize here. Then we want to do something on the land. We are open to whatever the communities are suggesting is necessary in these times of crisis. Like I said, it is about working with communities and listening to them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I would like to thank the Minister for the answer. It is great to hear that the department is working with the communities when these tragedies happen.

Mr. Speaker, when a tragedy occurs in the small communities, will the Minister advise us who the department contacts? Is it the leadership, the family, or is there just whomever they decide who needs to be contacted? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In times of crisis, it can be difficult sometimes to determine who the most appropriate person to communicate with, whether it is the family, or maybe the family may not be the appropriate person depending on the incident that has occurred.

As a general rule, we do try to communicate with leadership in the community to help us coordinate our activities in the community, but I say that with a caution that you have to be flexible. You have to recognize that there are times when family might be the most appropriate individuals to be in touch with for a multitude of reasons. As a general rule, we try to do our communications through the community leadership.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Justice regarding maintenance enforcement. As I pointed out in my statement, the thinly resourced maintenance enforcement office must now go sleuthing around to find deadbeat and sometimes abusive spouses, often relying on tips from the very women who need to stay away for their own safety. Yet, as soon as a new hire is made, a flare goes up for the tax office.

I refuse to believe that this information can't be passed on to the maintenance enforcement office. Will the Minister commit to assign staff from his department to work with Finance and plug this loophole? Thank you.