This is page numbers 2575 – 2598 of the Hansard for the 18th Assembly, 2nd 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 going.

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Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Colleagues, I would like to draw your attention to our guests in the gallery. Former legislative librarian for our Assembly, Ms. Vera Raschke. Ms. Raschke is joined by her fellow retired legislative librarians, Ms. Lynn Brodie of the Library of Parliament of Canada, and Ms. Donna Burton of the Ontario Legislative Library. Welcome, and what part of retirement don't you three understand? Thanks. Masi for joining us. Thanks for being here. It is always great to have an audience as part of our proceedings. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Nahendeh.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize the Indigenous group of people from Colombia. I would like to thank them for showing up here. As well, two friends of mine, Mary, I will not try to say your last name, because I think the speaker did a good job. And of course, Mr. Steven Cooper, who is unfortunately a long-time friend of mine. He knows all my stories, and I have to say thank you for keeping the stories quiet, but remember, if you share stories, I share stories. I would like to thank him, and I would like to thank his firm and his staff for doing all the good work for Aboriginal people in the Northwest Territories and across Canada. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Sahtu.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Daniel McNeely

Daniel McNeely Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to recognize our guests in the gallery here today, and I also recognize our two Pages from Fort Good Hope, Arianna Laboucan, and Patricia Mukhamadieva. I think that is how you pronounce it, Mr. Speaker. I also want to thank everybody. Like my previous colleagues, I wish everybody a safe summer. Mahsi.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

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

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Merci, Monsieur le President. I would like to recognize one of our Pages, Michael Le. He is a resident of the Frame Lake riding, and he is a student at the Weledeh School. I just want to thank all the Pages for their work during this short sitting and congratulate them all on their selection for serving us and working with us over the duration of the last week. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Yellowknife South.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to recognize two Pages from Yellowknife South, Elle Mitchener and Drew Wolfe, and I thank them for providing services to the Assembly and also to all the other Pages. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Thebacha.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize all our guests in the gallery, in particular Steven Cooper, a colleague of mine for many years. I would also like to recognize and thank two of the Pages from Fort Smith: Hannah Porter and Bronwyn Rutherford-Simon. Thank you.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

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

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to take this opportunity to recognize and thank all the Pages for their hard work over this sitting. I would also like to recognize my constituency assistant, Mr. Garett Cochrane. I couldn't do this job without him, and I am very appreciative that he is joining us here today. Thank you.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to introduce my partner, Janice McKenna, who lives in the same riding as I do, and I want to thank her for her ongoing support for me in this job. As everybody here knows, this is a job that takes a real toll on families and family life. I appreciate the fact that she is always so supportive. Mahsi.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. If we have missed anyone in the gallery, thank you for being here with us. It is always great to have an audience as part of our proceedings. Masi. Item 6, acknowledgments. Item 7, oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this past Wednesday the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment and his department had the opportunity to present to the Standing Committee on Social Development on the NWT Education Renewal initiative. Mr. Speaker, it was a really good, very informative, and good presentation. Today, my questions are directed to the Minister around some parts of this presentation. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister please explain to this House what type of course material is being developed as it pertains to Northern Studies 20 and 30? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Currently, we just have Northern Studies 10 in the curriculum that is being offered throughout the Northwest Territories. We do have a Wise People Committee made up of Indigenous and non-Indigenous leaders that is currently working on a Northern Studies 20 and 30. Following the same process that we did with Northern Studies 10, the Northern Studies 20 and 30, under direction of the Wise People Committee, are looking at exploration and developments of things like land claims, treaties, self-governments that are all going to be focused on Northern Studies 20 and 30. That is the direction that they are moving toward: letting our youth and our people who take our Northern Studies 20 and 30 courses, when we start offering them, learn about their culture, their traditions, as well as their history. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

I thank the Minister for his answer. Mr. Speaker, this is very exciting news, as we educate our youth on the history of the Northwest Territories. Mr. Speaker, my understanding is Northern Studies 10 is a course requirement for students to graduate. Will these other two Northern Studies courses be deemed prerequisites for our students to graduate? If so, why?

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Yes, currently Northern Studies 10 is a required course to graduate for all NWT students in the Northwest Territories. What is exciting about Northern Studies 10 is that the curriculum is around residential schools, so our students learn about residential schools and how they are part of our history in the North and throughout Canada. Northern Studies 20 and 30, there is a lot of interest with our Aboriginal governments who we have been consulting with. As I have mentioned in the House, Alberta is redesigning their curriculum, and we have our staff who are working with staff in Alberta to redesign the curriculum.

We are going to try to see if there is an opportunity that our Northern Studies 20 and 30 courses can also be the equivalent to Social Studies 20 and 30. Those talks are in discussions with the Alberta government, and as you know, we are unique in the North and we follow the Alberta curriculum. We are going to see if that is a possibility. As I mentioned, those talks are currently happening right now.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

I thank the Minister for his answer on two of my other questions. I thank him very much for that. Can the Minister please advise us as to when we think we will see this being implemented for the school year?

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Yes, as I mentioned, we do have a committee that is currently working on it. We are collaborating with our Aboriginal governments, engaging our Aboriginal governments on what they would like to see in this curriculum. It is very important to get their knowledge, so that we can in return teach our youth in the school system. I imagine over the next two or three years, I think the curriculum will be completed, and hopefully delivered in the school system.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Merci, Monsieur le President. Earlier today, I offered some observations on statistics for employees as provided by the Minister of Human Resources, now the Minister of Finance. There appear to be about 100 vacant, undetermined departmental positions at any given time. Can the Minister explain whether this is comparable to other jurisdictions, and what efforts we are making to improve our recruitment efficiency? Merci, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Finance.