This is page numbers 3847 – 3882 of the Hansard for the 18th Assembly, 3rd 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 change.

Topics

Cory Vanthuyne

Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Earlier today I spoke a little bit about the barriers and some of the challenges that, in particular, Indigenous people have in accessing post-secondary education. Sometimes I think we need to look at what some of the gaps are between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, and I would just like to start, maybe, by asking the Minister if the department has done any work with regard to identifying those gaps that we have here in the North between Indigenous and non-Indigenous children or students. 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. I think we can start off in terms of how we support our post-secondary students, Indigenous or non, with our Student Financial Assistance program. We have made some improvements and enhancements to those over the years, but really, what it comes down to is starting very young, and we have made some very big investments in early childhood.

We are looking at our educational renewal initiatives from the JK-to-12 system. We are looking at creating new pathways to graduation in the high school system. It takes a combination of all of those investments that will see more success in our Indigenous students and families, right from JK up to grade 12. Then, hopefully, they do graduate, and we can get them into a path that they choose to do, whether it's post-secondary education or getting right into the career workforce.

We want to support our students to succeed right across the Northwest Territories. It is a combination of a lot of investments, Mr. Speaker, and our productive choices with people who are on income assistance as well, but it takes a lot of factors into consideration to ensure that all of our students succeed in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Cory Vanthuyne

Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North

Yes, I appreciate the Minister's comments, and we are certainly grateful for a lot of the good work that the department does. Student Financial Assistance is something that is in many ways unique to the North, and we benefit greatly as a society for it.

I just want to go back to the gaps again. One thing that we have to identify is that, clearly, we have statistical information that indicates that Indigenous students are behind as it relates to graduation rates, et cetera, moving forward. I just want to, again, ask the Minister: what kind of work have they done to identify those gaps? What kind of measures or statistics are they keeping so that they can be aware of what work still lies ahead to lessen those gaps?

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

I think a focus for any jurisdiction is how do we identify gaps and challenges and how do we mitigate them so that we have our students succeeding to completion of either their programs or getting the degrees that they need so that they can be part of the working society. Ways that we do that are through counselling; we are also looking at creating better supports within the post-secondary systems, within Aurora College or within our other post-secondary partners that we work with.

It is always a challenge, and we have got to find unique ways to identify those challenges. I know that the Member for Deh Cho had mentioned some around promoting culture and traditions to help succeeding in those areas. We have got to find a way to make sure that we address those barriers so that our students get to succeed in life, really, and like I said, it is a combination of all of the work that we are doing right now, and it starts with early childhood and the work that we are doing around education renewal to set them up for post-secondary.

Cory Vanthuyne

Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North

I also talked about some of the challenges of parents, and sometimes single parents, who are trying to make their way in post-secondary education. Children are obviously the greatest gift that we have, but, of course, they are an expense. Student Financial Assistance is doing good things to help us afford to go to post-secondary education, but can the Minister let us know: are there any additional resources or financial supports that a single parent or parents could apply for to help with childcare while they are working towards getting a post-secondary diploma or degree?

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

As Members know, we did make some changes when the Canada Child Benefit came into place, as well as changes to our own legislation for the NWT Child Benefit, to help more low-to-moderate-income families on that area. We have been working with the campuses in Fort Smith, Inuvik, and Yellowknife to address those, and we have heard that as a concern that childcare is important for students who are going to school. We are also working on how to create affordable and accessible childcare in the 11 communities that don't have childcare currently. That poses a barrier in itself, and we have to find ways to address those so that single parents or even families have that opportunity to a healthy education.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.

Cory Vanthuyne

Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Minister for identifying what it is that we are trying to accomplish with regard to helping out with childcare here in the North, but can the Minister describe any resources or supports that a young individual who is taking post-secondary in the South might have access to or additional supports that our government might be able to provide to help them with childcare while going to school in the South? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

I encourage any of the students who experience any kind of concerns or issues going down to post-secondary education in the South for the first time to possibly call their client service officer at the Student Financial Assistance office. We also have supports through our Indigenous governments and our partnerships, and we work with them on how to identify some of those barriers and challenges.

I also know that a lot of our Indigenous governments take students who are about to graduate on tours of post-secondary institutions down in the South to give them an idea of how it is going to be when they get down there, but anyone who is having trouble, I encourage them to call their client service officers here at the office and get some assistance. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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. My questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, who is responsible for the minimum wage. As I pointed out earlier today, the latest report on minimum wage is a rehash of the 2014 report that was produced by a committee that is not at arm's length from government, and it contained no preferred recommendation. Is the Minister willing to revise the terms of reference for the Minimum Wage Committee to make it more independent of government and give direction that a preferred recommendation needs to be put forward? Mahsi, 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. Just a little information for Members and the public: the Minimum Wage Committee was made in 2013, and its sole purpose was to meet and review relevant information, research, and data to determine suitable options for a change to the minimum wage.

Every two years, they review this area of the minimum wage. They bring options to myself, and we make the decisions on what meets the needs of not only the employees, but also the employers. We have to make sure that there is a fine balance and that we don't put extra hardships on our employers when we do look at increases to the minimum wage. The committee is made up of business individuals as well as non-government organizations, and I think it brings a very good, balanced perspective, and at this time, I do not see a need for change in that area. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Well, I am disappointed to hear that. When you have two reports and they are virtually carbon copies of each other, something is not right, and I have made a suggestion about how the Minister can improve it, but he doesn't seem to want to take that. I will try a different tack here.

Another issue is indexing. Eight other Canadian jurisdictions now index their minimum wage, or intend to begin this practice soon. This is something the Minister could begin to do now without waiting for the next round of review. Will the Minister direct that the NWT minimum wage now be indexed to inflation or cost of living?

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Setting the minimum wage to increase with inflation could actually limit our ability to explore other options for adjusting the minimum wage rates. Prior to the forming of the Minimum Wage Committee, they did look at such measures as the Consumer Price Index. At that time, it was felt that having this committee of business, labour organizations, and the community was the best way to go to look at all areas that would help set the options for minimum wage. At this time, the minimum wage will be indexed to inflation. We're not looking at it at this time.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Well, I'm getting some straight answers from the Minister today, which is a little unusual. I have described the living wage, which is a defensible figure calculated through a nationally recognized procedure. Our territorial data does not allow for detailed calculation of a living wage for each of our communities. Will the Minister commit to working with his colleague the Minister of Finance and, where necessary, Statistics Canada to expand the range of data collection in our communities to enable calculation of a local living wage?

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Currently, there is no jurisdiction in all of Canada that has legislated living wage as part of minimum wage policy. I feel that, the way we look at our minimum wage and review that minimum wage every two years, we are doing what is best for not only the employees, but as I mentioned earlier, what's best for the employers. I can bring this to Cabinet and have those discussions. At this time, we are going to continue with the process of how we develop and determine what a minimum wage is every two years.

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. I guess what I am hearing from the Minister is the status quo is okay, and when Alberta has a higher minimum wage than we do this fall, people should just move to Alberta. Currently, recipients of income support receive allowances that are adjusted according to where a person lives, and that reflects a difference in cost of living. If this principle applies to income support, why don't we apply it to the minimum wage? Will the Minister commit to beginning the work to develop a methodology to calculate a local living wage for all of our communities, and move the minimum wage to a living wage? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Just to give you a little information here. When we increase the minimum wage come April 1st of this year, about 700 people in the Northwest Territories will be affected, will be getting an increase. Having a living wage, as I mentioned, would possibly have some impacts on our employers. We all know that a lot of our businesses and people who do business in the Northwest Territories don't even pay the minimum wage; they pay a lot higher than that. In the tax-based communities, it gets even higher. You won't be looking at a living wage, and we will continue the same route that we are on. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Members on this side of the House have received variable answers about the future of the Social Work Program. We have heard both that the program is phased out, and will continue to be phased out; and we've also heard that the results of the foundational review are important to the future of the program. Mr. Speaker, my question for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment is: which one is it? Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The foundational review was a process that we took on as a government, and we are looking at a whole bunch of different areas, and it's not all focused on programs. There's governance. There's operations and administration. There's recruitment, retention, just give a direction of where the college is going. We are going to use that information to help set the long-term strategic plan for Aurora College. That review, the internal review that Aurora College is doing on their own, that will also possibly help us set the direction moving forward. The main focus right now is to get that foundational review complete with the management response, and help us move forward with other supporting documents such as the Skills 4 Success, as well as our labour markets needs assessment and information that we have that data will all help us plan a good direction for Aurora College going to the future.