This is page numbers 4183 - 4214 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 work.

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Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery
Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Page 4183

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

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Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize my constituency assistant, Mr. Garrett Cochrane, who is in the gallery today. He's been helping me behind the scenes to be prepared for this sitting, and I couldn't do it without him. Thank you very much, Garrett.

Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery
Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

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

Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery
Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

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Cory Vanthuyne

Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I, too, want to recognize Yellowknife North constituent Arlene Hache. Arlene is a well-known community builder and advocate for social change. I just want to say welcome to the House and thank you for being here. Thank you.

Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery
Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

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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

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Daniel McNeely

Daniel McNeely Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to recognize Ms. Yvonne Nakimayak, originally from Norman Wells, and also Sarah Cleary, providing Slavey language interpretation. Mahsi.

Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery
Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. If we missed anyone in the gallery, thanks for being here with us. It's always nice to have an audience as part of our proceedings. Masi. Item 6, acknowledgements. Member for Nahendeh.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. After 31 years of teaching and serving the students of the Nahendeh and Dehcho region, I am saddened and happy at the same time to announce that, after this school year, Terry Jaffray will be retiring.

Terry worked at the Echo-Dene, Thomas Simpson Secondary, and Bompas Elementary Schools and at Dehcho Divisional Education Council. Terry was inducted into the 2017 Education Hall of Fame and received the NWT Superintendents Association Leadership Award.

Terry said she will miss being around people all day and working with the trustees at the council meetings. Thank you, Terry, for your hard work and dedication. I wish you the best in your retirement. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. On this Intergenerational Day, I would like to see him put some words into action about seniors. In February I asked the Minister about the status of contracting a new provider for the Adult Day Program in Yellowknife. The Minister said, "I am hoping that we can get this contract out as quickly as possible, hopefully before the end of this fiscal year." Can the Minister provide us with an update? Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as the Member knows, we did go out for an RFP. We did not have any interest in that RFP. In discussion with the Member during the last sitting, I indicated that we were going to reach out to some of the people who requested the proposal to find out why there was no interest in the proposal, and what we could do differently before we go out with a new proposal that might actually garner some interest. We did that work. We did hear from some proponents that, first off, the length of duration of the RFP was too short. They felt it needed to be longer so that they could put together a better package. There were concerns about some of the other smaller clauses within the RFP, and there was a larger concern about the actual duration of the contract.

So we have made those amendments to the RFP. We are just doing the final tweaks as we speak, and we are hoping to have that RFP issued this month so that we can find a provider, a new provider, of the Adult Day Program here in Yellowknife as quickly as possible. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

I'm not sure I understand all of the Minister's answers, so I would like him to clarify that the RFP is available as a thing to bid on for longer, and the term of the contract is available for longer? Has the money increased, as well? Those are my questions, Mr. Speaker.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

The RFP is going to be issued this month. We're going to run the RFP for a longer period of time, which hopefully allows people to develop more comprehensive proposals and have more time to assess their capacity to actually bid on the proposal. We, based on recommendations from individuals who did request the previous proposal, are extending the length of the contract, so that will make it more appealing, hopefully, according to some of the proponents.

We haven't issued the RFP. I've said we're going to issue the RFP this month, and hopefully we will see some solid proposals.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

I appreciate that clarification. I'm wondering if the Minister is going to go beyond "hopefully" and actually meet with people to ask them to bid on this contract. For example, there has been lots of discussion about how seniors and children in daycare can form a great partnership because they need, in some cases, similar services in a similar situation. So is there any kind of proactive work going on to attract bidders in that way?

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

After the Member's previous comments in the House when we discussed the RFP that was unsuccessful, I indicated that we would be reaching out to individuals to get their thoughts on how we could be more creative. A lot of that work has already been done. Once the RFP has been issued, I'm happy to have the department mail a copy of the RFP to anybody who is interested, and have conversations with anybody who has some creative ideas on how to move forward in a cooperative way in order to provide quality day programs for seniors in the Yellowknife area.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Masi, Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate the Minister's response. Is it possible for the Minister or his staff to be even more proactive than advertising and mailing the package out? It is possible for him or his staff to actively encourage people to apply so that we ensure that this time there are bidders on this proposal?

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Mr. Speaker, the department will be reaching out to potential proponents, like we did previously, to encourage them to apply and discuss with them options as we move forward, and I will certainly get the information out as best I can through tweets and other medium to encourage people to apply. Mr. Speaker, I want the same thing the Member wants. I want a day program in Yellowknife. We're going to do everything that we can. If we're unsuccessful with the RFP, I'll certainly be sitting down with the Member and other Yellowknife MLAs to discuss other possibilities. We're very hopeful that we'll find somebody who is interested in providing this important service, and we will continue to work until it happens. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, you heard today about some cuts that are potentially happening in the Deh Cho proper area and that and in regards to the formula. So my first question to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment is: how was the formula developed to provide support for teachers and students in this regard? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, school funding is mostly funded under a formula based on number of children in the schools. They did do some work on the inclusive schooling funding in 2016. That work had input from research professionals from the different regions, also nationally recognized experts, both nationally and northern. So they were instrumental in providing guidance to the Department of Education, Culture and Employment on the renewal and the review of the formulas that were currently there. So, currently, it is based mostly on numbers of youth, though.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

I thank the Minister for that answer. However, when I go down south, for the students with complex needs, we see a different way of doing things, so why doesn't this government base its formula on the needs instead of just a formula on student population?

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

A needs-based formula, actually, was one of the questions that I was interested in, as well, when I took over this portfolio, but the explanation that I received made sense. So, there are a couple of problems. In the south, it is based on per capita for federal funding, and the number of people actually brings in more money, as well.

Within the Northwest Territories, we have another issue, so it's not only about number of people. The bigger issue is that we don't have the access to the amount of resources. If we based it on needs-based only, we would have to have the children diagnosed, and we don't have the resources at this point to be able to diagnose all of the children in the Northwest Territories. Not only do we not have that resource, but a lot of children don't show some of the symptoms of developmental delays early on, and so those are things sometimes that appear later on.

I should say, also, that many of the jurisdictions in the South that actually are needs-based are finding difficulty with that formula, as well, and so they're moving into a formula where they're looking at more classrooms broadly funded instead of strictly individual needs.