This is page numbers 11 - 42 of the Hansard for the 19th Assembly, 1st 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 assembly.

Topics

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I want to thank my colleague for the question. I would also like to congratulate, myself, Ms. Doreen Arrowmaker for her achievement of achieving a master's degree. You know, with this portfolio, that's the goal, to get our residents educated.

The Member brings up a good point: are we keeping track of who is educated? If we don't know, how do we bring them back here? We do know what programs our residents are taking, if they are receiving SFA. We know what institutions they are attending. Outside of that, we don't have that ability. If someone just goes off to school, there is no way of knowing. However, we do try to attract our students back, as well, with our SFA. We have great loan repayment incentives, zero percent interest on loans and increased remission rates, and a northern bonus, as well. So, while we're not where I think the Member would like us to be, we're getting there. It's somewhere that I want to get to because, when I was on that side, I was asking the same question. People are going out and getting educated; 80 percent of the jobs, almost, by 2030 are going to need a post-secondary education, so how do we get those residents? This is something I'm working on, I'm committed to working on, and I look forward to working with the Member on this.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

[Translation] A lot of students are going to school. Do they have any problems accessing programs? Maybe that information should be more available to people. [Translation ends]

What kind of statistics does the department have on the success of our northern Indigenous students at post-secondary? The reason I'm asking that is we need to somehow track these students so we can attract them back to the Northwest Territories. It's something that has been a real challenge over the years, and I believe that this is an area that we need to tackle as a department.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

I don't have those numbers at my fingertips. I can say that Aurora College, however, has recently implemented a new student information system that can track that type of information, and finally in the North we have that capability. It was a long time that we weren't able to do that at the college, and so, in the last two years, we've achieved that. The department has actually come a long way in terms of the statistics that it collects and the information that it has to analyze, and so I think that we're moving in that direction. Unfortunately, I don't have those numbers on me right now. My department might not like me making work for them, but I commit to getting that information for the Member.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Masi for the commitment. You are a good Minister so far, to start. Good answer. Mr. Speaker, [translation] when students go to college, we want everything readily available for them and we also want them to return to work in our communities, so how many of them are in college? I am asking the Minister of Education. [Translation ends] I am going to reach out to the post-secondary students to provide them opportunities, such as jobs, internships, on-the-job training, and most especially in the small isolated communities that my colleagues over the years have demanded, even in, still, the small communities, create opportunities for these students to return to their home communities for their education, so what have we done as a department to date on this particular area?

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

I know there is an internship program that the GNWT had through the Department of Finance, I believe, but the Member is right. We need to do more, I think.

One of the first things I talked about when I got this portfolio was the need to be better communicators and do a better job promoting education and promoting the North as a place to come back to. We need to reach out to our students. We do that through Student Financial Assistance. They have a great advertising program. When I was in school, I always knew when my payments were supposed to come and when my application was supposed to be in, and we need to extend that. We need to let people know our students who are away know that there is work for them back here. The Northwest Territories is still the land of opportunity. You know, that is why I came back. I have said in this House many times that, when I was in law school, that would have been an opportune time for the GNWT to reach out to me and talk about some of the opportunities that there are in the North. That is one thing I am working on, and I look forward to making that happen.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

[Translation] The students that are going to school, let's try to help them as much as we can, and that is what you are trying to do, which I am thankful for. When students go to college, we want them to return into our community and have jobs available for them. [Translation ends]

The Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, he and I think a lot alike, which is great. I would like to ask my last question. He may not have the stats today, but I would like to get that information from him: how many students did we hire last summer in their fields of studies, either graduates or in existing programs? That information will be valuable for the Members across the floor here to work with a Minister at the appropriate time.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

I believe we hired around 300 summer students in the GNWT, but I am not sure how many are in their actual field of study. I think the Department of Justice hired all the law students from the Northwest Territories last year, actually, though. You know, we are making some progress, and I look forward to making more, but, you know, these are all good points, and I will continue to advance this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member for Thebacha.

Frieda Martselos

Frieda Martselos Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Mr. Speaker, the planned transformation of the polytechnic university must be made public to the people of the NWT, especially to the residents of Fort Smith, where the headquarters is now situated. Morale and stability of jobs must be protected. My question to the Minister is: will your department be accountable and transparent and consult with the ongoing concerns of the community of Fort Smith?

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank my colleague for bringing this forward. I completely understand the concerns. We had a foundational review, and the third party who did the review of the College suggested moving the headquarters to Yellowknife, and so I understand why there was this concern coming out of Fort Smith.

You know, Fort Smith is the headquarters, as they say. It is the home to the corporate services of Aurora College. I believe there are 40 jobs in corporate services. There has never been a plan to move that out of Fort Smith. There is not a plan now to move it out of Fort Smith. There has never even been a discussion about moving that out of Fort Smith, so I want to give the Member that assurance.

In terms of the engagement she talked about, one of the first things I did, again in the first meeting I had with the Aurora College transition team, was talk about the level of engagement that we have. I said that, if you want to be successful in this transition, the staff has to buy in at Aurora College, you know, the staff in Fort Smith. I made that point very clear, and so, going forward, we are on the verge of creating some working groups within the College, so that a staff will be fully engaged in developing and implementing plans going forward. There is going to be a three-year strategic plan that Aurora College is developing.

Right now, there is an online survey that any member of the public can fill out, and that is open until January, I believe, 10 of 2020. We are going to do a regional needs assessment that will include engagement with Indigenous governments and communities across the territory.

The other thing I said in my first meeting was that, you know, this Assembly committed to implementing the United Nations' declaration on the rights of Indigenous People, and I am not going to get ahead of ourselves in the mandate, but it is clear that we need to have more engagement with Indigenous governments. I wanted to make sure, and I told my department that we need to have the right kind of engagement with Indigenous governments. The department is going to reach out to the Indigenous governments and define what that engagement is going to look like, and that includes Salt River, and that includes the Metis in Fort Smith.

Mr. Speaker, I want to ensure that engagement is one of my top priorities and not just for the sake of saying, "We did it," and checking a box. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Frieda Martselos

Frieda Martselos Thebacha

[Microphone turned off] ...assurance to commit enrollment in all of the courses is not frozen in any way or form, business continues as usual at Aurora College headquarters must be maintained.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

No question?

Frieda Martselos

Frieda Martselos Thebacha

No question. I want to make sure that the business is [Microphone turned off] that there is...

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Member, please wait for your light to come on.

Frieda Martselos

Frieda Martselos Thebacha

Okay. Sorry. Mr. Speaker, I want to ensure that the commitment to enrollment in all courses continues as usual. I want to make sure that Aurora College, at the Aurora College headquarters -- because some of the courses have not had any student intake, and, therefore, I want to ensure that the business continues as usual and the enrollment is not frozen in any way, shape, or form.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

I think we all know, in 2016, the intake for the social work diploma program as well as the teacher education program was suspended, and those programs are currently undergoing program reviews. These aren't just regular program reviews like the college would normally do. These are academic program reviews that are part of a new framework that are up to national standards. They are, let's see, the Ministerial Statement on Quality Assurance of Degree Education in Canada, released by the Council of Ministers of Education, is what we are conforming to. The college, as it was, has been around for 50 years. It should have been, you know, the jewel of the North in terms of education but for a number of reasons, the academic standards and the quality were allowed to slip.

What we are doing right now is we are implementing reviews to ensure that that doesn't happen again. We are implementing reviews to make sure that we create solid programs that serve the needs of the people of the Northwest Territories, and we are putting the structures in place to ensure that we don't get to that place again where we need to suspend those programs.

That is what is going on right now, so I am not going to say that we are reinstituting the Social Work and the Teacher Education Programs this year or next year, because those are being reviewed. The goal of this is to create a polytechnic university in the North that will serve the needs of Northerners and give Northerners the best possible education. That is the goal, and that is how we are going to base our decisions on what programs to deliver.

Frieda Martselos

Frieda Martselos Thebacha

I think I would appreciate a commitment from the Minister of Education to visit the community of Fort Smith and Aurora College early in the new year to assure the residents of Fort Smith that proper consultation on the plan of transformation to the polytech university is discussed.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

As the Minister of Education, I plan to travel to lots of different schools, and, of course, I plan to travel to the college. I am not sure what the schedule is for the new year. It has been relatively busy. It is hard to find a free moment. At some point in the new year, at some point, I'm sure, in the first part of next year, I will be travelling to Fort Smith, and I will be having discussions with staff.

I am always open to sitting down with the Member, as well, and having conversations. The Members are the voices of their communities, and I want to hear from the Member about what she has to say. I get emails all the time from concerned citizens, as well, and I read those and consider that information. My door is always open.

Once we have the proper standing committees, as well, I am more than happy to give a presentation or have the department give a technical briefing to the standing committee. I wanted to put that out there, as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the honourable Premier. As I mentioned in my statement, Ministers in the last two Assemblies received mandate letters from the Premier. In fact, the Premier herself would have received her own for her different portfolios. My first question is: how did having a mandate letter help or hinder her? Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife Centre. Honourable Premier.

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The provision of the mandate letters that were provided to me as a Minister in the 18th Legislative Assembly helped to reinforce the priorities and the mandate commitments that were made by all Assembly Members during the 18th Assembly. They kept me focused on the needs, but they did not limit me. I must make that clear. They did not limit me in what my powers were. They gave me a guideline. They said, "You must do these," but I also appreciate that I had the freedom to move the departments as I felt was appropriate, based on the needs of people.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

My follow-up question is: does the Premier, then, consider the letters to be valuable enough that she will provide mandate letters to her Ministers, and, if so, when can this Assembly expect to see them?

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Absolutely. I think that the mandate letters are necessary. They provide a guideline for what I expect from Ministers. They also provide a tool that can be used by the Premier to judge if the Ministers and the departments are complying with the mandates for the Legislative Assembly.

I will continue that process. I had said that before. I will have my own. I know that the mandate will be developed by all of us in this Assembly, taking ownership as Cabinet for the final document, but I have said time and time again during when I was elected and before I was elected that one of the components that I will have is that they work closely with all Members and all stakeholders. That is key to me. We have talked many times about the need to work better, and we are committed as a Cabinet to working better.