I appreciate the response from the Minister. Mr. Speaker, from the way it sounds, it sounds like government-administered programs that span across the 33 communities of the territory seem to run quite successfully, and I think the homecare workers is one of those ones in the making to refine to become more specifically to help elders. Mr. Speaker, the department has also done some great work on cultural safety, including a new action plan. How does that action plan speak to the need for health centre staff to engage with the communities, including language translation services?

I am pleased to inform the Member that tomorrow I'll be tabling "Caring For Our People: Cultural Safety Action Plan 2018-2020." Tomorrow I will also be hosting a public launch here in the Assembly at 11:00 a.m., and I hope that all Members are able to attend.

Regarding the Member's concerns about cultural safety for Indigenous residents and elders, work is already under way. First, I'd like to highlight the 2018-2020 Inuinnaqtun pilot program at the Enegak Health and Social Services Centre in Ulukhaktok funded by the department. The pilot project will support the language needs of the Inuinnaqtun speakers receiving health and social services care in the community, as well as those on medical travel, so we're trying to make progress in that area.

Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thanks to the Minister for the invitation, as well. Mr. Speaker, pilots like that such the Minister spoke of could become something very useful across the territory, with the technology we have today. I have one more question about cultural safety, and the question is: how does the department's new action plan speak to regular engagement between the department and communities on new healthcare policies and initiatives? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I, like Members in this House, have heard time and time again that the NWT health and social services system is not safe for Indigenous residents, nor does it account for Indigenous culture or healing needs. That is why, for the past 16 months, staff at the department have worked with Indigenous Northerners to hear their experiences, concerns, and aspirations for the NWT health and social services system. This included meeting with regional wellness councils, including the Beaufort-Delta, where council members had the opportunity to voice their community concerns about the health and wellbeing of their residents and the delivery of those services.

What we heard clearly echoed some of your constituents' concerns that Indigenous residents experience language barriers, that meaningful discussion with staff and healthcare systems can be and often is a challenge. We are releasing the cultural safety action plan tomorrow, and I'll be providing more details on that tomorrow, so there will be an opportunity to hear about some more of the things we're doing then. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment what assessment, if any, has been done on the operations of the junior kindergarten program? Thank you.

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The junior kindergarten program was piloted in some communities for a couple of years, and then this last year it was implemented across the Northwest Territories. There hasn't been a full assessment done on the total implementation, but we will be looking at it over the summer months, once the school year is finished, to find out what worked, what didn't work, and what we need to improve on. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I mentioned a number of concerns in my Member's statement, so I'll go through each one of them, but does ECE through the Minister currently have a plan to address the medical screening, or lack thereof, for children who are coming into these programs?

I will have to look into that. My assumption was that all children who access either licensed childcare centres or junior kindergarten and school are recommended to have up-to-date immunizations, but I will look into that and get back to the Member on that.

I can tell the Minister that a recommendation and a requirement are different. Those are the concerns that have been brought forward to me. Further to that, with the teacher to children ratio, it seems 1:25 is putting a lot of stress on these classrooms and the learning environment that these children are supposed to be benefitting from. Is the Minister open to re-evaluating that while this review takes place in the summer?

As one of my colleagues said the other day, I will do better than that. In fact, they are funded at 1:12, so if they are doing 1:25, Mr. Speaker, we have a bit problem. I'm going to be looking into that right away, because they are funded at 1:12.

Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Minister. I very much appreciate that. If the results of this survey confirmed these concerns that have been brought forward today, is the Minister willing to go that extra distance and commit to at least exploring a possibility of adding more money into the program to address these shortfalls? Thank you.

The schools are actually funded for 1:12. They're not funded 1:25, they're funded 1:12. I will look into the other things. Like I say, we'll do a review at the end of the year. I'm not going to be quick to say we'll throw money at things if it's not needed. What I am working on currently, though, is looking at, because we have a curriculum for JK, junior kindergarten, but I'm looking at strengthening the curriculum for childcare centres, licensed childcare centres, as well. I believe in equality and I believe in equity, and so we need to make sure that the services for children are similar right across.

One thing I picked out from Member's statement today, though, Mr. Speaker, already is we're doing a bad job of communication. I've said that a few times, in our departments, that we need to work on our communication. If the MLAs are thinking that we're getting funded for 1:25, I can imagine what the general public thinks, so we need to do better on our communications. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. During his almost eight years in his portfolio, has the Minister had any discussions about developing an office for child and youth advocacy in the NWT? Mahsi.

Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the 16^th Legislative Assembly I participated on a committee that did a review of the implementation and delivery of child and family services in the Northwest Territories. With the chair, who at the time was the honourable Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh, we travelled throughout the Northwest Territories. We also travelled to many other jurisdictions and we talked to professionals about these services. One of the things that came up on a regular basis was the child advocate. We met with the child advocate in Alberta and we talked about the role of an advocate.

At that time the committee, based on their discussions, did not recommend an advocate, but rather in recommendation 25 of the report they recommended some changes to the legislation that would allow a child to have some representation, and that could have been a legal professional, extended family, a member of the parents' band council. There was also a second recommendation, recommendation 26, to establish a mechanism to ensure that every child's voice is heard and that the child understands what is happening to them at every level of the child welfare system. Those recommendations were accepted and enacted. There were changes to the Child and Family Services Act that allowed individuals to be there as an advocate for them. It wasn't a child advocate as the Member is describing, but we also moved forward in the Department of Justice and established the Office of the Children's Lawyer in 2011-2012 to allow for children to be appointed a lawyer in certain child protection issues.

I recognize that a children's lawyer is not a child's advocate, but when it comes to a child who has access to the legal system, they provide those types of services. So it doesn't get every child, as the Member is describing, but it certainly touches those who are engaged in the court system. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I appreciate the fulsome answer from the Minister. He said that he wants to make sure every voice is heard. I am wondering what the mechanism for that is without someone in a formal advocacy position.

The Child and Family Services Act, after it was amended, actually allows for a child and each parent of the child to choose and be accompanied by an adult who may assist them in the expression of his or her views when engaging the courts and when engaging the system. It doesn't necessarily allow or support the child advocate as the Member is describing, but it does allow for advocacy.

The Office of the Children's Lawyer began serving clients in 2011. I understand, once again, that that is not a child advocate, but it does provide those services once a child has access to the court system through Child and Family Services. We are doing some of those things. The legislation allows us to have other people advocate on their behalf.

Given the two reports from the Office of the Auditor General which both feature concerns about children not being heard and not being in regular contact with authorities, I am wondering if the Minister is ready to revisit this discussion about having an independent, arms-length agency that is an advocate for children and youth?

These were conversations that occurred both in the 16^th and the 17^th Legislative Assemblies. At that time, we did not move forward with the child's advocate. Neither the committee recommended nor the government of the day moved forward with it. The child's advocate is not a children's lawyer, as I have already indicated, but they are more comparable to an ombud with a focus or a specialization in children and youth.

If this Assembly were interested in pursuing that, it would require legislative changes or legislative drafting. It would require budgeting. It would require a number of things. We didn't contemplate that in the remainder of this Assembly. Instead, we are looking at other types of positions that can support families and children, like family support workers under the Child and Family Services Act and Building Stronger Families. We didn't contemplate that as a result of discussions in previous Assemblies, and we are focusing more on other types of positions that could provide those types of supports.