Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.

Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of the Justice, who is the regulator for oil and gas legislation in the Northwest Territories, at least in those areas where we have jurisdiction. Can the Minister tell us why the federal National Energy Board is the regulator of onshore and offshore oil and gas development in the Inuvialuit region? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Minister of Justice.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The National Energy Board was preserved as the regulator of oil and gas operations in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region through the devolution negotiations at the request of Canada and the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation. I understand also that Canada and the Inuvialuit had an interest in maintaining the existing relationship and that Canada in particular felt it was important to maintain as much consistency in the regulation of offshore resources with adjacent onshore resources as possible. That arrangement may have made some sense as an interim measure. OROGO, in my view, as since proven itself as an excellent regulator.

I want to thank the Minister for promoting OROGO, and, at his suggestion, I have gone over and met with his staff, and I do agree that they're doing a good job. In the event, though, that there are interests in or development of petroleum resources that straddle areas where the National Energy Board and OROGO have jurisdiction, can the Minister explain how this would be managed?

I may have to look further into that issue, of these straddle types of arrangements, so perhaps I can handle the question best by saying that I will get back to the Member opposite.

I want to thank the Minister for that commitment. I recognize that Cabinet views OROGO as a bit of a hot potato. It appears to me that OROGO's doing a good job. I mentioned that earlier, even though there are limited oil and gas activities, they're doing some work on old wells, which is good. I'd like to ask the Minister whether our government has given any thought to asking the federal government to end the reign of the National Energy Board over the onshore areas of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region and, if not, why not?

I thank the Member opposite for his kind words about OROGO. It is an established regulator now, and I believe that, at this stage, with this proven track record, both Canada and the Inuvialuit might be receptive to having a conversation around the benefits of replacing the NEB as regulator for in the ISR area. Increasingly, this government over the years is becoming master in our own home, if I may use the French phrase, "maitres chez nous."

Member for Frame Lake.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. We started a conversation here on the floor of the House, so I'm hoping that he could meet or pick up the phone and talk to some of our friends about this issue. In considering whether the National Energy Board should continue as a regulator of oil and gas activities in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, there of course would need to be consultations with the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation. Can the Minister tell us, the public, whether he's had any of those discussions so far and, if not, why not? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

No formal request to have that conversation has been made, but it is something that I think we should be looking into. After all, we are maturing as a jurisdiction. The Member opposite mentioned the excellent work that OROGO is doing, so, yes, we should have that conversation. It is time, in my view, to re-examine this situation. Thank you.

Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. As I noted in my statement, the science of early childhood development points out a number of tips and best practices, so let's see how these are being followed in our new junior kindergarten programming. First, the science says, "Children learn by copying, so they hear the Indigenous languages." How has JK ensured that Indigenous language teachers and teachers' aides, speak the words children must hear in order to learn? Mahsi.

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Early integration or early exposure for children to learn Indigenous language is not a new thing. We do provide funding effective 2018, this year, actually, for junior kindergarten, so they are included in the funding that is given to schools for Indigenous learning, Indigenous teaching. Even before that, I remember operating a daycare and, for many years, actually, looking to bring elders into daycare centres. It's always been promoted to actually utilize people that are from the land, from the speakers, into early childcare programming, remembering that JK is play-based. It is not curriculum based. It's not the same as K to 12. It is a play-based experience. Bringing in elders and using the programming, introducing the children to the language is utilized, but it is a different structure.

Thank you to the Minister for that response. My next question is about materials. We know that children like to hear stories and songs, and I wondered what work was underway or is planned for expanding the library of Indigenous language materials for JK?

We do have some resources already that we use within our schools. We are always redoing our resources. The same resources that we would use for kindergarten with our Indigenous languages will be used for junior kindergarten. A lot of that is actually having elders come in and speak with them and play with them, so the development of resources isn't always having a book. That is more of a western culture. Within an Indigenous culture, it's more storytelling, having elders coming in and speaking to the children and showing them concrete examples, so we try to incorporate both western culture and Indigenous culture into the practice.

The last time we reviewed the funding for JK, there was a $300,000 shortfall in the area of Aboriginal languages operations and maintenance for things like the resources and language assistance. Are these two areas now fully funded?

I do know that we've received money from the federal government to address Indigenous languages. I can't say if they are fully. I will have to get back to the Member and let her know where we are with that.

Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Last of all, our JK programming course is fairly new, and I'm wondering how the department is monitoring and evaluating the Indigenous language learning elements of the JK programming and how they are implementing the results of this evaluation. Mahsi.

Again, like I had said -- sorry, we just knocked over a basket -- the Indigenous language programming is offered not only to JK; it's also to all students, so the JK students are actually able to take part in the programming that's already being offered to the kindergarten students. I do want to point out that we have two communities, Fort Providence is one of them, and Behchoko, actually, that have more of an Indigenous immersion. Within Behchoko, it's JK, junior kindergarten, to grade two, full immersion, and then Fort Providence is junior kindergarten to grade three. I think those are fine examples, and I think that we need to promote that more within the territory. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister responsible for the Status of Women. Last week the Minister confirmed that there won't be any Wise Women Awards this year on International Women's Day. She said the awards may take place in October. Can she confirm that having the awards in October depends on the success of the Status of Women Council's fundraising efforts? Thank you.