This is page numbers 39 - 60 of the Hansard for the 19th Assembly, 2nd 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 going.

Topics

Lesa Semmler

Lesa Semmler Inuvik Twin Lakes

More so with my question, I think what I am looking for: is there more of a plan to train language speakers who we currently have so that they can be instructors or teach other people?

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

As I spoke the other day, the department has some partnerships with the University of Alberta, the University of Victoria, and we are making strides to train people to help revitalize the language. We have a mentorship/apprentice program which pairs fluent speakers with those wishing to learn so that they can then learn.

These are a few of the things that we are doing, and as the Member is well aware, there is work going on within the education authorities, as well. She was a former chair of the Beaufort Delta Education Council, and she knows what vital role they play, as well. I know that each of the education authorities is doing work, as well, in addition to the things that the department is doing, and we like supporting that, as well.

Lesa Semmler

Lesa Semmler Inuvik Twin Lakes

I am going to go on to a different topic within the same Member's statement. What is the plan to ensure that our students are getting the education and support that they need to move to the next grade on track, so that, by the time they do reach grade 10, we are not losing them to dropout, and then we see the high unemployment rates because they are not eligible to get jobs and stuff?

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

When the Premier asked newly elected Ministers what portfolios they would want and why, one of the things that I said when I said I would like Education is that one of my goals is to eliminate the need for social passing for inclusive schooling, because all of our students would be on track right from junior kindergarten.

Some of the things that the department has already done are things like junior kindergarten, which will begin showing results. We are going to see that. There is a group of kids out there who have access to more quality education earlier, and that is going to pay big dividends going forward. We have things like the child and youth care counsellors, which are rolling out across the territory, to help students with issues that hinder their ability to learn. We have a territorial support team, which teachers and administrators can reach out to so that they can get help with things like mental health. We have an educational psychologist, an occupational therapist, behavioural specialist, a speech-language pathologist all on staff to help teachers work with students to address some of their needs.

Clearly, more needs to be done, and I am willing to look at different ways of proceeding with this. Inclusive schooling social passing is controversial, but the other option is that students don't get placed in the next grade. They just get held back, and the consequence of that is higher dropout rates. We want to find that ground where we are not losing students to dropout, but we are adequately preparing them. We are working on it. I look forward to getting into more detail as we go forward, as we develop this action plan, but I am committed to providing more supports.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.

Lesa Semmler

Lesa Semmler Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just one last question: how do we ensure that the data that is being collected in each education board, because they are different and they are governed differently, is being analyzed so that we are getting the same information across the board, so that, when we do sit here as a government, we are able to deal with those concerns? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

We have a framework. The name is escaping me right now, but it deals directly with this. It deals directly with data collection and how that data is processed. We have standardized the way that we are now collecting this data from the education councils. My colleague is right; there is a separation between all of the education authorities, and separated from ECE, as well.

I think that one of the things that we need to do, and this was mentioned in the Commissioner's address, is look at our Education Act and see if there is a way to better integrate our systems. Not to get rid of the regional authorities, but to facilitate that type of information-sharing and collection that we need in order to be able to analyze what we are doing and ensure that what we are doing is generating results. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.

Question 27-19(2): Teck Frontier Resources Project
Oral Questions

February 7th, 2020

Page 46

Rylund Johnson

Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, and ultimately, the Minister responsible for Climate Change. Previously in this House, he refused to take a position on the Teck Frontier Resources Project in Alberta, a project that will make sure that Canada does not meet its emissions targets and will end up with the Northwest Territories dealing with 40 years of effluent from Alberta. Why is the Minister refusing to take a position on this project?

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I recognize that NWT residents and Members are concerned about the potential environmental impact of the proposed Teck Resources oilsands mine proposed downstream from here. As I said previously to the Member for Frame Lake, the bilateral agreement with the Government of Alberta was signed in March 2015 to help preserve equality and quantity and the biology of the water flowing into the NWT.

Mr. Speaker, I want to inform the House and the public that I have already spoken to Smith's Landing Chief Cheezie about this issue and will also be reaching out to the Alberta government to emphasize their commitment under the Alberta-NWT bilateral agreement. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Rylund Johnson

Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North

I recognize the importance of transboundary agreements and the work that the Department of ENR is doing into monitoring, but our public service must remain impartial and, at times, an issue become one of partiality. This is one of those such issues.

In the past week in Ottawa, members of the Liberal Party's own caucus were criticizing their Cabinet for approving this project. Once again, I am questioning why we elect politicians who refuse to take political stances. I would ask the Minister: what is his position on this project?

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

I know that politicians are supposed to take stances on things. It is easier when you are on the other side to do it. Right now, what I am trying to do is work with the Government of Alberta to do what is right to actually implement the transboundary water agreement. That is what I am working on. I don't want to get up here and say, "Here, I'm greatly standing against it or supporting it." What I am trying to do is do the work right, then we can go from there.

Rylund Johnson

Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North

I appreciate that answer, and it is the job of a department to make sure that the work is done right. It is easier on this side of the House to take a position. My position is that this project should not go ahead, and if it ruffles some feathers with Alberta or the Liberal government in Ottawa, I am fine with that, because if we are going to take meaningful action on climate change, we must take positions. We must draw a line in the sand. In this case, the tar sand. What benefit does the Minister of ENR see that this project provides Northerners?

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Tar sands, drawing lines here. What I am trying to do right now is work with the Alberta government to make sure that the quality of water coming out is good for our people. If it isn't, that's when we come out and work again. I don't want to make a political stance saying yes or no about this. What I am trying to do is do the job, which is working with the Alberta government to make sure that whatever project they are doing does not have an impact on us. That is the most important aspect of it. That's what we're trying to do. I don't want to come out here and say yes or no to something until we do the work first.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Caitlin Cleveland

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have questions today for the Minister responsible for Housing, but I see that she is not here, so I am going to redirect towards the Premier, if I can, please. What I would like to ask today, Mr. Speaker, is: how has this government engaged with Indigenous governments in partnerships to create housing in the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Honourable Premier.

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Sorry, Mr. Speaker. I was unclear if it was Indigenous partnerships or just partnerships, so I would have to ask clarification on the question. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, honourable Premier. Member for Kam Lake.

Caitlin Cleveland

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Specifically, with Indigenous governments.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Honourable Premier.

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Northwest Territories Housing Corporation takes working in partnership very seriously. There are many Indigenous governments, actually, that are moving into doing housing projects. I will give an example of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation who, in the last Assembly, actually did a partnership with the Housing Corporation. The Inuvialuit Corporation received funding from the federal government. They worked closely with the NWT Housing Corporation to define the housing needs of people in their region. Then both the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation and NWT Housing Corporation worked together in making sure the project was on the ground.

This government is committed to doing more and more partnerships like that. The previous government had always felt, in fairness, that the money should come through the GNWT to allocate to Indigenous governments to have control over the housing, make sure the needs were being met, et cetera. This government is taking a different stance. We have already talked to the federal government in that we are actually totally fine in actually advocating if the federal government gives the housing money to the Indigenous governments, that we will work with them either on their own or if they want our support.

It is not about competition. This is about getting houses in the North. We need to stop any kind of competition that that means and keep the priority that every person deserves a home.

Caitlin Cleveland

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

Does the government have a timeline of when they would like to put together housing plans with each Indigenous government, and is there a desire to do one specifically and independently with each Indigenous government?

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Absolutely. The commitment to actually do community housing plans in each community was a commitment actually from the last Assembly. I remember the Housing Minister bringing that forward. During this Assembly, I know that they have just finished one with the community of Whati. As they move forward, the goal is to have community housing plans in every community, because it is inappropriate for a government or any individual to believe that one size fits all. Every community has distinct strengths and distinct challenges. If we are doing services under best practices, we work with communities, not telling communities what to do.