Debates of Feb. 9th, 2021

This is page numbers 1843 - 1902 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

Oral Questions

Members Present

Prayer

COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout in the NWT

NWT Climate Change Council

Midwifery Program

Minimum Wage and Top-Up Program

Northwest Territories Power Corporation Board

Diabetes Programs in Small Communities

Social Problems within Nunakput

Replacement of Chief Jimmy Bruneau School

Integrated Case Management

Access to Lands

Medical Detoxification

Eulogy for Susan Deneyoua

Eulogy for Maurice Edward Mendo

Committee Report 8-19(2): Report on Motion 5-19(2): Referral of Point of Privilege Raised By Member For Monfwi on March 10, 2020

Motion to Receive Committee Report 8-19(2) and Move into Committee of the Whole

Midwifery

Stimulus Funding for Small Remote Communities

Replacement of Chief Bruneau School

Northwest Territories Power Corporation Board

Diabetes Programs in Small Communities

Medical Detoxification Services

Point of Order

Minimum Wage and Top-Up Program

Integrated Case Management

Access to Lands

Point of Order

Tabled Document 299-19(2): Northwest Territories Energy Initiatives Report: Reporting on Actions under the 2030 Energy Strategy 2019/20

Tabled Document 300-19(2): NWT Climate Change Action Plan: Annual Report 2019/20 Tabled Document 301-19(2): Responding to Climate Change in the NWT: Plain Language Overview Report 2019/20

Tabled Document 302-19(2): Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 481-19(2): Elders Housing Tabled Document 303-19(2): Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 482-19(2): Hiring Local

Extended Adjournment of the House to February 23, 2021

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Tabled Document 286-19(2): Main Estimates 2021-2022 - Finance - Deferral of Department (page 137)

Report Of Committee Of The Whole

Orders Of The Day

Committee Motion 75-19(2): Tabled Document 286-19(2): Main Estimates 2021-2022 - Finance - Deferral of Department (page 137), Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 1868

Frieda Martselos Thebacha

I have no more questions. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Page 1868

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Are there any further questions for Members under the Education, Culture and Employment, early learning and childcare? If there are no further questions, please turn to page 41. Education, Culture and Employment, early learning and childcare, operations expenditures summary, 2021-2022 Main Estimates, $11,980,000. Does committee agree?

Page 1868

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

Page 1868

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you. We are going to skip over to Education, Culture and Employment, junior kindergarten to grade 12 school services, and we will come back to the previous section just for our witnesses' purposes. Turn to page 48 with information items on page 51. Questions? Member for Yellowknife North.

Page 1868

Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North

Thank you, Madam Chair. I've asked previously about this, but I was hoping that I could get an updated figure from the Minister for the public record about how much Jordan's Principle funding is currently in our school system. I fully encourage our district education authorities to go out and get that money, but just an idea of how much money is actually in the system and/or positions. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Page 1868

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Page 1868

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you. We do have those numbers here. Perhaps I can buy some time while our DM looks them up. I can hand it over to our deputy minister to answer that. Thank you.

Page 1868

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Minister. Deputy Minister.

Page 1868

Mueller

Thank you, Madam Chair. Since Jordan's Principle funding became available in the 2018 school year, the Northwest Territories education bodies have accessed nearly $49 million. Thank you.

Page 1868

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, deputy minister. Member for Yellowknife North.

Page 1868

Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North

Thank you, Madam Chair. I have very mixed feelings about that figure. It's a great story that we got $49 million out of the federal government. In other ways, it's clear that our education system is underfunded and there is extreme need, especially for Indigenous students and especially for students with some higher needs. Can I just get a sense of how many positions that is currently funding? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Page 1868

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Page 1868

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you. I don't have that information with me right now, but we can do our best to find out. The deputy minister might have more information. Thank you.

Page 1868

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Minister. Deputy minister.

Page 1868

Mueller

Thank you, Madam Chair. If it's okay with the Member, I could describe out of that $49 million where a lot of the money has gone. The bulk of the money, for example, in our current school year, 2021 school year, nearly $15 million has gone to fund what we call support assistants. In some schools, they call them classroom assistants, but they are basically adults who are working with children in small groups or one-on-one. Another part of the funding is for specialized services, like specialized education consultants or clinicians where perhaps a community school doesn't typically have access to that. That could be on a child-by-child basis. Some of the funding has gone to other resources. For example, if a child needs specialized resources or equipment, it's gone to that, as well, about $1.3 million, and then the remaining amount for other staff. That could be for a wide variety of different positions supporting a particular child or group of children. Thank you.

Page 1868

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, deputy minister. Member for Yellowknife North.

Page 1868

Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North

Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you to the deputy minister for those figures. Those support assistants and the needs of those students is some of the most important work that we do. I encourage the Minister and the Premier to make sure that that Jordan's Principle money keeps flowing. It's extremely important to all of the work that we do.

I am looking at the line item for territorial schools and administration. I actually see that there is a $4 million decrease here from the revised main estimates. Can I just get clarification that that is because we essentially gave a few extra million dollars for COVID relief? Is there any money projected? I don't really see our schools just all of a sudden not having extra costs related to COVID going into this next year. Is there any money to kind of help with COVID relief efforts going into the next school year? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Page 1868

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Page 1868

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you. I would like to ask Mr. Shannon to answer that. Thanks.

Page 1868

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you. Mr. Shannon.

Page 1868

Shannon

Thank you, Madam Chair. The difference that you will see here in the 2021-2022 Main Estimates is the result of the conversion of fiscal years into academic years. Of the $13 million that was committed to assist education bodies with COVID-specific costs, 63 percent of that ends up in the revised main estimates, whereas 37 percent ends up in the 2021-2022 to cover the period from April 1^st through the end of the school fiscal year, which ends in July. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Page 1868

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Mr. Shannon. Member for Yellowknife North.

Page 1868

Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North

Thank you, Madam Chair. One last point: I believe the Minister is looking at a possible legislative amendment to make sure that the Yellowknife school districts can align their elections. Since the City of Yellowknife went to four-year election, they themselves remained as a three-year election. However, this just ends up having some costs, and the Yellowknife school districts are now just going to have to pay to run their own elections, where if they lined up, that cost would have largely been shared by the City. There's an extra cost since they got out of sync. Can the Minister just speak to whether there has been any progress on assisting the school boards with that cost and/or aligning the dates? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Page 1868

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Page 1868

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you. The aligning of the dates won't be an issue. As for the costs, we have been doing work to determine how much an election would cost. I've been speaking with MACA, with the City of Yellowknife, trying to figure out if we can use enumeration from the previous election or if we have to update it. That was really the significant cost. Perhaps I can hand it to Mr. Shannon, who can give us an update on the most recent developments. Thank you.

Debates of Feb. 9th, 2021

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