This is page numbers 4583 - 4606 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 indigenous.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Minister responsible for ITI.

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is quite common, in fact, for departments, all departments, to conduct their research and their policy developments and to do that often internally. Sometimes they'll use contracts and sometimes they will not. So the detailed analysis and the research that goes into it does not always form part of the public engagement materials. That is not in and of itself unusual. I am pleased to hear that Members of this Assembly are engaged with industry and to discuss with them matters of importance, of shared interest.

When there are recommendations ready, then the recommendations will be put out to the public for comment. That is a standard process, and we'll be utilizing that in ITI as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Frame Lake.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. At some point, there's supposed to be five sets of detailed mining regulations posted for comment, and these are going to cover things like, you know, royalties, benefits, dispute resolution, and so on. Another vague and high level What We Heard report is just not going to cut it, Mr. Speaker. To ensure that there's some greater transparency and to avoid apprehension of bias by the department that is both a promoter and a regulator, comments made on these draft regulations should be public and so should any responses.

So can the Minister commit to ensuring that comments and responses on the draft mining regulations will be made public in the interest of fairness and transparency? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Minister responsible for Industry, Tourism and Investment.

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the same process that gets utilized when we're developing other pieces of legislation will certainly be utilized here. And in fact, quite often with regulatory development, regulations do not get the same level of engagement and research and input that these regulations are getting. So with that said, Mr. Speaker, again, subject only to the fact that there may be parties, there may be members of the public when they submit their comments, again, similar to any other development of legislation and regulation, who do not expect their comments to be made public.

So subject to ensuring that I'm not, you know, invading the privacy or confidence of members of the public who might be making comments, it is certainly our intention to try to put out as much information without the policy proposals that are in place, the background to them, and then what kinds of comments are made available prior to having the final materials put together. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Colleagues, before we continue, I just want to remind Members normally questions and answers are five minutes per person. We're pushing seven. So just give everybody a chance, so tighten up the questions and answers would be appreciated. Thank you.

Oral questions. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.

Lesa Semmler

Lesa Semmler Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I might just have one question depending on the answer of the Minister.

Will the Minister of Infrastructure commit to chip sealing or paving the Marine Bypass Road in Inuvik next summer? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Minister responsible for -- order. Order. Minister responsible for Infrastructure.

Diane Archie

Diane Archie Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the department has reviewed the request to chip seal the Marine Bypass Road. So the current cost estimate, and I say that loosely because it may change, is about a million dollars, which is about three times the cost that is incurred in southern Northwest Territories. As there are no paving equipment in Inuvik or in the community, we'd have to bring contractors in from Whitehorse. In order to maximize local benefits and to keep the cost down, we should align this work with some of the paving that's happening at the Inuvik runway.

So Mr. Speaker, I can commit -- you're welcome -- to doing this work at the same time as Inuvik runway. And I'm hoping with that answer, Mr. Speaker, I get no more supplementary. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.

Question 1167-19(2): JK-Grade 3 Education Levels
Oral Questions

October 14th, 2022

Page 4594

Ronald Bonnetrouge

Ronald Bonnetrouge Deh Cho

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, following up to my Member's statement as to the education grade levels for the JK to grade 3, can the Minister provide any statistics to determine actual grade levels of JK to grade 3 in relation to the rest of Canada? Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is no assessment tool that allows us to assess the grade levels that the Member is talking about and compare them to the rest of Canada. Primarily we use the Alberta achievement tests as a benchmark for grade levels. Alberta used to offer that for grade 3, but they stopped that in about 2014 so we no longer have that. However, we do use the early development instrument which provides a snapshot of developmental health in five areas. So physical health and well-being, social competence, emotional maturity, language and cognitive development, and communication skills and general knowledge. And then we also have the middle years development instrument for children who are a little older. So that begins in grade 4, grades 4 to 7. And that is sort of a continuation of that.

So from those instruments, we have an idea of how many children are on track with their development, or they're in a vulnerable position. So we do have those types of statistics. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Ronald Bonnetrouge

Ronald Bonnetrouge Deh Cho

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi to the Minister too. Kind of alarming that they only have the tests for grade 4 and up but not JK to 3 specifically.

I'd like to ask the Minister is there a gauge or evaluation as to how to determine if the Dene immersion program is a success for achieving what it is to achieve? Mahsi.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So when an education decides to put on an immersion program, they develop a monitoring and evaluation plan, and the Department of Education, Culture and Employment can assist with that. And throughout that process, the education body consistently monitors and evaluates the program and if they have concerns, they can come to the department and we can provide assistance in how to remedy those. So far we haven't heard any concerns. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Ronald Bonnetrouge

Ronald Bonnetrouge Deh Cho

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker, and mahsi to the Minister for his answer.

Mr. Speaker, the parents that approached me have concerns their children were not receiving education in the English language at this age, that's the JK to 3, which they believe is the path to success as they progress through the grades. Has the department considered making the Dene Zhatie' language program an option in the school curriculum and perhaps introduce at the mid to late grades? Mahsi.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I often say, and not to pass the buck, but the education bodies in the Northwest Territories have a significant amount of authority. They operate relatively autonomous from the Government of the Northwest Territories, more so than in most jurisdictions in Canada. So that decision to have an immersion program is one that the local education body makes. So those are people in the community on the DEA who made the decision to go ahead and do that, offer that program. And I'm fully supportive of it.

I know the Member has brought this up a number of times. I think we have differing opinions. I know parents are concerned about whether learning -- or being in an immersion program at a young age is detrimental, but that's probably one of the most studied topics in a language acquisition. And the research consistently for decades has said that it actually is beneficial to students. So a student in an immersion program in their early years, they will have a lag in their English acquisition for rules related to using English, things like that. But that lag only lasts about a year or two and then they catch up to everyone else, and they have the benefit of having a second language. And for many students, that second language is in their own language, the language of their ancestors, which brings with it additional benefits such as, you know, connection to culture and things like that. So I think that -- in my personal opinion, I think it's very beneficial to have these immersion programs. I would like to see one in every community if possible. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Final supplementary, Member for Deh Cho.

Ronald Bonnetrouge

Ronald Bonnetrouge Deh Cho

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi to the Minister for that. As to the success of these programs, that's why I asked if there was any reviews of the program from JK to 3 because it's detrimental to the actual, you know, English language teaching that many parents want to see their kids excel at because they don't learn English until they're about 8 or 9 years old. That is alarming. And thus we need that evaluation. The program may be great; it is. You know, I'm not against it. It's just education levels that we have, it's alarming in our Indigenous communities, and especially the small communities, which the education department is not paying attention to. And it's in the Auditor General's report.

Mr. Speaker, we're all challenged with providing the best education that we can for our youth for future generations. Their parents usually get the blame at the end of the day. I've heard this numerous times, even from the department - it's the parents; it's the parents; it's the parents. Makes me wonder if it is the shortcomings of the department and the educators who lay blame on the parents.

Can the Minister commit to reviewing the education curriculum to determine if the department is achieving what it should achieve in providing the best education to our future generations? Mahsi.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And just to clarify, I never blamed parents. Some parents actually are to blame. But what I say is that we need partnerships. Everyone needs to be involved. If a parent doesn't care if their kid gets up in the morning and goes to school, then yes, that parent is to blame. But we as the government need to make sure that parent wants to send their kid to school. We need to provide an environment that that parent has trust in, and we need to provide staff that that parent has trust in, so they're going to want to send their children to school. So it's not black and white; it's not one or the other. We all need to work together. That's the only way education will ever succeed.

I will say that we have reviewed the curriculum. And we are currently transitioning to the British Columbia curriculum, as I've mentioned. And as that happens, it gives us an opportunity to fix any of the issues that we've seen over the years. And I will say in terms of Indigenous languages, we have developed our languages curriculum, and I think it's a world class curriculum. It's been -- I believe it's been called the curriculum of the century. But that's in relation to how long it took to develop. But that goes to show how much work went into it, work with community members, with elders, so it's really reflective of the people of the Northwest Territories. So we do have a good curriculum when it comes to languages, and we are improving the rest of our curriculum. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Monfwi.

Jane Weyallon Armstrong

Jane Weyallon Armstrong Monfwi

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, October 4th was the National Day of Action for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. What did the Minister responsible for the Status of Women do on this day? Mr. Speaker, what action did the Minister responsible for the Status of Women take on October 4th to recognize and honour Indigenous women in NWT and Canada? Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Monfwi. Minister responsible for the Status of Women.

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I was particularly honoured on that day to be invited by the Dene Nation, who had organized a march from N'dilo up to the Northern United Place in downtown Yellowknife. And I was able to join at the beginning of that. There was a circle that was formed and where a number of people spoke, and they gave me the honour of speaking as part of the opening of that process before they began their march. That was what I did on that day. I then put information out about what I had said and published some of my statements on social media to help raise some attention of what was going on. But I know many others took steps that day. There was many other events on that day. And while I'm happy to have the chance to speak about what I did, you know, I'm really more pleased that the Member is raising this issue so that everyone knows that it was a day and that everyone should be also asking themselves what they did on that particular day. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.