Thank you, Member. Minister of ECE.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. So first, I'd like to correct a few of the statements that the Member made in her record-setting five and a half minute Member's statement today.

She stated the Education Act had not changed in 30 years. It was changed last year, unanimously by this House; changes to the Education Act were approved. We changed in 2017, 2014, 2013, 2006, 2005, and so on. And so this is not some unprecedented change that's happening. There are always amendments to the Education Act as are required by operational realities.

She stated that Indigenous governments have been provided no details on proposed changes. They've been provided the same details I've been provided.

She said we're not working with Indigenous governments. I've had meetings. I've discussed this with the council of leaders. I've discussed this at bilateral meetings with Indigenous governments. There's meetings with education bodies and ECE occurring. And so that includes the TCSA. There's a meeting this week between ECE and Tlicho government officials.

She said I don't know what changes that we need; I don't know what changes that we want to make. What we don't have is the exact wording of the changes, and that's because we have to work with the education bodies to determine that.

She said we're making governance changing by clarifying authorities of the Minister. We are not. We're clarifying the authorities of the Minister so that the Ministers can't go and do things -- try and do things beyond their authorities.

And she stated that the two-phase approach is divisive and recalls a path driven by privilege. And I'll say that's partially right. I'm privileged to be an Indigenous person who gets to make these changes for Indigenous students. So I'll say that, Madam Speaker. I don't think we need to lose sight of that. And this Assembly as well, you know, there's a lot of Indigenous voices in this Assembly that are involved in this process. And that's why we're making these changes. And I'm not going to, you know, abandon making changes for Indigenous students just because it's unpopular. I have an opportunity to do it, and I'm going to do it.

And so in terms of the Member's direct question that she asked, why we went out with a two-phased approach, the reason is because we realized that -- and I realized, that we can't do this alone. We need to work together. We need to work with the Indigenous governments and the education bodies if we're going to revamp the Education Act. And that's what we're doing. In the meantime, I want to make some minor amendments so that things can operate more efficiently, and we can provide better services to students. And to do that, we'd have to get it done right away. Everyone here knows how the legislative process works. We have tight timelines, and we don't have the kind of timelines that would allow co-drafting. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Yes, thank you, Madam Speaker. Thank you for the information. 1984 Alberta curriculum was introduced, because I know, I was there. So that's where I was referring to this as over 30 years, that it hasn't been -- it hasn't been changed. And then just recently last year, I know they were talking about it and this year they're -- we are adopting BC curriculum. So that's where -- that's what I was talking about, the legislations. So all the changes that he referred to he should share with us, put it in writing, and let the small communities in the region know about this because I just ask him a questions. Yes, I know he had the chance to say that so I guess that is okay. But this modernization Education Act is very important for us, and we've been saying it. It's not just me that's saying that here. Our leaders and other Indigenous leaders, and I'm surprised none of these from the outlying communities, the regions, MLAs are not saying anything. And the leaders have been saying it. Dene Nation have been saying it. That's why I am expressing. That's why I really do have a -- I do have an issue with this modernizing the Education Act. It would be nice if there were more MLAs that was speaking out. And I know some of the education system in the regional centre are better, are good. Like Fort Smith, they have the best education systems. Like Yellowknife, they have the best education systems. But not in the small communities. This is why I am really frustrated with what he said.

So with that, according to the NWT update of July 6th, 2022, phase 1 of the Education Act modernization address issues identified in the Office of the Auditor General audit, can the Minister explain how he prioritized the topics identified by Ottawa's Auditor General and those identified by the Indigenous government? Thank you.

Thank you, Member. I know discussions can get very heated and very personal in here -- Member. Order. I would like everybody to just keep your discussions respectful and your questions and comments to each other and direct them through me. Thank you. Minister of ECE.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. So the changes that are being proposed, which have been shared with Indigenous governments and education bodies, were chosen because of the recommendations of the Office of the Auditor General, internal evaluations that ECE did, and discussions with education bodies. These are -- many of these are long-standing issues that, you know, we have an opportunity to clean up. Thank you.

Yes. If it wasn't -- if it didn't happen in that order, I would not have said anything. But what is the Minister's vision of how the Education Act will reflect the GNWT's commitment to reconciliation if Indigenous governments are left out from designing the legislation's modernization? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. So I think I've laid that vision out. If Indigenous governments were left out of the modernization of the Education Act, it would be a disaster. So that's why we are making these targeted operational technical amendments in the life of this Assembly, and then we'll deal with the other 99.999 percent of the Education Act in the next Assembly. And the work to begin developing an MOU between the GNWT and Indigenous governments is going to happen in the life of this Assembly. So we should have a signed MOU that will ensure that this work does happen. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Member for Monfwi. Final supplementary.

Thank you. So as I've stated, we did -- we have shared the details. The department is now working with education bodies to come up with the specifics, and you know, what the wording might look like, and then that information will be shared. I've already made that commitment. So that will be done.

And in terms of how we're going to ensure that we work together, I answer that already with discussion about the MOU.

I hope we don't lose sight of the fact here that generally what happens with the non-land and resources legislation, as required under devolution, most legislation is not codeveloped with Indigenous governments. This government took the step of saying look, the Education Act is so important that we need to have a codevelopment process. Even though it's going to take who knows, a decade, we need to do it. It's going to take a lot of money. It's going to take a lot of time. But we're going to do it. And I think that is a huge step forward for reconciliation. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

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