Thank you, Member from Range Lake. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am also a product of the French immersion system and believe that representation certainly matters. And that said, Mr. Speaker, I am currently working on some regulation changes alongside the CSFTNO here in the Northwest Territories. Specifically, our regulations speak to the fact that currently French-first language schools are found in Yellowknife and Hay River, and so we are removing the designation of those two communities. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are provisions that allow that Francophone minority language communities to ask for education services to be provided if they demonstrate a need. Can the Minister explain what processes are in place to ensure that when rights holders are applying for their constitution, their Charter rights to education, that those are met regardless of capacity challenges from this government. But when a right is asserted, it needs to be honoured. So does the department have processes in place that when Francophone communities are asserting that, or language minorities are asserting that, they will be heard? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we do have processes in place, and it's not just the Department of Education, Culture and Employment working alone. We also work quite closely with the Department of Justice to make sure that we're working together, that we're gathering information that we have available to us, and working through this process with French-first language communities. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from Range Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And yet they keep getting sued, Mr. Speaker. So clearly something's not working. So will the Minister commit to a full evaluation of this system? And let's take one aspect of it, the 85 percent capacity threshold for enrolments, will she convert that to a capacity threshold on non-rights holders as they have in the Yukon so we can allow these schools to grow, to thrive, these students to thrive, and Francophones to have their rights respected in the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, while absolutely we respect section 23 rights of Canadians and uphold those rights as a territory, we've also heard frequently in this House this week about the need to make sure that we're also balancing the needs of all kids in all schools across this territory. So one of my responsibilities is to ensure that that need is balanced across the territory and that we are able to maintain and invest in the assets that we do have. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, recently there was a proposal for housing that had gone out and been awarded. Dozens upon dozens of people pulled the contract to look at it, and it boiled down to five people presented a bid and ultimately four out of the five were disqualified for that housing bid and hence there was one that remained. Now, I'm not here about saying one bid should matter over the other, and I'm not picking a bid or a winner, but the fact remains is that after the bid was awarded there's a thing called an appeal period. But the bid continues to be awarded to the one standing company only. So what's the point -- sure. To the Minister, what's the point of having an appeal period if it just gets ignored and the contract just follows through as if no one else matters at that point? Thank you.

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife Centre. Minister responsible for Housing NWT.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yes, a contract was recently awarded and announced for the Northwest Territories, 84 modular units in the North. There is an exemption period, an appeal period, and housing is moving forward with the construction. And the exemption or the oversight of the bid will be used as a lesson going forward if there's any discrepancies. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, in the standard we use for hiring process, if there was a competition and the job ends up finding one winner and there's an appeal period, no one's technically awarded the job until that appeal period is going. Why is this so much different given the fact that it's the exact same concept except we award millions of dollars and we put millions of dollars at risk during the appeal period that we could end up paying for it twice in theory? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, again, thank you to the Member for the question. It is quite concerning and -- to him. But Housing NWT needs to move forward with our modular construction because, as everyone knows in this Assembly and in the Northwest Territories, we need homes and we need more homes for Northerners. So if we continue to wait for appeal periods and vendor complaint processes, holding up the entire process, that means we're losing time to build homes and move those homes into communities. So it is a vendor complaint process, not an appeal process, and this will inform future process. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister responsible for Housing NWT. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife Centre.

Mr. Speaker, these are very complicated processes and waiting a week or two does not change the ultimate outcome of this. Mr. Speaker, I am going to ask the Minister would she be willing to go back and revisit this process because if a contract eventually identifies the successful bidder, we should allow the people who want to appeal at least a reasonable amount of time to put their case to say maybe an error was made in awarding the process but yet only courts will solve that problem, and we could have a full transparency process if the Minister is willing to investigate this and see if she can amend the policies. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, just repeating my answer, it is a vendor complaint process and this will inform future processes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister responsible for Housing NWT. Oral questions. Member from Monfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, a question for the Minister of education.

When students face challenges like overcrowded housing, what supports are available to help them stay in school and finish their education? Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Monfwi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, many of our schools in the Northwest Territories have a staff member that they dedicate to supporting students and families. These days as well, we have many of our schools who have our kind of peer counselling program or wellness worker program, and so those are roles as well that also help students work through the variety and spectrum of challenges that our students are experiencing these days. And other programs that have seen quite a lot of success are our healthy foods program in our schools, which do draw students in. We end up with warm breakfasts, warm lunches, multiple meals during the day. And then in addition to that, education bodies can look at their staff and cohort and what the needs are of their students and have chosen different ways to address that and make sure that they're supporting students' needs where they're at. Thank you.

Yes, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister of ECE explain how the department is working to connect with young people and keep them engaged in school in small communities? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, within our system, the department of education largely connects with the teachers themselves and the educators and makes sure that they're providing them with the support that they need. This can be either through meetings that I have with chairs and superintendents, along with officials from the department in our ed leaders' meetings that happen multiple times a year. This happens also when I sit down with the NWTTA multiple times a year. But there's also professional development that happens from the department to the teachers, and a lot of that can be led or directed by what it is that the education body is looking for, because it's our teachers that spend all their time with students across the territory at the end of the day. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from Monfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister of ECE commit to working with families to better support students and improve attendance and engagement? Thank you. In small communities.