Alfred Moses

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, we do have a draft strategy moving forward that we are going to be sharing with the standing committee on developments. It entails a lot of items, but before we can table it in the House and really submit information, we have to go before a standing committee, and I encourage the Member to come to that presentation when we do. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I can't look into the future and say how many students are going to be in early childhood programs throughout Yellowknife and our regional centres. We are dealing with what we need to do today. We want to provide services to all families across the Northwest Territories, give families in Yellowknife, in Hay River, in Inuvik, the same options and opportunities that we have in our small communities by providing quality early childhood programming through junior kindergarten in the schools.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Through our program, we run a lot of subsidy programs with our early childhood partners. As for the analysis, I would have to check with the department to see if something has been done. In terms of moving JK forward, this government has committed to fully funding junior kindergarten, and it was agreed on by this House when we passed the budget earlier this week. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The strategy that we have developed is going to work on a strategy to improve training, certification, employment opportunities in skilled trades, as well as occupations in the Northwest Territories. Yes, we did go out and do our consultations. We did a bunch of one-on-one interviews; surveys with certified journeypersons who are currently working in trades; we have spoken with current apprentices, employers, business and industries that have developed into the strategies that we are going to be presenting to the standing committee.

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment and its partners across government, in industry, and education are all working together to ensure that NWT residents have the information they need to be well positioned to take advantage of opportunities as they arise.

Our government made a commitment in its mandate to take steps to close the skills gap using the Skills 4 Success Strategic Framework. This framework focuses on ensuring Northwest Territories residents have the skills, knowledge, and attitudes for employment success. This strategy is part of the continuum of...

Thank you. Marci cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, colleagues, today I would like to recognize some hard-working and dedicated individuals from across the NWT who provide important advice and guidance to me as Minister responsible for Official Languages. These, of course, are the board members of the Official Languages Board and the Aboriginal Languages Revitalization Board, as well as the Regional Aboriginal Language Coordinators, who are responsible for the implementation of their Aboriginal languages plans. I would like to recognize Official Languages Board Chair Beverly Amos, from my hometown...

We don't have some of the statistics that the Member is looking for. We can work with the Aurora College senior management and look at what some of the concerns are that might be coming from our students, as well as maybe some statistics on counselling sessions, sessions that are providing opportunities for life skills training for our students. We can reach out to Aurora College to see if those stats are available and share them with the Member.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have a Return to Oral Question asked by Ms. Green on February 8, 2017, regarding student instructional hours in schools. Ms. Green asked what discussions have been held with Alberta Education about delivering the Alberta curriculum in fewer hours than prescribed for the high school level.

Mr. Speaker, staff from the Department of Education, Culture and Employment are in regular contact with staff from Alberta Education and have considered the potential impact of changes in instructional hours on course curriculum and student outcomes.

Students in the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to welcome all the representatives from the Native Women's Association here today, particularly Ms. Shirley Kisoun as well as Ms. Mabel Brown, and a former resident of Inuvik as well, Michele Lavoie. Thank you and welcome and I'm glad you can enjoy the proceedings. Mahsi cho.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have a Minimum Wage Committee. I believe they met towards the end of 2016. They have met twice already in 2017. They have a couple of more meetings coming up. They are going to be looking at the data and the impact of what we did, increasing that minimum wage in June of 2015, and doing a review. Then they will be bringing recommendations to me, as Minister, and we will look at those recommendations. We will share it with committee and move on from there. So, right now, it's being conducted.