Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think we are embarking on a program here that has been demonstrated to have serious reservations based on actual research and data. I presented some of it today. I know our research folks have done a lot more that’s available for anybody to look at. I’m happy to provide it. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. In contrast, there is a very useful way to spend this money and all the additional money that will go along with this and staff time for delivering early childhood development, and I’ll remind everybody, all my colleagues again, that we’re talking about delivery of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I didn’t hear an answer, not unusual for this Premier. Given that many departments have new roles and responsibilities under devolution and given the fundamental roles that energy plays in all aspects of life in the NWT and given the commitment and focus in the NWT Energy Strategy on renewable energy, would the Premier commit to reporting back on the possibility of a new office of energy outside of departments with a mandate to actually build, not just study, an environmentally sustainable, affordable and efficient renewable energy system for all sectors of NWT society...

I hope the Minister will provide that information soon. Again, the Minister is very naïve on this. Perhaps he has not had enough screen time and seen the commercials on TV with the little rocking devices for those babies with an iPad frame in it so you can just set in the iPad, so you can go and have a coffee or go and visit your neighbour. This stuff is a dime a dozen. The corporations are taking advantage of this. I’m not saying in response to Mr. Miltenberger’s rather flippant remarks that all corporations are bad, that we’re supposed to assume all corporations are bad and so on, I think...

The Minister is not listening to the Aboriginal Head Start educators. They have been trying to have their concerns related to the proposed pre-kindergarten curriculum heard by the Minister, who refuses to meet with them and his staff ignore them, but they have been unable to get a meeting with him to express those concerns.

Will the Minister, not his staff, agree to sit down with representatives from the Aboriginal Head Start program – people have been working in this area for 17 years on the ground, developing their expertise and evaluating it just as this government should be doing, but...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment following up on my Member’s statement. The Aboriginal Head Start program has been providing effective early childhood education in the Northwest Territories for the past 17 years. This program has been evaluated both locally and by the federal government and has been found outstanding.

Will the Minister agree that the northern experts in early childhood development education at the Aboriginal Head Start program have much to offer in the sphere of early childhood education in the Northwest...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We hear increasing concerns from parents, teachers and education professionals regarding ECE’s plan to implement a free kindergarten curriculum that many feel is inappropriate for the NWT. The curriculum, apparently a blend of kindergarten, pre-kindergarten and early grades, not only lacks benefits for four-year-olds, it may even be harmful to some aspects of child development.

The fact that our smaller communities recognize that go slow approach is required, means that we have some opportunity to get it right before irreversible damage is done. We must get professional...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. When the absence of required annual reports are not noted and profiled, then I think there’s obviously the need for this motion. I’ll be supporting it. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just quickly, and this is a little bit of what I was referring to. While I support the need for five- and 10-year measurable targets, in fact we need one-year targets and I’m hoping I’ll be seeing those as we go through the motions here and that the Minister will, in fact, recognize the need for that during the life of this Assembly, what are we going to get done approach. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also appreciate the Members bringing this forward. I believe that, actually, for a relatively small number of people there should be some consideration for compensation here. Unfortunately, the ask as stated refers to all those who escort, and I think quite a number of Members and certainly I had reservations about it being that broad. Nevertheless, there is undoubtedly an issue here for those family members and especially the breadwinners that must take time off, as we’ve heard from others, for extended leave to escort and accompany family members or unilingual...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I said, their input has been ignored. They’ve put in requests to meet with the Minister – this has been going on for years now, this JK idea – and somehow the Minister has not found time to meet with this group. What does that say?

ECE seems to require bachelor’s degrees in NWT schools and they are now adding Junior Kindergarten where a teaching degree is not the standard. In fact, we’re looking for early childhood education expertise.

Will the Minister’s rule of bachelor degrees only block participation of professionals with a three-year diploma in early childhood...