Jackson Lafferty

Those are discussions we are currently having and that could be part of the transitional document. There are other programs under review. It is part of the discussions we are currently having with the Program Review Office, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi.

We do have a committee established that deals with these kinds of initiatives and policy development. The Program Review Office has initiated the discussions.

As I stated, that letter has been sent to standing committee and the feedback has come back to us now within our Cabinet to consider those recommendations brought to our attention by the standing committee to integrate that into our new policy that has been drafted. So, we will be updating that and sharing that with the standing committee once it’s available. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When it comes to daycare operations, we work closely with the operators. With the experience in Inuvik, that was some time ago. There was a need for a daycare establishment. The community fund raised up to 90 percent of the funds. That is an experience we’ve gone through. There is a policy being drafted now on public investment on private infrastructure. It’s been shared with the planning committee. Now there’s feedback to Cabinet. It’s before Cabinet to develop a policy with respect to that, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi.

Yes, those discussions have been initiated by both parties, my department and also the school board superintendents. The actuals have been discussed, and not only that but based on the needs of our school operations. So, those are the discussions that we’ve been having with the school boards. So, yes, the actual is part of the discussion that we’ve had. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The new formula framework that we were discussing with the standing committee a couple of days ago, it is at a stage of going through the final stages. We’re at the point of finalizing that in the fall of this year, 2015, and obviously that will be going to Cabinet and going to the standing committee once we go through the process.

The formula funding framework has not been changed for the past 25 years, the contribution that we give to the education school boards. This is the work that has been ongoing for a number of years now. Now we are at the final stages. In the fall...

That’s the very reason why we’re changing the 25-year-old formula contribution framework, and we’re taking all those into factor, and based on the cost of living, the CPI and doing business in those isolated communities, the fly-in/fly-outs. So, yes, all those are on the table for discussion we’ve had, and we’ll continue to make those changes as we move forward. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Part of the process is to identify where the changes should be happening with the $150 million we distribute throughout the Northwest Territories, and we should be doing things differently. That’s what we’re focusing on. So, we have been working with the school boards on this particular matter. This is an ongoing document that we’re still working with. As I stated, it will be available this fall, 2015, and it will be ready to be rolled out in 2016-17. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize and welcome here in this House the 2015 Education Hall of Fame inductees who are here with us in the gallery. They are Lea Lamoureux, Ted Blondin, Doris Camsell, Dean MacInnis, Reanna Erasmus, Bruce Green, Carole Bachand, Marja Van Nieuwenhuyzen and Michel Louis Rabesca. I would just like to say congratulations to all of them as the 2015 Education Hall of Fame inductees.

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. I just want to speak on some of the key events that took place within this realm of the Official Languages Act.

I think it’s important that since we’re talking about official languages, I’m going to speak in Tlicho.

[Translation] Mr. Chair, before I begin I would like to take a moment to thank those of my colleagues who use their official language in this House. I also want to thank my mother, who made sure that I spoke my mother tongue. Without her persistence I would not speak fluently. This is important in this conversation today: the role our parents play in making sure we...

Mahsi. The program that we’re currently delivering, the Social Work Diploma Program, is working effectively and efficiently. We’re graduating students. Beyond that they’re going to southern institutions to get their degree programming and then they’re moving back to the North to work for us. We have internship programs where we’ve hired all these students as well.

So, it is a very successful diploma program. We’re doing really well with our college programming. There’s always room for improvement. This is an area that we are currently exploring. Mahsi.