Jackson Lafferty

Mahsi. Due to low enrollment in our school system, there’s potential for cutback in those school contributions based on enrollment, the low enrollment. But we are mindful of that and this Junior Kindergarten is optional based. It’s part-time or full-time; it’s at the discretion of the school boards to decide on. I’ve provided the flexibility to move forward on this. This is an area that also compromises and works with early programming as well.

We’ll continue to monitor and evaluate our programming that we’ve initiated this past August, late August, and then next year will be the second phase...

Mahsi. I don’t think that’s an appropriate word to say in this House, but I’ll answer some of the questions. Family day home regulations to allow family day homes to have more flexibility of children aged two to five, so that’s the changes we’ve made based on the recommendations brought to my attention. Along with other recommendations brought to my attention, we will make some changes as well.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. When we first initiated our discussion through the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative, the early learning was a priority as part of that discussion during that engagement. That’s how we came about delivering Junior Kindergarten in 23 of our small communities. What the Member is referring to is $15,000 in one-time funding for every classroom to purchase play-based programming, so we need some sort of equipment such as a new play base, developmentally appropriate JK equipment such as mats, water and sand tables and educational tools. But there are also other...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I’ve already answered this a couple of sessions ago, that my department is working very closely with organizations, whether they be early learning, the daycares, all those organizations that could be potentially impacted, whether it be positive or negative. We are, as a department, and I’ve instructed my department to work very closely with them, all over the Northwest Territories, not just Yellowknife and Hay River and the larger centres but all communities. We will continue to do that, and if there are any ripple effects, then my department will follow through immediately...

Mahsi. That’s the very reason we’re working with the South Slave Education Council. We met with them two weekends ago, myself and Minister Beaulieu, because we talked about PWS infrastructure-wise and as Minister responsible for Education. We’ve met with the South Slave, all the board chairs, and they’ve raised their concerns as well. I’ve made a commitment to work with them to deliver this particular second-phased approach, how can we best deliver that. We’ve heard their concerns.

So, again, we’re at the stage where 23 communities are currently delivering it. We’re into two months already, and...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Part of the Junior Kindergarten, obviously, is to roll out the Junior Kindergarten in all 33 communities once it is all a phase three approach. Right now, we’re delivering 23 of 33 communities. When we talk about early childhood development, we want to give options to the parents. There has been great work that is early learning programming in Hay River. I’m fully aware of that, and we are working with that, as well, but we have to keep in mind that some of those programs in the communities are fee for service, and this Junior Kindergarten, obviously, is a great advantage...

We have done our consultation or engagement part of the process. We’re following through with what’s been brought to our attention, whether it be a recommendation from various organizations. Not everybody is in agreement or there are pros and cons of particular regulations coming forward, so we want to make sure that it is the right product. It’s a large document for the whole Northwest Territories and along with Nunavut; we still have to work with Nunavut on this particular piece of work. But then again, it will be delivered during the life of this Assembly and I’m willing to sign off before...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Yes, the Member is correct about the Safety Advisory Committee did some work in this area and it is almost 22 years that we haven’t made any changes. There have been several attempts to update this particular act, the regulations, but they were unsuccessful over the past nine years.

What’s happening now is that recommendations came forward and there should be more engagement, consultation with the general public, the industries and various organizations representative of industries, businesses, governments and unions. So that did occur and now the recommendations are within...

Mahsi. There are various avenues. As I stated, there is a hotline on the website and also on the phone and the response team that consists of the regional representatives from my Department of Education, Culture and Employment to bring any concerns, to bring any ideas on how to deliver this particular program. So any other forms of communication, there’s always, as I stated before, room for improvement, how we can best communicate to the parents, to the teachers, to the children that we are teaching. So we’re doing what we can to be transparent and be accountable for the best delivery of this...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. What I said was that there are no major issues or complaints brought to our attention. With any rollout of various programs or projects in the communities, there is always room for improvement. Those are just some of the areas that come into play where teachers ask certain questions about the JK delivery or an avenue that they can turn to. There is ongoing communication dialogue between my department, DEAs and DECs and, also, working with various organizations that are currently delivering the Junior Kindergarten program. I’m a firm believer that there needs to be an open...