Jackson Lafferty

We did a pilot project in the three communities and there will be an evaluation on that.

Mr. Speaker, in fact, my department has sat down with the Head Start programming and there have been quite a few interactions. There has been correspondence, obviously going back and forth from my department to that organization, and I can provide that information to the Member, that clearly highlights all the days that they’ve met and the discussions that my department has had. Not only the Aboriginal Head Start programming, those individuals that we’ve met with engaged Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative and early childhood development.

We have engaged with the communities throughout...

I’m trying to find that $1.6 million. It doesn’t show on here. There is a deficit for year-end, $435,000. After we contribute on the third year, $960,000, $757,000, and year two, $219,000. That’s money that we contribute to the school board. Sure, he can table this document. This is a document we can work with.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. First, I’d like to congratulate the Aboriginal Head Start program for their 17 years of their journey on the program itself. As the Member stated, it has been successful. It’s part of the federal funding.

The junior kindergarten is an optional program to those communities that do not have educational programming. Those communities that offer Head Start programming or preschool, it’s still part of the option for parents to pursue, if they wish to do that. It is part of the option to deliver that in the communities. Mahsi.

I totally agree with the Member. I have been doing that since I got on board in 2007 as the Education Minister, because we knew that this was a real challenge that NCS was faced with. Losing our language in the Gwich’in area is a prime example. We’ve been investing into NCS. We knew the federal was kind of lacking in the reporting mechanism or contribution, so I met then with the Minister of Heritage, Minister Moore, to share that information and share our concern. I spoke as an advocate for NCS. I will continue to do that with the new Minister, Shelly Glover. As soon as I get positive results...

Mr. Speaker, in order to do that, we need to change our legislation, the territorial-wide PTR, so I would have to come back to this House to do that. Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, part of the challenge, obviously, with NCS is their financial situation due to the fact that revenue from the federal government is not consistent or delivered in time. Due to that fact, there is a deficit situation. If we as the GNWT provide funding, it gets chewed up by the deficit. We don’t want that. We want the money directly to the Aboriginal broadcasting so they can continue their job. Those are some of the challenges I’m faced with as the Minister when I want to release the funds.

Again, it’s a very serious issue that we’re dealing with, with the CEO of NCS, and we’ll...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. We have to follow the act, as well, the Education Act, which does speak to territorial-wide PTR of 16 to 1. That’s the legislation level that we’re working with that’s before us. We’ll continue to work with the school boards at that level. Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, as I stated in this House, the $22,000 per student is one of the best in the country and we will continue to be proud of that and we will continue to invest even more in those areas. However we justify the number, we’re the best in the country. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

I can assure that will be the case. We’re inclusive schooling. The special needs that are provided to education authorities through what is called inclusive schooling and that funding will continue. We’re not touching the funding. We’re dealing with the PTR at this point to deal with the JK. Junior kindergarten implementation, obviously, will not take away from approximately $26 million in inclusive schooling funding that education authorities receive on an annual basis. The amount of inclusive requirement is the fact that it is set out in legislation, so we have to work with that as well. At...