Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, who is responsible for the delays that incurred the late fees - was it the students working their summer student jobs and being late in applying, or was it the department that didn't have capacity to meet the demand that was late getting out? Can the Minister just clarify who is responsible for incurring the late payments, because I'm confused. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are some students whose applications are late, some students whose applications are on time, and staff within the department do their best to process all applications as quickly as possible. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of ECE. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to ask questions of the health and social services Minister regarding our electronic medical record system. I know this is something that we've all agreed needs to be done, and it's being worked on. It just seems like it is taking a long time, and it seems so fundamental to making our healthcare system work well in so many different respects.
So my first question is, can the Minister give us an update on where exactly we're at with the establishment of the electronic medical records system and if there are any updated timelines on when we might have some progress? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Member has stated, this is an important piece. We have been in the process of compiling what needs to be done working, I think, with procurement to be able to put out the RFP. There are some things that are -- there are challenges within our system, and this is an urgent thing and we're hoping that with the delay that we're working -- we're working with the finance Minister's department to be able to move this forward a little faster. At this time, I think we're looking at the procurement within 2026, early 2026, but I can't confirm that to be exact right now. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I certainly -- I appreciate the Minister is trying to expedite that and will look forward to early 2026 having at least some progress towards the RFP. But in the meantime, we don't even seem to have a system where our doctors can talk to the Alberta system even though many of our patients are going back and forth obviously in and out of the Alberta system. Is there some kind of data sharing agreement that we could reach with Alberta so that our NWT-based practitioners can at least just get access to Alberta's electronic medical system? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the NTHSSA, along with I think -- I can't confirm, I know that we're having conversations with the information privacy -- is there's -- with the cross jurisdictional information sharing, there is none like this in Canada right now and so there's legislative -- not on our part but on their part that -- to be able to do this. That's why there's -- there's a whole working group, I think, within Canada on sharing of health information. However, we are looking at trying to find some quick, shorter solutions, and that is where my -- like, NTHSSA and the department is working with the -- I can't remember the -- under the Minister of Finance's department. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife North.
Just finally I wonder if the Minister could give any kind of timeframe or time scale to seeing some -- something come out of that work. You know, there's obviously working groups and -- but is there a goal or a date that we're working towards to see an outcome there? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, all I can say is right now they are collaborating with Alberta to try -- with the Office of the Chief Information Officer, the department is trying to collaborate with Alberta to see what we can do. So once we have the information as what we can do, then we can kind of come up with a timeline of when that can happen. And once we have that, I'll let the Members know. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the MACA Minister.
If the GNWT is unable to fund NWT SPCA for crucial services, will it instead consider making spaying and neutering of pets mandatory with exceptions for licensed breeders and dog teams so to reduce the litters and pressure on the NWT SPCA? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Great Slave. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the Dog Act is administered by municipal and community affairs. MACA is responsible for overseeing the enforcement and operation aspects to the Act, the focus of which is to set out standards of care, prohibition, and distress, abandonment, and running-at-large dogs in Northwest Territories. The Act does not have the authority to make spaying or neutering pets mandatory. Additionally, responsibilities under this Act would need to be addressed through a legislative update. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Oh boy, is the Minister going to love my written questions later today.
Mr. Speaker, will the Minister prohibit the sale of kittens or puppies with exceptions for licensed breeders? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Dog Act currently governs the treatment, control, and the protection of dogs in the NWT. It includes provisions related to the care of dogs and penalties for neglect or mistreatment. The Act does not apply to other animals such as cats or kittens. It also does not address the licensing of breeders and therefore does not provide the authority to regulate, prohibit the sales of kittens or puppies. To regulate the sale of animals or introduce breeder licensing, new legislation would need to be deployed. This is a resource-insensitive process that would involve policy development and jurisdictional research, legislative drafting, public and stakeholder consultation, and the review and approval through the Legislative Assembly.
Given the significant resources required to the development, implement, and enforce new legislation, the GNWT will continue to focus on existing legislative priorities and areas where there are clear authority and capacity to act. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. Final supplementary. Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister direct his department to work with communities to build capacity to develop and/or enforce pet containment rules and bylaws? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Community governments have the authority to appoint bylaw officers to manage the activities of dogs under the Dog Act. Through its bylaw officer course, MACA can provide direction to support how to implement Dog Acts in the community. MACA also responds to community government requests as they arise, offering guidance and supports related to enforcement and interpretation of the Act. While MACA remains committed to supporting communities within the existing mandate, the department is not currently planning a broader initiative to build capacity around pet containment rules or bylaws. Developing and delivering such a program would require significant resources and long-term commitment and is not part of the department's current priorities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to follow up on some questions with respect to SFA, similar to my good colleague to my left for the Range Lake. And it's about this late payment process. And I guess under income security this policy falls under is under income support, if you apply you can get your late fees covered. So I would wonder is there a policy specific to SFA that says if a student provides their application process by the deadline that monies will be available for the moment that they apply for them in the fall; is there anything that corresponds or links that together? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Minister of ECE.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, while both programs are found within education, culture and employment, the purpose of the program is different. So with income support, it is intended to cover the basic needs of residents and therefore it is expected that residents won't have the funds in order to cover late fees and so it is covered under income assistance. As far as what a policy does or does not say, I don't have that information in front of me here, but my understanding is that there is no mechanism for that to happen through the student financial assistance stream. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I heard the Minister about saying I guess if I qualified as income support, people don't have the basic needs so hence it gets covered. My understanding is students probably don't have the basic needs to cover those application tuition fees and hence isn't that similar? So if this is a policy or legislated question, what can the Minister do about closing this particular gap that seems quite clear? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, so I committed to the Member for Range Lake in question period earlier today to go back to the department and get further information. I'd be happy to share that information with the Member for Yellowknife Centre as well. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of ECE. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Given the fact that the Minister's willing to go back and share the information, I'll certainly say I appreciate it. Would the Minister be able to tell us how many students have been hit with late fees based on the fact that they've applied on time and funds were not available when they've sought them to pay for their applications? So in other words, some details that back up this particular problem if (audio).
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment would not have information about late fees from every student, and every institution also doesn't operate the same way. While some institutions might have late fees, not every single one of them does, and not every single student would have incurred a late fee. There's also the issue that there are a -- not everybody. A lot of students had their applications fin online -- or in on time, and so I want to make sure that everybody hears me when I say that, but not all applications are in on time and not all applications are received complete, and they're not considered fully received and on time unless they are complete. And so it's really important that if students do have questions that they reach out to their case officer and make sure that they're asking those questions so that we can give them support too. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of ECE. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. So given that the current high school graduating classes in the NWT are the last ones using the Alberta curriculum and the 2027 graduating classes will be the first ones graduating under the BC curriculum, some parents and educators have some questions about how this is rolling out. Specifically, since the transition to the BC curriculum was first explained as a pilot, I'd like to know from the Minister is the GNWT doing some kind of research and monitoring to evaluate the success of the transition to the BC curriculum? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Minister of ECE.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, I just want to be clear it's not the transition to the BC curriculum that is the pilot. It is the NWT-adapted version in our classrooms. And so we are transitioning to BC curriculum. We are not turning around and going back. We've made significant investments in this program. I have heard good things from teachers, educators, and families as well. So I just want to be clear on what the pilot is here.
Mr. Speaker, absolutely this is happening in a phased approach to make sure that we are doing this in bite-sized pieces that we can digest as we go, and we're actively monitoring and evaluating as we go as well. So we're doing that through teacher and student feedback. We're using proficiency scales to assess learning. We're also tracking literacy and numeracy outcomes using BC's assessment tools. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister tell us -- because I am getting some questions from parents -- is there any significant difference between the Alberta and the BC curriculums in terms of how the high school classes or credits are valued or assessed by post-secondary institutions in Canada? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, I too am getting some questions when you are out and about around town, for sure. I will say, though, the best place for people to get answers is certainly from their education body. The Department of Education, Culture and Employment works quite closely together with teachers to do professional development and to support them through this transition. So I just want parents to know that they can also get that information there.
To answer the Member's question, though, and to put this all to rest, it is absolutely not putting students in any type of a barrier across this country to get into post-secondary and to be able to access post-secondary by graduating from a high school in British Columbia or through a curriculum through British Columbia versus Alberta. So that information has been followed up on even before the transition occurred from the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, and we can put that one to rest and reassure parents across the territory. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of ECE. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And so we were somewhat familiar with the standardized testing under the Alberta curriculum in grades 6, 9, and 12, but there's less clarity, or it's less well-known, what kind of standardized testing is present in the BC curriculum, or in the absence of standardized tests how are we now assessing the competency of our students at various stages to ensure that they can keep up with other students in Canada? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, absolutely BC uses a different model than Alberta. So they have the foundational skills assessment, which is done in grades 4 and 7, and the graduation literacy and numeracy assessments done in grades 10 and 12. These assessment tools focus on literacy and numeracy rather than being subject-specific which means it takes out the act of memorization and really celebrates the act of learning in this process.
In the Northwest Territories, Alberta's grades 6 and 9 tests ended in 2023. Alberta diploma exams will be phased out by 2026. And BC's assessments are being introduced gradually to pair with those. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, turning to SFA again, it occurs to me that we haven't asked that fundamental question: Is this going to happen again in the next intake, or has the Minister fixed this capacity gap? Are we going to have enough capacity to process the applications to ensure there are no more late payments, everyone gets the resources they need on time to succeed at school? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Range Lake. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, the first priority for this fall is to make sure we get applications processed as quickly as possible and we're focusing on getting those dollars out to students, even students who had their applications in late. I know that stuff comes up. And it is my number one priority to see those payments flow and those applications to be processed.
Second to that, Mr. Speaker, it is going through the process to make sure that we are looking at the entire student financial assistance application process, finding efficiencies, and making sure that we're well prepared for next year. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the problem has been identified publicly as more applications than there were previously that overwhelmed existing resources. Is that the case? Thank you.
Yes, Mr. Speaker, there was almost a 20 percent increase in applications this year. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from Range Lake.
