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<=
span
style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>
Speaker: I will now call the House t=
o order.
We will proceed at this time with prayers.=
<= o:p>
Prayers
DAILY ROUTINE
Speaker: We will proceed at this tim=
e with
the Order Paper.
T=
ributes.
TRIBUTES
In recognition of Canada=
Water
Week
Hon. Mr. Fentie: =
I rise in the House today t=
o ask my
colleagues and all Yukoners to join me in recognizing the week of March 14 =
to
22 as Canada Water Week in
B=
y ensuring
strict and transparent regulatory inspections, by leading innovative scient=
ific
research and by teaching youth the value of our water resources, the Govern=
ment
of Yukon works to ensure Yukon water will provide benefits for future
generations. Reducing water consumption and protecting our water quality can
have both environmental and economic benefits.
Clean water is essential to a healthy, secure and pros=
perous
Under the Council of the Federation theme,
“Celebrating and Conserving Water across Our Country”, territor=
ies
and provinces are holding a number of events and activities this week and n=
ext
to celebrate water, healthy rivers and lakes and to focus public attention =
on
water’s importance to
In
Mr. Elias: =
I rise on behalf of the Off=
icial
Opposition to pay tribute to Canada Water Week, celebrating and conserving =
water
across our country from March 14 to 22. Canada Water Week is a week-long
celebration of water from coast to coast to coast, starting March 14 and
culminating with a World Water Day on
O=
ur
territory’s major drainage areas and watersheds include the Porcupine=
and
Peel rivers, the southwestern Beaufort Sea, the Stewart, the Pelly, the Als=
ek,
the Tanana, the central Yukon, the upper Yukon, the headwaters of the Yukon,
and the upper Liard rivers. Our vast territory is home to some of the large=
st
watersheds and most beautiful rivers and lakes in the world.
E=
ach one of
us has a story to share that connects us to our territory’s waterways
— from our Old Crow Flats, one of the most important wetland and lake
complexes in Canada, whose ecological significance has been acknowledged
internationally through a designation under the United Nations Ramsar conve=
ntion,
to our Nordenskiold and Nordenskiold River valley south of Carmacks that is=
a
major wetland complex and an important waterfowl staging area, to our Ta=
217;Tla
Mun, formerly Tatlmain Lake, which is an important food fish lake southeast=
of
Pelly Crossing in the traditional territory of the Selkirk First Nation, to=
our
Horseshoe Slough, which is an important waterfowl breeding and staging area=
in
the traditional territory of the Na Cho Nyäk Dun, to the Lhutsaw wetla=
nd,
which is an important wetland complex covering 31 square kilometres along t=
he
north Klondike Highway south of Pelly Crossing, to our Nisutlin River Delta
National Wildlife Area located southeast of Teslin, which contains an
internationally important fall staging area for migratory waterfowl. And
there’s our Ni’iinlii’Njik, or Fishing Branch protected a=
rea,
which protects 6,700 square kilometres of the wetlands integrity and mainta=
ins
the natural processes unique to this area in the Yukon, especially the griz=
zly
bear-salmon interaction. These are just a few of our precious water resourc=
es.
W=
hat our
territory chooses to save is what our territory chooses to say about itself.
World Water Day 2011 is intended to focus international attention on the im=
pact
of rapid urban population growth, industrialization and climate change on w=
ater
resources, and environmental protection capabilities of cities and small to=
wns.
C=
anada
Water Week provides
T=
hese
actions and activities will highlight progress toward Water Charter
commitments approved by
A=
ccording
to the United Nations water progress report 2010, 884 million people live
without water, without access to safe drinking water and 2.6 billion people=
do
not have access to improved sanitation facilities. The Yukon River alone is 3,190 kilometres l=
ong and
its total drainage area is 832,700 square kilometres, of which 300 plus squ=
are
kilometres of that is in
T=
he Earth
belongs to us all and we need a local, regional and global effort to protect
our water systems. Let us all become better stewards of the land to ensure =
we
maintain a safe and secure water supply for Canadians and all ecosystems.
We would like to recognize and thank all Yukoners who = are responsible citizens and respectful of our water systems. We encourage all Yukoners to participate in the many activities being held this week in celebration of Canada Water Week.
Mr. Cardiff: =
Mr. Speaker, I rise on beha=
lf of
the New Democrat caucus to recognize Canada Water Week, which runs until Ma=
rch
22, World Water Day.
M=
aude
Barlow of the Council of Canadians, and now appointed as the UN’s fir=
st
senior advisor on water issues, has warned us that it is a myth that
C=
anadians
consume 350 litres of water a day per capita, where we need only between 20=
to
40 litres for drinking and sanitation. There are many actions we can take to
conserve our water use, from not flushing the toilet unnecessarily to taking
shorter showers and cutting back on the amount of water used for watering t=
he
lawn or washing the car. Repairing leaking taps saves a lot of water. A lea=
k of
only one drop per second wastes about 10,000 litres of water per year. Savi=
ng
water helps water quality. Water saved is water that does not end up in the
waste-water stream requiring treatment. If we each save a little, it can ad=
d up
to a major savings in water, energy and money. For the average household,
reductions in water use as high as 40 percent or more are feasible.
<=
span
style=3D'mso-tab-count:1'> Water
is looked upon by some people as a commodity to be sold for profit like tim=
ber
or oil. Ownership and control of the earth’s dwindling water supplies=
is
creating a water crisis. Maude Barlow again says that it is a myth that we =
have
a ban on water exports. Selling our water around the world is as easy as a
signature on a piece of paper. She emphasi=
zes
the need to recognize water as a human right and ensure that it stays in the
public trust.
At the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in 20=
02,
At the very time that
In her book, Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis=
and
the Coming Battle for the Right to Water, Ms. Barlow warns us that in 20
years, unless we change our course, desalination plants will ring the
world’s oceans — many of them run by nuclear power; corporate
nanotechnology will clean up sewage and sell it to private utilities who wi=
ll
then sell it back to us at a huge profit. The rich will drink only bottled
water found in the few remote areas of the world left or sucked from clouds=
by
machines while the poor die in increasing numbers.
T=
his is not
science fiction, Mr. Speaker. Like the Member for Vuntut Gwitchin mentioned,
it’s not just important to human beings and communities, it’s an
important part of our ecosystem that supports our wildlife and our waterfowl
and it supports our way of life. That said, we must act now to save our wat=
er
and our children’s water.
<= o:p>
Speaker: Are there any further tribu=
tes?
I=
ntroduction
of visitors.
R=
eturns or
documents for tabling.
TABLING RETURNS AND DO= CUMENTS
Hon. Mr. Fent= ie: I have a letter to the Clerk of the Assembly for tabling, advising the Hous= e of my appointment to the Select Committee on Bill No. 108, Legislative Rene= wal Act.
Speaker:̳= 5; Are there any further returns or documents for tabling?
Any reports of committees?
Petitions.
PETITIONS
Petition No. 15 — received
Clerk: =
Mr. Speaker and honourable members of the Assembly, I have had the honour to
review a petition, being Petition No. 15 of the First Session of the 32nd
Legislative Assembly, =
as
presented by the Member for Whitehorse Centre on
T=
he
petition presented by the Member for Whitehorse Centre appears in two versi=
ons.
The first version contains original signatures and therefore meets the
requirements as to form of the Standing Orders of the Yukon Legislative Ass=
embly.
The second version does not contain original signatures and therefore does =
not
meet the requirements as to form of the Standing Orders of the Yukon
Legislative Assembly. Therefore, the first version of the petition is that =
to
which the government should respond. The second version of the petition wil=
l be
returned to the Member for Whitehorse Centre.
Speaker: Thank you.
A=
re there
any petitions for presentation?
A=
re there
any bills to be introduced?
A=
re there
any notices of motion?
NOTICES OF MOTION
Mr. Mitchell:&=
#8195; I give notice of the following moti=
on for
the production of papers:
T=
HAT this
House do issue an order for the return of ministerial travel costs from Jan=
uary
2009 until
<= o:p>
I=
also give
notice of the following motion for the production of papers:
T=
HAT this
House do issue an order for the return of the total costs associated with t=
he current
Government of Yukon 2011-12 budget advertising campaign.
<= o:p>
Mr. Elias: =
I give notice of the follow=
ing
motion for the production of papers:
T=
HAT this
House do issue an order for the return of any document demonstrating the pl=
an
to maximize the benefits and minimize the risks to Yukoners from the potent=
ial
building of the Mackenzie Valley pipeline.
<= o:p>
Ms. Hanson: I give notice of the following moti=
on:
T=
HAT it is
the opinion of this House that:
(=
1) the
(=
2) nuclear
energy is not a viable option to meet
(=
3) the
Yukon supports declaring the Arctic a nuclear-free zone and prohibiting Can=
ada’s
land, sea or air space above the 60th parallel to transport or t=
est
nuclear weapons; and
(=
4) there
should be a moratorium on uranium exploration and uranium mining in the
<= o:p>
Speaker: Are there any further notic=
es of
motion?
I=
s there a
statement by a minister?
H=
earing
none, that brings us to Question Period.
QUESTION PERIOD
Question re:
Radiation monitoring
Mr. Elias: =
All eyes are on
P=
ublic
health advisories have been issued from officials in
C=
an the
minister advise who is responsible for radiation monitoring in the <=
st1:State>
Hon. Mr. Lang: Certainly, we appreciate the questi=
on
here this afternoon, and we on this side of the House echo what the member
opposite said about the situation Japan finds itself in in the last three or
four days.
W=
e as a
government — EMO has been working with the Government of Canada, and =
of
course they are working with the American government monitoring the process=
and
working with us. Certainly, the communication between our government and the
Americans is very thorough. The agencies and federal operations throughout =
A=
ccording
to the information briefing that I got this morning, currently — and
I’m not saying that this can’t change in three or four days =
212;
there is no health issue for our part of Canada. But, again, that is why we=
are
working with Speaker: Thank you. First supplement=
ary,
please. Mr. Elias: =
I thank the minister for th=
at
response. There was another explosion at the Japanese nuclear plant last ni=
ght.
Radioactivity was released directly into the atmosphere. Winds from =
F=
or
example, in Hon. Mr. Lang: Mr. Speaker, certainly, if it’=
;s
necessary, we will do the work it takes. That information will be put out i=
nto
the public through radio and whatever way we can. We are concerned, and we =
are
working with the federal government and monitoring this on a 24-hour-a-day
basis. This is very serious and we will be monitoring it as we move through=
the
crisis.
Mr. Elias: =
Again, just moments ago, the
nuclear radiological event scale reached level 6 and, just for an example, =
Hon. Mr. Lang: We work with the federal government=
and
they monitor that for us — I don’t. I’d have to get back =
to
the member opposite. I don’t think we have the wherewithal to do that
inside the territory. The federal government is monitoring this issue and, =
of
course, they are working with the American government, which has access to
high-tech monitoring equipment.
B=
ut I would
have to get back to the member talking about a localized monitoring process=
.
Question re:
Mr. Elias: =
Energy development in the n=
orth is
a hot topic lately. The National Energy Board recently approved the Mackenz=
ie
gas project in the
Hon. Mr. Rouble: =
Yes, there are very exciting events
unfolding with pipeline issues in
A=
lso on
this issue, I have to add, we have very strong regulatory processes in
S=
uffice it
to say that the Government of Yukon has been working very closely with
Mr. Elias: =
If built, this project has =
the
potential to move 1.2 billion cubic feet of natural gas a day from the
H=
ow will
this government balance the economic benefits to Yukoners with environmental
and infrastructure protection?
Hon. Mr. Rouble: =
I just touched on
I=
f there is
a cloud in the sky to find, I guess we can leave it up to the Liberal Party=
to
find those issues, but the Government of Yukon will be working very closely
with the Northwest Territories to ensure that there are opportunities for
Yukoners, as the member opposite has suggested, wherein he expected to see
employment opportunities and economic opportunities. Recognizing the energy
needs that we have throughout Canada and indeed North America, this is anot=
her
way of responding in a responsible manner to our growing energy needs and to
recognizing the wealth that Canada’s north has to offer all Canadians=
.
Mr. Elias: =
I am just simply asking que=
stions
in preparation for a major energy project that is right next door to us. It=
is
rare to see a project of this scale and, if decided upon, it will be happen=
ing
just beyond G=
oing
forward, what will this government be doing to ensure Hon. Mr. Rouble: =
We’ll work to maximize the be=
nefits
for Yukoners, as we have on a number of different issues, whether it’s
maximizing the benefits through housing or of federal infrastructure dollars
coming into the territory, whether it’s maximizing the benefits of he=
alth
care coming into
W=
e’ve
done the homework with the Mackenzie pipeline group at the forefront;
we’ll continue to work with the governments involved, and we’ll=
be
ready when the opportunities are there for Yukoners to be involved, to ensu=
re
that Canada is meeting its energy needs, now and into the future, and that
we’re responsibly developing the resources that Canada’s north =
has
to offer.
Question re: Nuclear powe=
r
Ms. Hanson: Truly the hearts and minds of the w=
orld
are with the people of
E=
very
decade or so, we humans are given powerful reminders that, although things =
change,
some things remain the same. I speak here of the constant threat posed by n=
uclear
power and its waste.
T=
he recent
energy charette had presentations on a whole host of energy solutions. One
speaker called nuclear energy a “viable option” for the territo=
ry.
M=
r.
Speaker, does this government entertain nuclear energy as a viable option, =
or
is it off the table?
Hon. Mr. Fentie: =
Mr. Speaker, I think itR=
17;s
very clear that the energy strategy of the government and the 20-year resou=
rce
plan of the Energy Corporation itself does reference all alternative source=
s of
energy — nuclear being one of them.
I=
n fairness
to all concerned, the recent developments in
T=
he
question of nuclear options for
Ms. Hanson: Recently the president of Yukon Ene=
rgy
Corporation said the utility hasn’t considered nuclear power generati=
on
and won’t be doing so. We applaud his remarks, but as the Premier has
just noted, the government’s energy strategy lists nuclear as an opti=
on
and states, while these are not current priorities for the
Hon. Mr. Rouble: =
The Government of Yukon has gone to=
work
with Yukoners, with the Yukon Development Corporation, with the Yukon Energy
Corporation and put forward an energy strategy and a 20-year plan. It’=
;s a
principle-based approach and it looks at maximizing the benefits for
W=
hen we
take a look at the track record of this government, we’ve made invest=
ment
in increasing renewable energy, increasing responsible use of that type of
energy and, yes, we do see a wide array of options that are before us, whet=
her
it’s biomass, geothermal, run-of-river or looking at Yukon’s na=
tural
gas sources as other options, including issues such as wind energy.
T=
here’s
a wide range of responsible alternatives that
Ms. Hanson: So clearly, we cannot get an answer=
from
this government. The minister, the Premier, is always saying to the opposit=
ion:
look to our energy strategy. The energy strategy clearly says on page 51 th=
at
nuclear is an option. The minister opposite cannot give a clear answer.
T=
he
T=
he risks
are just too great. This is what Yukoners are telling us.
S=
ome years
ago, the
Hon. Mr. Fentie: =
We certainly are today a
nuclear-free zone. As far as the Leader of the Third Party’s assertio=
ns,
I think it’s fair to say that all Canadians, our federal government,
provinces and, indeed, our territory, considering the recent events in Japan
— this has given rise for a pause in matters such as these, as I just
stated in the House. Regardless of the level of safeguards and modern
technology that can be made available, the circumstances in
Question re: Whistle
Mr. Cathers:
Planning for the Whistle Bend
subdivision has been underway for a number of years. The Department of
Community Services is the lead department for the
W=
ill the
Minister of Community Services please tell me what the current time frame is
for development of Whistle Bend and when the first lots are expected to be =
made
available for sale?
Hon. Mr. Lang: In addressing the member opposite a=
bout
Whistle Bend, of course, we are working in partnership with the City of
T=
he
government has put out contracts to cover much of the infrastructure that is
going to be needed on the expansion. Public tenders and contract awards beg=
an
in 2011. Those are up and running for the new stage of construction, such as
deep and shallow utilities and surface work. The City of
Mr. Cathers:
One consequence of the Whistl=
e Bend
development was a need to move the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’=
s AM
tower. The CBC knew of this for years, but instead of making plans to reloc=
ate
or replace the tower, they made plans to decommission it. Yukoners, includi=
ng a
number of my constituents, expressed their concern with the serious impact =
that
a loss of AM service would have. In rural
W=
hen I was
Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources, I was successful in getting both
Community Services and the city to agree to extend the lease for the CBC to=
wer
site for three years. I wrote a letter, which I will table for members, and=
the
extension was finalized under the current Minister of Community Services.
H=
as CBC
contacted Community Services, or is the minister aware of them contacting t=
he
city regarding finding a new location?
Hon. Mr. Lang: The member is right; the tower has =
been
decommissioned. We did get an extension of three years from CBC, a commitme=
nt
to extend the life of the tower as Whistle Bend expanded around it. I have
written a letter of concern to the CBC on the issue because of going from A=
M to
FM, exactly what the member has spoken to on the floor here today, but I ha=
ve
not received a response.
Mr. Cathers:
I appreciate the ministerR=
17;s
answer. I believe he meant to say that the CBC indicated they’re deco=
mmissioning
it.
A=
M radio
service is important to
A=
core part
of its whole reason for existing is to provide services in rural
Hon. Mr. Lang: Certainly, the department can send
another letter to CBC. I’m not quite sure how interested they are in
extending the life of that process. They did go through a lengthy hearing on
exactly that. I could commit to send a letter, but I’m not sure if th=
at
would have any effect on CBC’s final decision.
Speaker’s statement=
Speaker: Before the honourable membe=
r asks
the next question — Member for
Question re: Yukon Hospital Corporation building projects <= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:1'> &= nbsp;
Mr. Mitchell:
Yesterday, we asked this Yukon
Party government why it refuses to produce the feasibility studies and needs
assessments that were carried out prior to the development of the
Hon. Mr. Fentie: =
Well, in the first instance=
, the
decision to build medical facilities, such as hospitals, aren’t based=
on
the discretion of anyone — period. They are based on the fact that we
have a responsibility to meet the health care needs of Yukoners, regardless=
of
where they live. Now we know the Official Opposition and its leader, the
Liberal leader, have already clearly stated they would not do such a thing.
They would ignore the health care needs of the people of
Mr. Mitchell:
Well, the Premier is absolute=
ly
wrong. The Liberal Party will look after the health of rural Yukoners and w=
ill
do so after consulting with rural Yukoners. This government admitted yester=
day
that it had no plan when it went forward with the development of a new hosp=
ital
in
Hon. Mr. Fentie: =
This is really quite someth=
ing. The
Liberals had an opportunity, which they took, to question the Hospital
Corporation and its representatives right here in this House about that very
fact. I am sure that the answers received from those witnesses, the
representatives of the Hospital Corporation, were very detailed in their
context, informing the Official Opposition and the Liberals of this House
exactly what the plans were for both
Mr. Mitchell:
We did question the Hospital =
Corporation.
They said, “No delivery rooms in either
Y=
esterday
the Premier said, “…there are people in hospital beds in the
hospital at
I=
f this is
the kind of innovative planning and evaluation used in deciding to build th=
is
hospital, then when it came to actually designing the hospital, did the Pre=
mier
simply roll out of bed and draw up the plans on a napkin? Because we’=
ve
seen no other documents to prove otherwise.
D=
id this
government explore other options, in terms of more cost-effective health
facilities in
Hon. Mr. Fentie: =
I think we’ve been cl=
ear: the
W=
e applaud
them for the work they’ve done with the community. We applaud them for
the studies they’ve done. We applaud them for the designing they̵=
7;ve
done. We applaud them for their tendering process with respect to both
facilities in
T=
hanks to
Yukoners and
Question re: Motions for t=
he production
of papers
Mr. McRobb: Mr. Speaker, once again, it=
’s
necessary to follow up on a previous day’s question, because this Yuk=
on
Party government failed to answer straightforward questions. Yesterday, the
Premier gave us another rendition of this government’s deny, deflect =
and
attack approach when held accountable to the
L=
et’s
examine that, Mr. Speaker. We’re asking for the Energy, Mines and
Resources consulting contracts that haven’t been provided yet. The
Premier has stated that they have been provided. So let’s start there.
Have the consulting contracts in question been provided, yes or no?
Hon. Mr. Rouble: =
Mr. Speaker, I think it’s pre=
tty obvious.
The Liberal Party had all the information they needed to jump to the
conclusions they reached. Okay, we heard their conclusions. We don’t
agree with them, but they certainly leapt to a conclusion — probably
heading down the wrong road as we’ve heard them before.
Some Hon. Member: (Inaudible)
Hon. Mr. Rouble: =
Yes, I’m being reminded of the
member opposite tripping over a spruce goose.
Some Hon. Member: (Inaudible)
Hon. Mr. Rouble: =
Grouse. Excuse me. A grouse. WeR=
17;ve
heard the member opposite and his grouse story a number of times.
N=
ow, the
opposition reached its own conclusions. They stood on their soapbox and
declared what they thought to be the truth. Unfortunately for the oppositio=
n,
that has proved to be inaccurate, proved to be wrong, and the
Mr. McRobb: I refuse to take the
minister’s offer to pursue another wild goose chase. It’s
impossible to get a simple answer to a simple question from this government=
. So
much for its promise to Yukoners to be open, accountable and transparent. T=
his
government has a serious credibility problem. That’s why Yukoners hav=
e identified
good governance as their top concern. The Premier has stated we’ve ta=
bled
those contracts — he said. This is 100 percent incorrect, and I’=
;d
challenge the Premier to provide those tablings. This government spent $275=
,000
of taxpayers’ money on Outside consultants to pursue its secret
privatization of
T=
he public
deserves to see those documents and know who ordered those contracts. Will =
this
government now agree to provide those contracts?
Hon. Mr. Fentie: =
Here we go. The Member for =
Kluane
won’t even accept what’s written in Hansard. I’m s=
ure
the Member for Kluane reviewed Hansard and found his own view of what
was written on the pages of Hansard, which is incorrect. Once again,=
as
my colleague has suggested, the Member for Kluane is incorrect and there are
many examples of that fact.
A=
s was said
yesterday, check the contract registry. I also said that it’s the
Liberals themselves who tabled all the documents they’ve been asking =
for
in regard to any discussions that may have taken place regarding energy and
partnerships and alternatives in this territory.
T=
he
Liberals and the Member for Kluane do take issue with the government, becau=
se
we are the government of the day and they’re seeking the office. The
problem for the Liberals is they haven’t presented any credible plan =
to
the
Mr. McRobb: Deny, deflect and attack =
8212;
what’s this government hiding? Why won’t it release those contr=
acts
paid for by the
N= ow we know this government spent a lot of time trying to find a way out of the maze on this scandal. It took several months for the Premier to emerge and unveil h= is chosen escape route. Maybe, just maybe, these contracts would disprove this government’s excuses to the public. I’ve had enough of this government’s deny, deflect and attack approach to accountability and = so have Yukoners. Let’s put in on the line. Let’s call this government’s bluff and raise the stakes on whether those contracts ha= ve been tabled. If wrong, I’m willing to resign my seat in this House. D= oes the Premier have the courage of his convictions to do the same? Yes or no?<= o:p>
Hon. Mr. Fentie: =
Well, I can say to the Memb=
er for
Kluane upon the tabling of his resignation, please write when he finds work.
The Yukon Party government has no intention of reneging on its commitment to
the
T=
he
Liberals keep trying to escape themselves from the predicaments they’=
ve
got themselves in, in referencing discussions with anyone regarding energy
— even the witnesses who appeared before the House in April 2010
presented evidence to the Liberals. The Liberals do not accept the evidence.
Let me just refer to some of that evidence — the witnesses certainly
presented this, confirmed that there were no secret negotiations, but rather
discussions with ATCO regarding a proposal put forward by ATCO; confirmed t=
hat
the president — and this is to do with the secret part the Member for
Kluane is talking about — of the Yukon Energy Corporation and the boa=
rd
were given a copy of the proposal immediately for their input; also confirm=
ed
the Yukon government was not interested in selling assets of the Yukon Ener=
gy
Corporation and discussion ended, and of course no mandates were ever issued
for negotiations — period. I offer a t-shirt to the Member for Kluane
—
<= o:p>
Speaker: The time for Question Perio=
d has
now elapsed.
Petition No. 15 — deemed r= ead and received
Speaker: Prior to proceeding with the
private members’ business, the House should be informed that the repo=
rt
on the petitions should have also included that Petition No. 15 is deemed t=
o be
read and received.
Notice of opposition private members’ business
Mr. McRobb: Pursuant to Standing Order =
14.2(3) I
would like to identify the item standing in the name of the Official Opposi=
tion
to be called on
<= o:p>
Mr. Cardiff: =
Pursuant to Standing Order =
14.2(3),
I’d like to identify the item standing in the name of the Third Party=
to
be called on Wednesday, March 16. It is Motion No. 1358, standing in the na=
me
of the Member for
<= o:p>
Speaker: We will now proceed with Or=
ders of
the Day.
ORDERS OF THE DAY
Hon. Ms. Taylor: =
I move that the Speaker do now leav=
e the
Chair and the House resolve into Committee of the Whole.
Speaker: It has been moved by the Go=
vernment
House Leader that the Speaker do now leave the Chair and the House resolve =
into
Committee of the Whole.
Motion
agreed to
<= o:p>
Speaker
leaves the Chair
COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE=
Chair (Mr. No=
rdick):
Order please. Committee of the Whole will now come to order. The matter before the Committee is Bill N=
o. 24,
First Appropriation Act, 2011-12. We will resume general debate in t=
he
Department of Education.
D=
o members
wish a brief recess?
All Hon. Members: Agreed.
Chair: = Committee of the Whole will recess for 15 minutes.
Recess
Chair: Order please. Committee of =
the
Whole will now come to order.
Bill No. 24: First Appropriat=
ion Act,
2011-12 — continued
Chair: The matter before the Commi=
ttee is
Bill No. 24, First Appropriation Act, 2011-12. We will now continue =
with
general debate in Vote 3, Department of Education.
Chair’s ruling
Chair: Before we continue in debat=
e,
yesterday the Chair undertook to review the Blues and report back to=
the
Committee regarding a point of order raised by Mr. Cardiff about a comment =
made
by Mr. Rouble. Having reviewed the matter, the Chair finds that there is no
point of order, just a dispute between members.
H=
owever,
the Chair would like to remind members of the Speaker’s recent cautio=
n to
members against characterizing other members’ contributions to the de=
bate
and interpreting other members’ intentions, as this path can lead to
disorder.
M=
inister
Rouble, you have about 12 minutes left.
<= o:p>
Department
of Education — continued
Hon. Mr. Rouble: =
Mr. Chair, we left off yesterday wi=
th a
question from the NDP critic regarding what we are doing to eliminate the
barriers for post-secondary education for Yukoners here in the territory.
I=
’m
pleased to report that the Government of Yukon has made a significant amoun=
t of
progress on this issue. One issue that I have tabled with the member opposi=
te
is the entire labour market framework exercise that was recently completed.=
It
was led by the Department of Education, Advanced Education branch. Officials
within the Department of Education went to work with Yukoners to identify w=
hat
the long-term training needs were; what the long-term recruitment and reten=
tion
needs were here in the territory; what we needed by way of an immigration
strategy; and what we needed by way of labour market development data or la=
bour
market data in order to make informed decisions.
I=
would
really like to thank all of those who were involved in the labour market
framework project. These include organizations such as the Chamber of Comme=
rce,
major employers, First Nations, municipal governments, other training insti=
tutions,
Yukon College and, of course, Department of Education’s Advanced
Education staff.
I=
t was a
very progressive exercise to go through — to take a look at how we sh=
ould
best define our policies for the future regarding these very important issu=
es
regarding our labour and ensuring that we’re meeting the labour market
needs here in the territory. Again, it’s another way of preparing
Yukoners for
A=
nother
important document that the department has worked on is the strategic plan =
for
the Department of Education. While it focuses considerable efforts on the K=
to
12 areas of education, it also goes into details about what we can do on the
Advanced Education side of things. It’s important to look at the tools
that we have within Advanced Education in order to support Yukoners in lead=
ing
meaningful lives and meeting the needs that we have here in the territory,
meeting those employment gaps that we have, ensuring that people have the
skills we need them to have in order to lead happy, healthy, productive,
contributory lives, and ensuring that we have enough electricians, p=
lumbers,
carpenters, bakers, lawyers, doctors — the whole breadth of opportuni=
ties
out there.
W=
hen I take
a look at the want ads or look at the hiring on YUWIN’s website, we s=
ee
the entire Yellow Pages of opportunities out there, from accountants to
welders, and there are a tremendous number of opportunities available to Yu=
koners.
Again, looking at the very low unemployment rate we have, we have some
challenges in that area of recruiting additional people to fill those oppor=
tunities
in the territory, to find people who haven’t traditionally been part =
of
Yukon’s workforce and provide them with the skills, training and
characteristics necessary so they can participate. We have a number of
different programs there with the labour market development agreement ̵=
2; I
can go into details about those — ensuring that we have the full spec=
trum
of programming available for
W=
hen
T=
hat
certainly removes some of the fiscal barriers that
B=
efore
taking office, I thought that Yukon students would typically tend to go to
institutions like UBC or U of A, but it’s really encouraging to see t=
hat
Yukon students go to over 110 different post-secondary institutions across
North America — again, finding that centre of excellence for their fi=
eld,
going out, getting the education, getting the certification and then bringi=
ng
those skills back here to the territory.
A=
lso on
that front, I should note that we have negotiated special entrance levels, =
if
you will, with different universities across
T=
hat’s
a great opportunity where a student can go if they meet the requirements of
medical school and take part in a program that is dedicated to providing
doctors with the background they need to practice in more rural and remote
areas, similar to the situation that we have here in the territory. It̵=
7;s
great to see so many young Yukoners coming back to the territory with those
kinds of skills. I’ve heard anecdotally that about six second-generat=
ion
W=
e also had
that type of program available for veterinary school, should students want =
to
participate in that field. Again, it’s not just about university or
college positions throughout
W=
e have
gone through that before in a previous question in this Assembly about how
great it is to see the gender barrier breaking down for many of the trades =
that
we have out there. We are seeing the completion rates of apprenticeship pro=
grams
increasing too. So it is not just people going out and taking the program a=
nd
not progressing; instead, we are seeing people continuing through, earning
their journey-level certificate, and then coming back and providing those
much-needed services here in the territory.
A=
lso, with
the expansions we have put into Yukon College, with the increase of base
funding there from about $11 million a couple of years ago to over $17 mill=
ion
now, we are seeing the number of opportunities increase there. We are also
seeing
W=
hat better
way to respond to that than by putting on a survey program at
W=
ith the
explosion of work we’ve seen in other sectors of the economy, those
people with those skills will also be in high demand. We’ve also
increased the student grant and indexed it to inflation, in order to reduce=
the
barriers for accessing post-secondary education. We’ve constructed new
facilities, and those are in Dawson and Pelly Crossing now, so people
won’t have to leave their community in order to expand their training
opportunities.
W=
e’ve
worked with other institutions to increase the amount of distance education=
or
computer-based training that’s available throughout the territory.
We’ve put investments into
W=
e believe
very strongly in post-secondary education here in the territory. The
government, through the Public Service Commission, has invested heavily in
training for helping to prepare people to move up the corporate ladder.
T=
he
Department of Education is certainly investing in its staff through the
professional development of our teachers, administrators and departmental
staff. A great example of that is the Master of Education program that is b=
eing
offered at
M=
r. Chair,
we have gone to work on this very important issue. We have sat down with our
stakeholders and partners in the process. We have identified long-term
strategies as to how we will go forward. We have put these strategies in pl=
ace.
We have resourced them appropriately and we look forward to seeing the bene=
fits
accrue in the territory for decades to come.
Mr. Cardiff: =
I don’t believe the m=
inister
really addressed the question of whether or not the government would support
looking into the possibility of the government funding the first two years =
at
I=
want to
go back to some of the discussion that we had yesterday and I want to get t=
he
minister on record about where he stands, as the Minister of Education, on =
the
issue of governance. We talked about this yesterday quite extensively and t=
he
minister’s response is basically that they are involving communities =
and
parents through school councils and school growth plans, but I want to go b=
ack
to the document that he dropped off in my office several years ago right ar=
ound
Christmastime. It is almost becoming dog-eared. I want to talk about the se=
ction
in the education reform report that starts on page 1.7. It deals with a
proposed governance structure, a new education governance model, that is
recommended in the report.
I=
’ll
say right up front that I’m not necessarily saying the model proposed=
in
the document is the one that needs to be looked at, but we could look at
various governance structures for the education system.
I=
’m
going to quote from a couple of sections of the report. This comes from the
Kwiya report, the final report toward a new partnership in education that w=
as
published around 1987, I believe. It reflected the same sentiment that had =
been
reflected in 1973. It outlined the need for an educational system to meet t=
he
learning needs of First Nation students and involve First Nations in an
effective and meaningful way. The quote from the report is: “The abse=
nce
of direct Indian parental responsibility and local control over education, =
in
spite of past commitments to such policies by federal and territorial gover=
nments,
can be cited as one major reason for the re-emergence of the call among some
segments of the Indian population for a separate school system.”
T=
he report
goes on to talk about the fact that the same concerns and issues were raise=
d by
the members of the education reform project team during the pre-consultation
meetings and in discussions with First Nation members and leaders. Some of =
the
reasons that were given were the level of frustration that many First Natio=
n people
feel about the education system in general, the disparity between First Nat=
ion
and non-First Nation student achievement, the lack of culturally relevant c=
urriculum.
I applaud the department and the minister for making progress in this area.=
I
think I said this yesterday and I do have some other questions about that.
There is also the lack of opportunity for meaningful involvement in the
delivery of education programming, the perceived and actual systemic barrie=
rs
within the education system and the slow pace of progress toward acceptable
measures of control over First Nation education.
T=
he review
committee, in the document Renewing the Partnership: Draft Recommendatio=
ns,
Education Act Review, 2001 — the review committee stated that a n=
ew
governance model for public schools in
I=
suspect
that the minister is going to say in his response that that’s where t=
he
school growth plans come in. I can understand why that might be his respons=
e. I
understand that it is a vehicle for the community and the parents to become
involved, but there is still a level of frustration.
T=
here is a
desire on the part of First Nations — they want a part in the
decision-making process to make sure that their children will do better. The
partnership that was envisioned during the creation of the Education Act=
has not survived its actual implementation. The concept of a school board in
every community and several boards in
I=
think not
necessarily that it has failed to meet the test of public interest; I think
— as I said yesterday — that governments have been resistant to
share that decision-making power at the local level, and that there is this
issue around control. I believe that there is a quote in here about the
reluctance to share the resources and to give up control of the resources. =
S=
o there
were some questions that were posed. Why is there only one school board in =
U=
ltimately
the question for the minister is — there’s a lot more informati=
on
in the document and I’m not going to read it all — does he beli=
eve
the proposed structure? It talks about a new approach; it talks about a
proposed structure; it says the existing education system is perceived as h=
ierarchical
and resistant to community input.
T=
he
government structure that is proposed in here would allow the government to
become more responsive to the wishes of the larger education community, and=
the
structure would have the following characteristics: facilitating a broad co=
mmunity
input in education; providing First Nations with representation; shifting m=
any
decisions away from the Department of Education; senior administration supp=
ort;
and facilitating educational decisions based on instructional, not politica=
l,
needs.
L=
ike I said
at the beginning, I am not saying that the proposed structure in the educat=
ion
reform project is necessarily one that — I think it bears looking at,=
but
I think that it bears discussion with the partners in education before movi=
ng
to a structure that is in the reform project position paper.
<=
span
style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Does the Minister of Education supp=
ort
the position taken by the education reform committee — that we need to
look at overhauling the governance structure? It’s basically a yes-or=
-no
question.
I=
f he wants
to stand up and repeat the discussion we had yesterday about school councils
and school growth plans, he runs the risk of being called on a point of ord=
er
under Standing Order 19(c), being repetitive, because I heard all that
yesterday. What I’m looking for is a yes-or-no answer to the question:
does he support the recommendations in the education reform document —
that the structure needs to be looked at and reviewed?
Hon. Mr. Rouble: =
I was all set to stand up and say y=
es,
but then the question shifted and changed and morphed. To that, I have to a=
dd a
bit more information, so the member opposite appreciates the context itR=
17;s
delivered in.
T=
he member
opposite has talked a bit about governance and talked about how the purpose=
of
governance is to involve people in an effective and meaningful way. Do I
believe in doing that? Most assuredly. Have we demonstrated that? Most
assuredly.
T=
he Member
for beautiful
C=
an we go
about addressing the interest that the member opposite has expressed —
that of involving, in an effective, meaningful way, people of Yukon First
Nation ancestry in the education system? Yes, most assuredly. In fact, we w=
ant
to involve all Yukoners of First Nation ancestry, non-First Nation ancestry=
, of
the Christian faith or other faiths, of French first language ancestry or o=
ther
language ancestry in today’s education system.
W=
e might
not always agree with the model that might be proposed but I think we can a=
ll
agree on the interest that we are addressing. That is, how do we incorporate
the views of Yukoners into
I=
do want
to touch back on the education reform project. The member opposite commented
yesterday that we have provided a pile of paperwork. There was a different =
term
yesterday — but substantial information to the member opposite, to Yu=
koners,
about what’s going on in education. One of the documents that was put=
on
the Government of Yukon’s website last week was a database. It links =
the
recommendations or the positions or the ideas or the points brought forward=
from
the education reform project to ongoing changes in practice within the
Department of Education.
T=
he
companion document to that is linking our strategic plan to the
recommendations, ideas and thoughts that came forward from the education re=
form
document. The Department of Education isn’t one that commissions a
report, puts it on the shelf and lets dust gather on it. Instead, they are
incorporated into the policies, practices and budgeting process of the Depa=
rtment
of Education. That has been illustrated in the recent strategic plan where =
we
built upon the work that the previous government had done on the Educati=
on
Act review. We built on the work of education reform, built on the work=
of
the secondary school study, and built on the work of many of our committees=
.
W=
hen we
take a look at how we involve people in a meaningful manner in the educatio=
n of
A=
s well,
our teachers go above and beyond the call of duty to also contact parents a=
nd
provide additional information about the progress of students. Then we also
have the IPPs — IEPs. Sorry, I’m confusing Ontario=
Some
Hon. Member:
(Inaudible)
Hon. Mr. Rouble: =
And yes, not including it with Ener=
gy,
Mines and Resources terminology.
W=
ith an
IEP, students work very closely with their teacher, with other education
officials, on identifying specific individualized plans for those. Of cours=
e,
their parents are involved in that; the parents are signing off on the plan;
the parents are seeing the progress that students are making through the ed=
ucation
system.
T= he best advocate we could have for a student will be that person’s parents. We’re all involved; we all have a responsibility, but that link with = the parent is a tremendous responsibility and plays a tremendous role. <= o:p>
S=
o if we go
from the individual level to the school level, we have the opportunity to
engage people in an important, meaningful and effective manner with the sch=
ool
growth plans. We recognize that there is diversity in our communities. I th=
ink
that’s why some people envisioned having different school boards for
different communities. They envisioned that there were significant differen=
ces
between the communities and then they’d want to have the flexibility =
to respond
to those.
W=
e’re
finding now that with our school growth plans we can find a way to respond =
to
the diversity through our communities, while at the same time ensuring that=
we
have an equity throughout the whole education system and that is an importa=
nt
balance, an important point to note. Not only do we have to recognize the
differences between schools, but we also have to recognize the common areas=
and
some of the common outcomes that we need to accomplish. Again, we need to
identify those common interests that we are trying to accommodate. Just as =
an
example of this one, we can take a look at recreation. I have some schools =
come
in and say, “We want to recognize the diversity of our school. We thi=
nk
it’s important for us to put in a rock-climbing wall to meet the issue
and the interest of physical fitness.”
A=
nother
school will come in and say, “In order to meet the issue of physical
fitness and recreation, we want to do something different. We want to put i=
n a
hockey rink.” So we can find a way to support that. A third school mi=
ght
come in and say, “We want to increase the number of visits to the Can=
ada
Games Centre in order to address the issue of physical fitness throughout o=
ur
school system.” We’re recognizing that there are different ways=
of
accomplishing the same goal. Or, as one of my colleagues previously said,
“You can hit the same target by shooting from a different
direction.” We want to discuss a moose analogy on that one. Yes, you =
can
hunt the same moose by shooting from different places. It’s all about
what we’re interested in accomplishing, but recognizing that there mi=
ght
be different paths to follow there.
T=
hat’s
what we accomplish with the school growth plan — being responsive to =
the
needs in the specific community and ensuring that we have methods in place =
to
ensure equity in education throughout the territory.
O=
ur next
level of involvement or next way of involving people in an effective,
meaningful way on a local basis is with the school council — the scho=
ol
council, which has guaranteed representation by the local First Nation.
W=
e’ve
talked before about how this is a floor and not a ceiling. It guarantees a
minimum representation, not a maximum. That’s a way that involves the
community in a number of different issues, many of which are laid out in th=
e Education
Act. Yes, there are a variety of “mays” and
“shalls”. There are duties they are expected to do. They are
expected to be involved in the setting of the school calendar. They are
expected to be involved in the setting of March break. There are other
activities that are of a “may” nature and, based on the involve=
ment
of the school council, they may get involved in those issues.
W=
e provide
assistance to our school councils, both from an administrative perspective =
on
the school level and also with Department of Education staff who participate
— I’m searching for the title of the person: the school council
coordinator — who leads or is involved with — because it’s
co-facilitated, it co-facilitates the two conventions that are held each ye=
ar
where we bring school councils to a central location for training, for
discussion and for feedback.
A=
t these
sessions that are held in the spring and the fall, we collectively sit down
— I’ve met with these folks many a time — and discuss iss=
ues
that are of concern to them, issues of commonality throughout Yukon’s
education system, different ways that the school councils are addressing th=
ose
issues in their own specific school where they are making meaningful, effic=
ient
and effective changes.
W=
e have
been told in recent correspondence from the Yukon Association of School
Councils, Boards and Committees that they have been very pleased to see the
responsiveness of the Department of Education in responding to the issues a=
nd
concerns brought forward to them.
T=
he next
layer up, speaking more broadly about territorial education issues, we have=
all
of the committees that I have put on the record yesterday. Whether it is
looking at report cards or policy, there are a number of different ways tha=
t we
regularly engage with Yukoners about education where they provide effective,
meaningful input, and I provided members opposite with a wide range =
of
examples of this yesterday.
I=
f we go up
a level, we then have opportunities for discussion on a territorial level w=
ith
the Association of School Councils, Boards and Committees.
A=
nother
tool that I had or that was in place in
A= lso, recognizing that the self-governing First Nations and, indeed, even those t= hat aren’t self-governing, might have specific issues that they want to discuss, we have met with them and worked on specific bilateral programs, in which case we do address — one-on-one with another order of government — an interest or concern that they have expressed for their community. Then we have the public Assembly here, where duly elected officials — representative of all Yukoners — sit and discuss, as we’re doing today, education in the territory, the budget allotments, the direction, the mission, and the vision objectives of Yukon’s Education department. <= o:p>
S=
o yes, the
answer to the member opposite’s question is, yes, I agree that the
involvement of all partners in education is important as we continue to imp=
rove
Mr. Cardiff: =
I understand the minister=
8217;s
answer. It doesn’t address the issue of whether or not he is willing =
to
look at or entertain trying to change the governance structure to work with
Yukoners to do that. There has been work done, and the minister has outline=
d it
in yet again the same speech we heard yesterday.
<=
span
style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> I would like to move on to a differ=
ent
area in the same report, and that is on page 2.7 of the education reform
document. There is another position paper that talks about the establishmen=
t of
a First Nations secondary school. I’ll quote a few excerpts from the =
report.
T=
he context
is that many First Nations students are subject to a range of negative
experiences that adversely affect their ability to succeed in the existing
education system. Some of these issues can and should be dealt with by the
system, such as relevant curriculum, culturally sensitive educators and alt=
ernative
programming. It goes on — there’s a bit more about the context,=
but
I think we live here and I think we know and understand the context. In the
planning section it talks about how designing a secondary program for First
Nation students is a complex endeavour. Time is needed at the outset to
effectively plan such a program. Some of the programs of particular interes=
t to
First Nations are leadership training, language and cultural immersion,
land-based programs to teach the connection to the land and elders and incr=
ease
the students’ knowledge of heritage and culture. Similar programs alr=
eady
exist in some
T=
here has
been an effort on the part of this government and other governments to make
changes in this area. It also goes on to say students who receive an educat=
ion
that is grounded in the roots of their history, language and culture are mo=
re
likely to be able to successfully connect the academic concepts and skills
taught in school with real world social dynamics, economics and technology.
Knowing and understanding their place in the world can make a big differenc=
e in
helping to prepare young people to make the transition into adulthood.
T=
here is a
section, as well, on defining success. We must also consider how best to de=
fine
and measure success in terms of meeting students’ needs. Success shou=
ld
be defined not only by how well students are mastering basic academic
principles, but how well they are able to look at real world issues and
situations and put them into context. Educational institutions need to buil=
d student
commitment to the curriculum by making students and teachers collaborate in
working toward a common goal. It is necessary for what constitutes educatio=
nal
success to be defined with the involvement from Yukon First Nations. This
definition will help to shape the school program and curriculum, and it is
vital that
E=
ducational
success may be defined by some of these characteristics: academic achieveme=
nt;
physical, emotional and spiritual health; a strong sense of self; a strong
sense of worth and belonging; an appreciation of the land and culture, and =
an
understanding of First Nation values and beliefs. There are other sections =
in
here. It also says it is important to acknowledge that there are differences
between the existing system of education and the First Nation system. Succe=
ss
in the former system will look much different from success in the latter sy=
stem.
It is not certain whether these two distinct definitions will be able to ex=
ist
within the same system, although it is important that First Nations have the
opportunity to determine this for themselves. They do have the ability to do
that.
T=
he report
goes on to talk about the need for teacher recruitment and to have an educa=
tion
system that is truly reflective of the participants in that system. It talks
about transitions, curriculum, training, best practices, involvement of Fir=
st
Nation students to achieve success, and it talks about collaboration.
T=
he
recommendation is that the Government of Yukon, in partnership with Yukon F=
irst
Nations, should implement a plan to initiate and operate a Yukon First Nati=
on
secondary school. A comprehensive workplan, which will take into account mo=
dels
across
Hon. Mr. Rouble: =
We’ve just left one topic and=
gotten
on to another one, but I can’t leave the issue of governance without
commenting on the member opposite’s remarks because it’s
unfortunate that he is not willing to listen to what is actually being said=
and
instead chooses to give his own interpretation of what he thought he heard.=
I=
went on
in great detail, Mr. Chair, about how we are addressing the interests of ma=
ny
Yukoners and incorporating their ideas, thoughts and beliefs into our educa=
tion
system. I have provided a number of details about opportunities for input,
whether it was at the student level, the classroom level, the school level,=
the
system-wide level, or here on the political level.
W=
e have
taken to heart many of the beliefs or interests brought forward in our
discussions and have made changes to
W=
e’ve
also gone on to address an issue of a First Nation high school. Now, I have=
to
tell the member opposite my priority for building a high school right now i=
s F.
H. Collins. That is the project that is on the books. I expect that it will=
be
a fine institution that will meet the needs of
W=
e’ve
incorporated many of the ideas and thoughts and concerns the member has just
shared with us in the strategic plan. When we take a look at goal 1, itR=
17;s
for everyone who enters school in
T=
he member
opposite went on to talk about success and how we define success. Part of t=
hat
is captured in the act; part of that is captured with individuals’
expectations for themselves; part of that is captured in the expectations t=
heir
parents have. I would suggest that everyone’s definition of personal
success is different. That’s what makes us different and unique as
individuals.
S=
ome people
will feel success in doing one thing and other people will not feel success=
ful
unless they have $1 million in the bank. The opportunity to reach that leve=
l of
individual success is what we are trying to provide.
T=
he key
strategies in doing this include the school growth process, the rural strat=
egy,
strengthening school boards and school councils, community engagement,
supporting advisory committees, engaging Yukon First Nation governments and
communities to enhance success for students of First Nation ancestry.
We’ve gone through with different strategies and tactics to implement
these objectives, and these are also outlined in the budget.
I=
n the
budget, we have issues regarding the First Nations experiential program. The
Department of Education is developing a Yukon First Nations experiential
program open to Whitehorse secondary school students — all secondary
school students in grade 9. The first component of this experiential-based
program with a First Nation perspective is ready to be implemented for grad=
e 9
students in the spring 2011 semester at Porter
M=
anagement
Board has approved three years of funding starting in 2009-10. Total funding
for 2009-10 is $242,000; 2010-11 is $219,000; 2011-12 is $219,000 and a lit=
tle
bit of change.
W=
e will be
continuing to work with the First Nation Education Advisory Committee and
others on the curriculum and the implementation of this. The program, which
focuses on community, heritage, arts, outdoors and skills, is called CHAOS =
9.
The motto for the program is a
&=
#8220;Objective
2: To promote a positive, inclusive and responsive learning environment that
contributes to the success of each learner and ensures continuous
improvement.” Some of the strategies here are to integrate and support
languages and cultures to connect learners to our rich history and contempo=
rary
T=
he
strategy to accomplish this objective goes on — to develop and streng=
then
the social and emotional skills of each learner. Well, how are we going to =
do
that? We will work on that through the early years transition initiatives, =
the
resiliency in transition programs, the efforts that we put into the social
responsibility and citizenship programs, and the environmental stewardship =
programs.
With those, if we drill down, we see the effects of those in the classroom
today, whether it’s the Be the Change movement that we have in our hi=
gh
schools, whether it’s the social justice clubs that have started up,
whether it’s Yukon students getting involved to raise funds for areas
that have been hit by disaster, we have evidence of Yukon students learning
these skills.
O=
thers will
measure the success of an education system by how well they do on a Fraser
Institute report or a
W=
e have a
responsibility in our education system to develop the whole individual and =
to
provide them with the opportunity for success. We’re not going to tell
them what success is. That’s up to them to decide. But we have a
responsibility to provide them with the opportunities.
I=
’ve
often talked about education and the dual purpose it serves in a community.=
It
has a responsibility to the individual — to help that individual to g=
row
up to be everything he or she wants to be. On the other hand, it has a
responsibility on the macro level to meet the needs of our community, and t=
o ensure
we have a community full of people who have the skills to participate in our
economy, the skills and beliefs to participate in our democratic institutio=
ns,
the skills and ability to lead happy, healthy, productive, responsible live=
s.
T=
hrough the
vision of the Department of Education that has been developed in partnership
with Yukoners, with the plans that have been provided for the strategic
performance of the Department of Education in our K to 12 branch and our
Advanced Education branch, through our strategic plan, and through our labo=
ur
market framework, we’re putting in place those strategies and program=
s to
accomplish it.
T=
hen what
are we doing, Mr. Chair? In the budget we have before us today, we’re
funding the specific initiatives. We have recognized the comments that the
Member for
T=
hey have
been responsive to the needs of our students and our community and they have
put forward a plan as to how we can go forward, and they put forward budget=
s as
to how we can accomplish our common goals.
M=
r. Chair,
I would encourage all members of the Assembly to stand up and endorse the
budget we have before us, endorse the positive plans and to go forward and =
join
us in providing an excellent education system that will meet the needs of t=
he
territory now and into the future.
Mr. Cardiff: =
It’s interesting. The
minister just basically delivered a political stump speech, and nobody in t=
he
Legislature — at least not on this side — is running for the
leadership of the Yukon Party, but obviously the Minister of Education is
considering it.
Some
Hon. Member:
(Inaudible)
Point of order
Chair: Mr. Rouble, on a point of o=
rder.
Hon. Mr. Rouble: =
Mr. Chair, I certainly wasn’t=
going
to cause an issue over the accusation that this was a stump speech, that I =
was
somehow politicizing the debate, but the member then did stray a bit and
certainly imputed false or unavowed motives. But if he does want to join the
Yukon Party, I would be happy to send over a membership form for him.
Chair’s ruling
Chair: Order please. The debate to=
day was
going quite well, actually. There were no personal comments lobbed in either
direction. I would encourage the members to go back to the way the debate w=
as
happening about 15 minutes ago and focus on the budget and not on personal
comments toward each other.
M=
r.
Cardiff, you have the floor.
<= o:p>
Mr. Cardiff: =
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I tha=
nk the
minister for his lengthy answer. He gave an answer up front and I apologize=
if
the minister misinterpreted what I was saying. I was asking him what work w=
as
being done with regard to the recommendations — there are three of th=
em
on page 2.12 of the education reform document — and I ended up gettin=
g a
long speech. As I said, I apologize if he misinterpreted what I said.
N=
owhere in
my comments did I ever talk about segregation or that this would be a First=
Nation-only
school. If the minister truly wanted to look at how this is being done in o=
ther
jurisdictions, he would realize that there are schools that are run and
operated and led by First Nations in other jurisdictions but that they̵=
7;re
not segregated. These are not residential schools. There are children from =
all
cultures and some people who aren’t of First Nation ancestry choose to
send their children to those schools. That wasn’t at all what I was
talking about. I’m disappointed that the minister thinks that is what=
I
was implying. He chose to look at the negative aspect of the recommendation=
as
opposed to the positive possibility of what this might mean for all =
T=
he
minister also mentioned the CHAOS 9 project or programming that’s bei=
ng
delivered at
H=
e has
talked about the bicultural program. We’re aware of all of that. He a=
lso
talks about a lot of these things as pilots, as pilot programming and that
there’s three-year funding attached to them. My concern is, what happ=
ens
after that? Is there a commitment to continue? Obviously, there needs to be=
an
evaluation of the outcomes and possibly an adjustment of the delivery in or=
der
to ensure that the outcomes are being met.
I=
know the
minister will stand up as he did previously and respond to my comments, but=
I
have some other questions for the minister in this same area. Could he give=
us
an update? He has mentioned the bicultural program. He has mentioned the CH=
AOS
pilot program.
C=
ould he
provide an update on the progress on the project that’s being worked =
on
with the Carcross-Tagish First Nation
curriculum development that’s around, I believe, their constit=
ution?
Can he tell us where that is at, and what programming initiatives may be
coming? Maybe he can give us some timelines of when we might see actual
programming delivered in that school.
Hon. Mr. Rouble: =
Mr. Chair, I accept the apology as
presented by the Member for
W=
e do need
to recognize that this was a fairly recent document that was received by the
orders of government in the territory and we are making strides to address
this. So, yes, some of these programs are indeed pilot projects. They are i=
nitial
responses to achieving some of the common objectives identified. We need to=
try
out these pilot projects in order to further define whether or not they meet
the objectives we have. In fact, we’ve worked on a bilateral basis wi=
th a
number of different communities to fine-tune what is going on in their scho=
ols.
We have worked hard to make a systemic change throughout the Department of
Education to change the manner in which we work, to respond to the valid
criticisms that were expressed by others about the department. We will cont=
inue
to evolve. Education is in a constant state of evolving to meet the ongoing=
and
changing needs of our community. We are constantly learning about how
individuals learn, about different techniques, about different practices. O=
ur
teachers are learning about the issues and concerns that the students in our
classrooms have.
W=
e as a
system are responding to some of the other issues that are coming forward a=
nd
are ever changing. That does mean, in some cases, we come up with a pilot
program, but as you can see in taking a look at the budget, programs that w=
ere
identified as a “pilot” in past years have been incorporated
through and now form part of our standard operating procedure.
P=
rograms
like MAD started as a pilot program that’s now part of the programmin=
g.
Programs like the YNTEP started as a pilot project. It’s important fo=
r us
to do these projects, to learn from them and then to make them best practice
throughout the territory.
W=
e do
recognize that in, the Yukon First Nation self-government agreements, they =
did
negotiate a wide range of powers and responsibilities. I believe the powers=
and
responsibilities of those orders of governments were put in there for a
purpose, and that they felt, when they were ready, if they wanted to —
and if the need wasn’t being met by the Yukon government or the feder=
al government
or other orders of government — they would draw down those
responsibilities
T=
hat is
something that I, as a Yukoner, respect — that the authority is there=
to
do that. I also feel, as an elected official and as a Cabinet minister, tha=
t I
have a responsibility to meet the needs of all Yukoners — the Yukoners
who may be members of the Carcross-Tagish First Nation, the members of the
Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation. But they are still Yukoners too, and I have an
obligation to respond to their concerns as well. So we try to do that throu=
gh
the Department of Education.
B=
eing the
MLA for the beautiful Southern Lakes, I’m very well aware of the
initiatives that the Carcross-Tagish First Nation has put in place. It is a
very progressive First Nation that has passed several pieces of legislation,
and it is taking a very forward look at increasing the educational level of
students there and working on economic opportunities.
T=
he
Government of Yukon has contributed to the Carcross-Tagish First Nation day=
care,
and it was great to see the whole community turn out and take a turn in
carrying the totem poles from the carving shed to the daycare.
A=
s the MLA,
I am very proud to see the investments in the community — that there
could be such a thing as a carving shed, and then the support on the
programming side for the carving programs that have helped the community to
once again capture many aspects of their culture. Yes, the work that the
Carcross-Tagish First Nation has done has been very progressive in preparing
many curriculum materials and providing resources to the school — whe=
ther
that is human resources or the printed resources — and the provision =
of
information regarding the clan and the governance structures — the wh=
ole
issue regarding many aspects of history and development.
D=
epartment
of Education officials have been working not only on a school basis with the
administrator in the school and previous administrators in the school, it is
working with the First Nation to incorporate many of their thoughts, concer=
ns
and ideas into the school, whether it was with small things, such as curtai=
ns
in the gymnasium or some of the land-based programs, such as the bison hunt=
.
T=
he school
has really worked to engage all members of the community. Indeed, it does r=
ecognize
itself as being a community school. Carcross is, again, one of those areas =
that
serves both students of First Nation ancestry and students of non-First Nat=
ion
ancestry. We have to create an environment that is welcoming to both —
one that helps to prepare all students for literacy, numeracy and the other
objectives of education and works to prepare all students to be in a positi=
on
to respond to the opportunities that will be presented to them in the futur=
e.
There has been work done with the Carcross-Tagish First Nation with differe=
nt
funding opportunities in the past.
J=
ust last
week, Department of Education staff were in Carcross, sitting down with mem=
bers
of the Carcross-Tagish First Nation, with the staff and the school council =
to
work on these projects and work through and identify their workplan as to h=
ow
this would proceed. Those things are still being worked on right now. I can
tell the member opposite that the department is committed to working with a=
ll
involved to address the issues that have been identified. We are continuing=
to
make progress on many of these issues and the Department of Education is
committed to working with Yukoners.
I
won’t just limit this to Carcross and the
S=
hort
answer: there is progress being made; there is work being done by the
department as we speak. There were people at meetings last week. Right now =
this
week, we have First Nation leadership working on issues, such as the educat=
ion
committee I mentioned earlier, agreeing in principle to work with the MOU on
education that we expect will be committed to or signed off by the federal
government, the territorial government and Yukon First Nations.
W=
e’ve
talked in the past about how we can all work together on this new memorandu=
m of
understanding, which I look forward to having the opportunity to sign and to
have a public demonstration of. It will be a great indicator of all of the
orders, respective of each others’ jurisdiction, agreeing to work
together to address a common goal, that of increasing the educational outco=
mes
of Yukoners of First Nation ancestry. The Department of Education certainly
looks forward to implementing the action plan that is part of that and crea=
ting
the proposals to go to the federal government to receive funding so that we=
can
identify other projects where we can all work together to accomplish our
collective goals.
Mr. Cardiff: =
I thank the minister for the
update. While we’re talking about the
A=
nother
concern that has been raised in Carcross is the issue of housing for teache=
rs.
The concern was brought to my attention and so I’m asking the ministe=
r to
maybe work with his colleague, the minister responsible for Yukon Housing
Corporation, to ensure there is housing available not just in Carcross, but
this specific concern was raised about the community of Carcross. The conce=
rn
is that there were teachers having to travel long distances in order to per=
form
their duties as teachers in that school. Some were travelling from as far a=
way
as Riverdale and out on the
I=
know the
community has a role in hiring teachers and the school council has a role to
play in that, but it’s about the department and the minister trying to
facilitate the goals of YNTEP=
and
the outcomes in the community. Again, it’s about working interdepartm=
entally
to ensure that hard-working teachers, who are providing education to our
children, are able to actually live in the community and become part of tha=
t community.
Hon. Mr. Rouble: =
I appreciate the question coming fr=
om the
member opposite. I don’t have the information he’s looking for =
at
my fingertips. It wasn’t one of the questions we anticipated coming u=
p in
budget debate. On this one, again, I will revisit some of my comments from
yesterday when we were talking about YNTEP and talking about how to increase
the number of
S=
o I would
love to see that filled. Again, I’ll put the pages on notice today too
— I did this yesterday — that if they know any students who are
thinking about becoming a teacher and they’re in high school, I would
encourage them to tell their friends about YNTEP at N=
ow, I know
A=
gain, I
applaud them for that — for increasing the awareness of the opportuni=
ties
that are out there for
I=
want to
emphasize this: we are taking steps to prepare Yukoners for
I=
mentioned
a while ago that macro responsibility of Education to meet the needs of our
community. This is a perfect example of this. We need
I=
ndeed, it
is a growing concern throughout the territory. I expect that, with my Energ=
y,
Mines and Resources portfolio, I will be addressing additional questions ab=
out
what we’re doing for lot development in other communities. I expect t=
he
Minister of Community Services will also be talking about what we’re
doing for lot development. Also, the minister responsible for the Yukon Hou=
sing
Corporation will be talking about the efforts we’re putting in place =
to
provide not only accommodations for seniors, students, single-parent famili=
es,
but also — and seniors; I should add the seniors housing in there,
because that’s an important mix in the Yukon Housing Corporation
portfolio — what we are doing to ensure we have appropriate levels of
staff accommodations throughout the territory to address not only the needs=
in
Carcross, but other communities.
T= his is an issue that is debated around the caucus table. I know the minister responsi= ble for Yukon Housing Corporation has ideas on this and he will likely share so= me of those when he is up for debate.
A=
dditionally,
we’re looking to other people in the communities to be involved in the
housing market to increase the number of rental stock we have available. I =
have
put in calls to First Nation chiefs in order to discuss with them opportuni=
ties
for housing, especially in some of our smaller communities where the majori=
ty
of the housing is constructed by the local First Nation. We need to explore=
the
options that are before us, and that’s one of the emerging issues, on=
e of
the issues of success in the territory that we are seeing. As we have demon=
strated
in the past, we are good at identifying the challenges that are ahead of us,
good at identifying and motivating our partners to be involved in the proce=
ss
and allocating resources to fund it responsibly. Then, as we’ve
demonstrated in the past, we’re good at implementing the overall
objectives and crossing that off the list and moving on to other issues that
are also of importance to Yukoners.
Mr. Cardiff: =
I look forward to the minis=
ter
getting back to me. He said he didn’t have the information on that sp=
ecific
issue. He went on at quite some length, but he assured me he would provide =
me
with a response to the issue that I raised. I would also like to ask the
minister about progress as far as discussions that may be ongoing with
residents of Burwash. This has been an ongoing issue. There were commitments
made previously, and then they were never followed through on. There has be=
en
some concern raised in our office about the conditions at the current school
located in
I=
’m
not sure whether specifically in those communities or in that area — =
what
the specific statistics are. But what I’m asking the minister is, are
there any discussions happening? Are there any feasibility studies happenin=
g? I
know that there previously was a desire to try to use the youth and elder r=
ecreation
centre that was being constructed there as some sort of an educational faci=
lity
for the community of Burwash. If the minister could provide an update on wh=
at
he and the department are doing in that area, it would be appreciated.
Hon. Mr. Rouble: =
As we’ve discussed a couple of
times in this Assembly,
W=
e have
very large geographic distances to cover and small population pockets inter=
spersed
around. The member opposite was talking about people driving from school buses in order to ge=
t to
schools. Yukon
W=
e, like
our jurisdictions in
T=
he longest
bus route takes some one hour and 41 minutes from the time of its first stu=
dent
pickup to reach the last of the five schools it services in the morning. We=
do
our best in the Department of Education to limit the amount of time spent on
the bus by students to 90 minutes, but we do have students who live further
than that from our schools. We’ve had the discussion in the past, how=
the
Department of Education has the responsibility to provide transportation or=
to
accommodate parents, to cover some of the cost involved in accommodating th=
em,
or to provide for home-based education materials.
J=
ust to put
things in perspective, there are some children who live on the
I=
put this
out as a bit of context that we have. Yes, we do have students who attend t=
he
So
we’re working with them to provide a quality educational experience f=
or
them at the
T=
he
recently elected Chief of the Kluane First Nation has recently met with the
Premier and Cabinet members. We have gone into some discussions about the y=
outh
and elders centre. They have some other ideas about how that interest can b=
e accommodated
without maybe doing that specific project. The minister responsible for the
Community Services branch will be able to address that in more detail and h=
ave
more information as to where exactly that is.
B=
ut
we’re continuing to work with the Kluane First Nation and continuing =
to
work with parents in the area. We’re continuing to provide quality
education at the
So
we’ll continue to provide quality education there and continue to pro=
vide
the busing service, as we do in other jurisdictions, and continue to explore
our opportunities with the First Nation.
Mr. Cardiff: =
I thank the minister for th=
e answer
and the update and look forward to discussing with the Minister of Community
Services what is happening with the elders and youth activity centre.
I=
’d
like to ask the minister — in the budget there is a little over $2
million for curriculum development, and I’m just wondering if he could
give us a brief — and I emphasize “brief” — overvie=
w of
what all is involved in that.
I=
t’s
my understanding that, for the most part, we follow the B.C. curriculum. Th=
ere
is curriculum being developed for some programming here in the
Hon. Mr. Rouble: =
Under Program Support there is a li=
ne
that is titled Curriculum Development with an estimate of greater than $2
million. The member is correct in that that includes the curriculum develop=
ment
work being done by our First Nations Programs and Partnerships unit and the
initiative such as the CHAOS 9 program I talked about. It also includes new
resources that are required or new teaching materials.
A=
nother
member was discussing textbooks. That was kind of the 19th centu=
ry
technology. We’re now buying additional resources in order to expand =
the
learning opportunities.
I=
believe
this also includes the math consultant and the language arts consultant. Th=
is
is one of the statistics included in the budget. I don’t have a detai=
led
briefing note on it, but it includes the acquisition of resources as well as
salaries for people working on locally based curriculum and some of the pre=
viously
identified projects that I discussed earlier.
Mr. Cardiff: =
I thank the minister for the
clarification on that. If there is a breakdown or a briefing note available=
, I
would look forward to receiving it in the future. I’d like to ask the
minister about community training funds. I believe I recall community train=
ing
funds going back to the late 1980s or early 1990s when the NDP was in power=
.
T=
here was a
New Democrat — in fact, he later went on to become the Premier of the
government — where they created these community training funds.
We’ve seen a growth in that area.
T=
here was a
recommendation from the Auditor General’s report back in January 2009,
and it said that the Department of Education should develop a comprehensive
strategy for managing community training funds. Contribution agreements sho=
uld
have clear terms and conditions and should be properly reviewed, managed an=
d monitored.
The department’s response was that the department, in consultation wi=
th
stakeholders, was developing a 10-year training strategy that will address
coordinating training needs and training programs, as well as addressing
training gaps for the next 10 years. This strategy will include an action p=
lan,
an evaluation component and will address the shortcomings associated with t=
he
current deficiencies in the management of community training funds, includi=
ng
the monitoring process.
I=
t also
states that in July 2007, new monitoring processes were implemented to moni=
tor
all contribution agreements. I am just wondering: what progress has been ma=
de
on this recommendation and what has changed as far as the department’s
response is concerned? Is that 10-year strategy being worked on? Is it
available? Is the action plan and the evaluation component also being worke=
d on
or complete, and is it available?
Hon. Mr. Rouble: =
Again, this is another highlight wi=
thin
the Department of Education. We had a situation a couple of years ago when =
the
Auditor General did the audit, they raised a concern, or identified that th=
is
was an issue. We accepted that and developed a strategy to be responsive to=
the
concern that they had identified. We went to work with the partners in educ=
ation
and stakeholders in the community, with the labour market framework develop=
ing
the longer term training strategy for
W=
e have the
plan now that will be part of the execution of this. We’ll be working
closely with the community training trust funds. Members will recall that a
previous government more than cut these programs, but really reduced the
opportunities that were out there. The Yukon Party government has reinstated
the funding level and increased it to a level of $1.5 million a year.
It’s a combination of both area-specific and industry-driven or
sector-based programs. We’re continuing to work with the entities that
deliver many of these training trust funds. We have worked with many groups=
in
the past, as they are very close to the industry or very close to the
community, to ensure that they were being responsive to the identified need=
s in
the community.
Y=
es, there
were issues raised about the accountability and the information that we were
getting back. Department staff members have worked very closely with several
organizations to ensure appropriate accountability measures are being put in
place to ensure that taxpayers are receiving value for their taxpayers̵=
7;
dollars.
W=
e have
$1.5 million allocated in this budget. The department is working with the
existing plans to fine-tune some, especially with the continued effort, adv=
ice
and direction provided by the labour market framework. We’re making s=
ome
very good progress in this area, both in terms of being responsive to
identified needs in the community and to issues of accountability. There are
other policy issues that do arise on an infrequent basis and the government=
is
always willing to take a look at those to ensure we’re providing
opportunities to Yukoners to become engaged in appropriate training for lif=
e in
a modern
<= o:p>
Chair: Order please. Committee of =
the
Whole will recess for 15 minutes.
<= o:p>
Recess
Chair: Order please. Committee of =
the
Whole will now come to order. The matter before the Committee is Bill No. 2=
4, First
Appropriation Act, 2011-12. We will now continue with general debate in
Vote 3, Department of Education.
Mr. Cardiff: =
There are numerous question=
s in the
Department of Education, and I know others in the Legislative Assembly are
awaiting their turn to ask further questions of the Minister of Education. =
So
I’m going to attempt to be brief.
T=
he next subject
I want to raise with the minister is going to require some background. I as=
ked
the minister previously some questions about the temporary foreign worker
program. I want the minister and especially the Premier — because I t=
hink
the Premier basically misunderstood or didn’t understand what it was =
we
were getting at. The Third Party — the New Democrats — are not
against immigration. We are not against foreign workers coming to
I
referenced a document that is called “
J=
ust a bit
of history: the temporary foreign worker program in
T=
he program
was originally managed by a department of the Canadian government — H=
uman
Resources and Development Canada — but the administration of the prog=
ram
was later privatized in 1987. It was given then to the Foreign Agricultural=
Resource
Management Services.
O=
ver the
years, to address the shortage of labour in
S=
ome of the
problems are migrant workers who confront racism, who are belittled, who are
told which activities they should participate in and to not get involved in=
the
community. These people are here temporarily and I think it would be import=
ant
for them to participate in the community and that there’s a sharing of
the cultural experiences.
I=
’m
going to read a little from the report. There are a variety of issues. In t=
he
case of housing, some farm operators are supposed to provide housing and, in
some cases, they can also charge a fee. A
T=
here is a
listing here of some of the conditions that contract Guatemalan farm workers
are required to sign in order to work on Canadian farms. During your stay i=
n
I=
n case you
need to go back to
T=
hose are
some of the reasons why we have concerns and we want to ensure that there i=
s a
way to protect these people who are visitors in our country, in our territo=
ry
and in our community and ensure that they have all of the protections.
T=
he Auditor
General in 2009 — an individual highly respected by all members of th=
is
Legislative Assembly — made a report that said that clear reforms to =
the
Canadian immigration system are increasingly shifting responsibilities and =
consequences
to provinces — and therefore territories — and Canadian employe=
rs.
S=
he took
direct aim at the temporary foreign worker program, which brings in an
increasing number of often low-skilled workers for jobs ranging from oil sa=
nds
labourers to construction workers on Olympic facilities and live-in caregiv=
ers.
Over the years since 2002, the total entries of migrant workers in <=
st1:country-region>
M=
adam
Fraser said that there is little being done to catch the abuse occurring on=
all
sides of the program. Workers are particularly vulnerable, given that they
often don’t speak English and they owe their status in
T=
here was a
report done by a special advocate in
I=
know I
cited some of these before but, when it comes to working conditions, the
important thing to me are that people are paid a fair wage that is comparab=
le
to the people they’re working alongside. I know that during the
construction of the light rapid transit system in British Columbia, there w=
ere
labour shortages and a labour market opinion obtained, and in fact there we=
re
workers who were working on that construction site who were being pa=
id
well below — in fact grossly below — the workers who were from
Canada who were also working on that site.
T=
hat is
neither fair nor just when it comes to how we treat these people who have c=
ome
here to try to better their lives and those of their families. I talked abo=
ut
the fact that in 2007, there were two temporary workers from D=
uring the
investigation, the Alberta Employment and Immigration also determined that
there were 132 Chinese temporary foreign workers who were not paid between =
the
months of April to July in 2007. It’s these types of examples —=
and
as I said earlier, I’m not saying that this is happening here in the =
I=
’d
like to cite a couple more examples just so the minister has an idea of exa=
ctly
what our concerns are. There were migrant workers who were taken to a remote
location in western I=
know the
minister doesn’t support these types of actions, but it’s our j=
ob
and our responsibility as leaders in this territory to ensure that there are
safeguards put in place to ensure these types of things aren’t occurr=
ing
in our community. T=
here’s
another item in here I want to highlight for the minister, if I can find it.
I’m going to paraphrase, because I can’t lay my fingers on it r=
ight
at the moment. The concern has to do with fraud perpetrated by labour broke=
rs.
There are people who deal with these labour brokers and charge them sometim=
es
exorbitant fees in order to get them a job in T=
hese are
all things — I don’t have a problem with temporary foreign work=
ers
coming to our country to make their lives and the lives of their families
better. I think we should be encouraging them to immigrate. There are
implications, though, and the minister needs to be aware of this in some of=
our
smaller I=
realize I
went on at length, but those are the concerns and what I’m asking the
minister is, what work are they doing to ensure that these types of abuses
don’t happen and are they looking at other legislation from other jur=
isdictions
and working with the federal government to ensure that this doesn’t h=
appen? Hon. Mr. Rouble: =
Wow. Well, we first started off wit=
h the
NDP backpedalling on this issue and now we’ve heard stories about
employees being held at knifepoint and their families being threatened. You
know, I’m not sure where the member is getting this stuff from, but it
certainly looks like he has found Some
Hon. Member:
(Inaudible) Point of order Chair: Mr. Cardiff on a point of o=
rder. Mr. Cardiff: =
On a point of order, I beli=
eve
it’s Standing Order 19(g), imputing false motives. I haven’t fo=
und
anybody guilty. As a matter of fact, I said I don’t know that this is
happening in the Chair’s ruling Chair: On the point of order, the =
Chair
believes it’s a dispute between members. Mr. Rouble, you have the flo=
or. <=
o:p> Hon. Mr. Rouble: =
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So just to cl=
arify:
we don’t know if this is happening here, we don’t know if this =
is
an issue in I=
might
need more than 20 minutes for this one, Mr. Chair, because there’s a =
lot
that needs to be cleared up and clarified and some of the previously expres=
sed
misunderstandings or confusion need to be removed. In F=
irst and
foremost, I want to start off with W=
hen we
have economic opportunities in the territory that are going unfilled and our
businesses need other people to work there — yes, they have a
responsibility to employ Yukoners first. We train Yukoners first. But when =
they
demonstrate a need that they cannot find appropriate people locally, then,
obviously, it’s the prerogative of that company to look nationally. <=
/span> W=
e do have
programs and assistance for recruitment strategy, as members opposite will =
see
in the labour market framework, of efforts to encourage people from other
jurisdictions to come to the T=
hen when
we find positions we can’t fill, we need to look outside of our borde=
rs.
We have a number of different programs, and there are a number of different
programs offered from Citizenship and Immigration Canada. We have a =
W=
e also
recognize in the territory that there are some short-term opportunities. We=
see
this just in the nature of some of the economic opportunities throughout the
territory in practically all of the industries we have. T=
here are
many people who work in the tourism industry who work non-stop. I have talk=
ed
to people who own tourism businesses and they run like crazy for that 100-d=
ay
season. But we have other opportunities out there. We need people to fill t=
he
positions, provide the service and pour the coffee or what have you, so we =
look
outside our borders. We work responsibly with the federal government on the=
se
programs. T=
he member
opposite has focused mostly around the temporary foreign worker program. I
would encourage the member opposite to visit the Canadian Citizenship and
Immigration website, which was linked to the press release that was issued
recently regarding the Canada-Yukon agreement on temporary foreign workers.
When we click on the backgrounder, it provides additional information about=
the
temporary foreign worker program. T=
he actual
agreement for Canada-Yukon cooperation on immigration is posted on the webs=
ite.
The annex, the temporary foreign worker annex, is listed on the website. Th=
ere
has been quite a brouhaha — I hope that’s an acceptable term in=
our
Assembly — but there has been quite a brouhaha about the production of
papers. There was a motion for the production of papers that hasn’t b=
een
debated; the motion hasn’t been called. We haven’t had a debate=
in
the Assembly on this motion for the production of papers for the Canada-Yuk=
on
cooperation on immigration, but it’s available on-line. There was a p=
ress
release that was sent out identifying the agreement, trying to gain interes=
t in
this. There was a press release that went out that had a link to the Depart=
ment
of Citizenship and Immigration’s website with a backgrounder on this
issue that includes Yukon’s role in managing the temporary foreign
worker. It includes a backgrounder on the protection of temporary foreign
workers and it includes the agreement for Canada-Yukon cooperation on immig=
ration
and it includes the annex. I=
know
there seems to be a desire by some members of the Assembly to clutter the O=
rder
Paper with the production of papers. Perhaps there are some people who are
trying to make a point on this. However, let’s at least read the
information that is provided before putting forward a request to provide the
paper. At least there was some backtracking on recent discussions about thi=
s.
I’m not sure if the request to produce the department’s strateg=
ic
plan has been removed or not. Maybe we’ll check the Order Paper tomor=
row
and see if the request to provide a copy of the Department of EducationR=
17;s
strategic plan is still on the Order Paper, but it has obviously been table=
d. W=
hen we
take a look at the temporary foreign worker program and the press release
— because it was an important issue that So
we’re having a debate here about whether we will you do something to =
protect
temporary foreign workers. We don’t know if it’s a problem in <=
/span> Chair’s statement=
p>
Chair: A comment in that personal =
nature
toward a member of the Assembly is definitely not in order. Mr. Rouble,
I’d encourage you not to do that. Hon. Mr. Rouble: =
Sorry. It’s great to see the =
Member
for Mayo-Tatchun in the Assembly. Unfortunately, I can’t hear what
he’s saying because he’s mumbling. Some Hon. Member: (Inaudible) Chair’s statement=
p>
Chair: The Chair stepped into the =
debate
to encourage members to be polite and respectful to each other. It works bo=
th
ways. Member for Mayo-Tatchun, I am also speaking with regard to you. You
don’t have to clarify that I am correct in doing it. If you would lik=
e to
make a comment, please stand up and say it on-microphone. <=
o:p> Some Hon. Member: (Inaudible) Chair: Mr. Fairclough, on a point =
of
order? Mr. Fairclough: <=
span
lang=3DEN-US style=3D'mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> No, not a point of order. I=
just
want to make comment — Chair: Order please. Mr. Rouble, y=
ou have
the floor. Hon. Mr. Rouble: =
Thank you, Mr. Chair. G=
overnment
of I=
should
add, even as we’ve stated in the press release, our first priority is=
to
work with under-represented groups in Yukon to meet labour force demands and
turn to temporary foreign workers when the need arises. We’ve seen th=
at
in other programming throughout the Department of Education, whether itR=
17;s
the program for older workers, the acronym is TIOW — I’m looking
for some help — targeted initiative for older workers, whether itR=
17;s
programs targeted at people with disabilities or whether it’s program=
s to
provide more information to youth prior to entering the workforce. I=
tabled it
previously, or maybe it was the minister responsible for Community Services=
who
provided some of the background information we’re providing to F=
or the
member opposite’s information, we’re now working to provide that
same kind of document for recent immigrants or temporary foreign workers to
Canada to make them also aware of what their rights are and what their role=
is
here in Yukon and how to access additional services with advanced education,
with workers compensation, with the labour market board, with the RCMP if t=
hey
ever find themselves being held at knifepoint by an employer. I know this w=
as a
hypothetical — well, no, it wasn’t a hypothetical situation; the
member opposite put it on the record that this was a case of what had happe=
ned
in another jurisdiction — but again I have to remind members opposite,
when they know of a situation where someone is being held at knifepoint,
don’t put those kinds of things in your back pocket and save them unt=
il
it’s politically useful to bring it forward. Instead, do the right th=
ing
and call the police or call someone else who can address this. If the member
opposite has examples of where in Yukon there are stories going on like he =
has
been describing, please have them bring them forward to the Department of
Education, bring them forward to Service Canada, bring them forward to the =
RCMP
if people are being held at knifepoint. We certainly don’t want to see
these horror stories that the member is sharing with us happening here in t=
he
territory. If people see that — the member opposite wants to know wha=
t I
am doing to ensure it doesn’t happen. Well, if he knows it is happeni=
ng,
if he sees it is happening, tell me. Don’t wait, like the Member for
Mayo-Tatchun, until it is politically expedient to remind me that there is a
piece of rebar sticking out of the playground; don’t sit there like t=
he
Member for Porter Creek South who watches kids fighting in the playground;
don’t wait and put it into your back pocket until it is politically
expedient. Call the reporting agencies; call those who are involved. W=
e have
Department of Education staff who are devoted to this. We have Community
Services with their labour standards boards. We have Workers’
Compensation Health and Safety Board with their inspectors to oversee this.=
We
have people in the Department of Education who go in and inspect these plac=
es
of work, who meet with the applicants, meet with the employers, who meet wi=
th
them on an ongoing basis to ensure that there is compliance by all people
involved. W=
e go on in
the backgrounder on this. With the greater involvement in managing temporary
foreign workers, the Government of Yukon agrees to make information availab=
le
to better inform foreign workers on territorial health insurance,
workers’ compensation benefits, as well as applicable employer- or
government-sponsored pension plans. We will continue to do that. We will co=
ntinue
to do that with the applicants who are coming in and working with the people
involved in this program. Some Hon. Member: (Inaudible) Hon. Mr. Rouble: =
The member opposite,
off-microphone, wants to know if we will do that in their native language.
Well, one of the requirements that we are working on with immigration is en=
suring
that they have fluency in or an operating knowledge of English. It is an im=
portant
part. It’s an important part of this program. But I appreciate the
constructive nature with which that advice is offered. I will take it under=
advisement
and I will check with the department about how we are proceeding with that.=
A=
lso, it
goes into the agreement, Canada-Yukon Cooperation on Immigration, which is
available on the Citizenship and Immigration Canada website. Just for clari=
ty,
one goes to the home page, about us, laws and policies, agreements, federal=
-provincial-territorial,
T=
here’s
a section on shared principles, objectives and purposes. I’ll share s=
ome
with members opposite. I see I’m out of time. I apologize. I have a l=
ot
of information to share on this and I look forward to another opportunity to
clear up some of the misunderstandings that are going on about this. Chair: Is there any further general
debate? Mr. Faircloug=
h:
I do have a couple more questions. I hope the minister can handle some of t=
hese
questions and not fly off the handle in the House again. It is this type of
attitude that the minister is portraying in this House that the general pub=
lic
is so disgusted with. Every day we hear that. This minister flies off the
handle. I can’t imagine how even staff people would even — Some Hon. Mem=
ber:
(Inaudible) Point of order Chair: Point of order, Member for =
Whitehorse
West. Hon. Ms. Taylor: =
On a point of order, the member opp=
osite
through his comments — Some Hon. Member: (Inaudible) Hon. Ms. Taylor: =
Mr. Chair, do I have the floor? Tha=
nk
you. On a point of order, the member has just articulated how he takes great
offence to personalizing debate. What he is now doing is personalizing deba=
te
himself. So, I’ll just leave that in your good hands and urge you to
provide some advice in this regard. Chair’s ruling Chair: On the point of order, both=
sides
have personalized the debate this afternoon and I would encourage both memb=
ers
and both sides of the Assembly today to focus their comments in a non-perso=
nal
manner and debate the budget that’s before us. M=
r.
Fairclough. <=
o:p> Mr. Fairclough: <=
span
lang=3DEN-US style=3D'mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Y=
ukon
Party promised to improve decorum in this House and we’ve seen nothing
but a downhill spiral on that side of the House. The general public recogni=
zes
that and it will reflect in the polls. It will reflect in the Yukon
Party’s popularity. We’ve been hearing it time and time again;
we’ve heard it from department people, even the minister’s
department people. They don’t like it. H=
ere, day
after day, that member gets up and is the way he is. I guess he feels
that’s the way he should be conducting — Chair’s statement Chair: Order please. Earlier, the =
Chair
intervened with regard to personal comments being levied toward opposition =
members,
and the Chair just finished intervening on a personal comment and encourage=
d members
to focus on the budget and refrain from personal comments toward other memb=
ers.
It was less than 60 seconds later we were back at it. If members don’t
want the Chair to intervene, I encourage you to speak in a polite and
non-personal manner about the subject in front of us, which is Bill No. 24,
Vote 3, Department of Education. <=
o:p> Mr. Fairclough: <=
span
lang=3DEN-US style=3D'mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> I’m hoping that the M=
inister
of Education will be able to answer these questions directly and not bring =
the
answers that he had for the Member for I=
would
like to ask a question in regard to recommendations coming out of the educa=
tion
reform project. I know this hurts the member opposite every time we bring it
up, but the whole issue of governance, for example, that was talked about t=
ime
and time again by First Nations — the Premier stepped in and took the
lead in ensuring that wasn’t debated in the discussions with the educ=
ation
reform project. I=
have a
lot of questions with regard to this. There are 207 recommendations in the
education reform project. We could probably go right to the end of the sitt=
ing
and beyond that in asking these questions. I am going to give the minister =
an opportunity
to give short answers here and demonstrate that there is improvement on that
side of the House. I am going to go right down to some of the recommendatio=
ns
that are here. O=
ne of them
that came forward was to hire a third deputy minister, who is solely
responsible for First Nation programming and services. What actions have be=
en
taken? Has this recommendation been fully implemented? Has this person been
given the direction to be responsible solely for First Nation programming a=
nd
services? Hon. Mr. Rouble: =
With the fear of being repetitive, =
I did
go through a significant discussion earlier today about how Yukoners have
opportunities to provide meaningful involvement into =
We’ve
also gone into a bit of a discussion about how there were many thoughts, id=
eas,
concerns put forward in the education reform document. I’ve discussed
earlier today the two documents that have been released on the Government of
Yukon’s website. One links the suggestions, the thoughts, the comments
and the positions put forward in the education reform document with changes=
in
the department. The other document links the strategic plan initiatives to =
the
education reform document. C=
ertainly,
when we read the education reform document, it was clearly there — an
idea that we needed to have a responsible position of significant authority=
within
the department looking at First Nations’ specific issues. The Governm=
ent
of Yukon and the Department of Education responded with the creation of the
First Nation Programs and Partnerships unit. T=
his unit,
which is headed by a director, reports to the Assistant Deputy Minister of
Education. In the Department of Education we have two ADM positions. One is=
for
the public schools sector, the other is for advanced education sector, alth=
ough
there is often a considerable cross-pollination of ideas between the two
departments. We have a director with significant staffing in the First Nati=
on Programs
and Partnerships unit with a budget of almost $2 million a year. Mr. Fairclough: <=
span
lang=3DEN-US style=3D'mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> That particular recommendat=
ion
wasn’t followed through on is what the minister is saying. Also,
there’s a recommendation to come up with a definition through an MOU =
of
what partnership is all about. We know what the definition of “partne=
rship”
is through the Education Act, so what’s new that came out of a
memorandum of understanding with First Nations in regard to an agreement of=
a
definition of “educational partnerships”? Hon. Mr. Rouble: =
It’s unfortunate the member o=
pposite
is not willing to listen to what’s actually being said and chooses to
give his own interpretation of what he thought he heard. The recommendation
that we establish a senior position in the Department of Education to have a
responsibility for overseeing the issues of First Nation programs and
partnerships was clearly recognized, clearly lived up to a number of years =
ago,
and continues to be an ongoing important part of the Department of Educatio=
n. I=
guess the
member opposite doesn’t recognize the work that is going on in that d=
epartment.
That’s unfortunate because the First Nations Programs and Partnerships
unit has done a tremendous amount of work in recent years and has made a ve=
ry
important contribution to education here in the territory. T=
he member
opposite has just asked me about a memorandum of understanding that is
currently being worked on between the federal government, the territorial
government and Yukon First Nations. Earlier this week at a Council of Yukon
First Nations meeting, I believe there was a motion passed in principle to
continue with this memorandum of understanding, in which case we, the Yukon
government, will continue to work with the Council of Yukon First Nations a=
nd
the federal government to conclude the signing of the memorandum of
understanding, to continue th=
e work
that is identified in that, and to identify projects that are suitable for =
the
funding that the federal government has available to support this memorandu=
m of
understanding. I=
t is a
project-based funding application process. Once we have brought all the ord=
ers
of government together on this and have concluded the memorandum of
understanding, we’ll then be able to begin the work that’s
contained within it. Mr. Fairclough: <=
span
lang=3DEN-US style=3D'mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> I asked about the definitio=
n of
educational partnerships for a memorandum of understanding. So is that what=
the
minister’s saying — that it’s going to be created and thi=
s is
still being worked on? Hon. Mr. Rouble: =
We have a number of statutory instr=
uments
that are important to recognize here. We have the Yukon Act, which empowers the Government of Yukon and establish=
es
that I=
t also
empowers or makes W=
e agree
that we recognize each other’s roles; we recognize the different
treaties, pieces of legislation, agreements and acts. We, as orders of
government, also recognize that it is important for us to work together when
there are common goals that we all want to achieve and that is why we’=
;re
going through this process now with the Council of Yukon First Nations and =
with
the federal government. T=
he federal
government did announce a fund several years ago to provide assistance to
on-reserve education in order to help jurisdictions elsewhere in I=
very much
look forward to signing this agreement. This is in addition to individual b=
ilateral
agreements we have had with specific Yukon First Nations. This is in additi=
on
to ongoing discussions that the Department of Education has had with Counci=
l of
Yukon First Nations staff. This is in addition to the work we have done to
build upon the education reform document and the New Horizons work. This is=
in
addition to the work we see going on in T=
he
Department of Education has been very responsive to the concerns and issues
brought forward in the territory. One only has to take a look at the strate=
gic
plan and how that recognizes the different inputs that have been out there.=
It
recognizes the thoughts and ideas of a multitude of partners in education a=
nd
stakeholders in education. We just have to take a look at the response in t=
he
annual report to the Auditor General’s report to see how the departme=
nt
has recognized those legitimate concerns and has acted on that and, in the
other documents that I mentioned earlier, we can see the progress the
Department of Education has made in responding to the issues and concerns
brought forward in the education reform document. I=
’m
very proud of the work that the Department of Education has done in order t=
o be
responsive to the needs of all Yukoners, and I look forward to continuing t=
hat
effort as we continue to enhance Yukon’s education system in order to=
see
an increase in educational outcomes for all Yukoners. Mr. Fairclough: <=
span
lang=3DEN-US style=3D'mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> Is there a memorandum of un=
derstanding
signed by the Government of Yukon and Yukon First Nation governments on the
definition of “educational partnership”? Hon. Mr. Rouble: =
I believe I just answered that ques=
tion.
The Government of Yukon has been working with the federal government and wi=
th
the Council of Yukon First Nations on this memorandum of understanding. It =
has
not been signed off by the principals. It has not been signed off by the
federal minister or me or the chiefs of Yukon First Nations. But we are very
close to concluding that. I will ensure that the member opposite is apprise=
d of
when the signing ceremony is taking place. Mr. Fairclough: <=
span
lang=3DEN-US style=3D'mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> The recommendations did not=
include
the federal government. So I’m not sure why the minister is bringing =
this
forward. The recommendation was to have the Government of Yukon and Yukon F=
irst
Nations agree to a definition of educational partnerships through a memoran=
dum
of understanding. Is that what the minister is saying — that work is
continuing to take place after all the policies have already been decided?<=
o:p> =
When
does he expect an agreement to be put in place on the definition of “=
educational
partnership” as per the recommendation of the education reform projec=
t? Hon. Mr. Rouble: =
I would encourage the member opposi=
te to
dust off his copy of the education reform report and go back into the depth=
s of
the Liberal caucus library to find it. I’m sure they might have to cl=
ear
out a few cobwebs to find it. It’s obvious from this line of question=
ing
that the member opposite hasn’t taken a look at it recently. If he di=
d,
he could pull it out and look at the terms of reference where one of the key
objectives is how to engage the federal government to recognize, in additio=
n to
its fiduciary responsibility — to have the federal government be part=
of
this process. W=
e can go
through the whole discussion about the Constitution of Canada. We can go
through the whole discussion about land claims if the member opposite would
like, but one of the objectives in the education reform project was to ensu=
re
that we have appropriate resources in A=
s I
mentioned earlier, this is part of a fund that was created a couple of years
ago that has provided assistance to other First Nations in other jurisdicti=
ons
in Canada in order to help them increase the educational outcomes of their =
students.
B=
ut I want
to work with all parties to ensure that we are building the best educational
system for Yukoners now and into the future, and if that involves evolving =
and
developing relationships — that sounds good to me. If that means work=
ing
collaboratively with the Council of Yukon First Nations on a broader,
territorial approach — that works for me. If it means working with in=
dividual
First Nations on a bilateral approach as we’ve demonstrated in the pa=
st
— that works for me. I’m interested in finding ways and means of
increasing the educational outcomes for I=
encourage
the member opposite to support the budget that we have before us. This is t=
he
tool that funds the operations. This is the tool that funds the personnel. =
This
is the tool that funds the acquisition of assets and resources. This is the
engine that helps to drive us down the path that has been set forward in the
strategic plans. The opposition can show their support for the strategic di=
rection
that Yukoners have agreed upon and support the budget that is tabled before=
us. Mr. Fairclough: <=
span
lang=3DEN-US style=3D'mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> I’m sure that the min=
ister
would love to see that happen. But the fact of the matter is that the W=
e’ve
heard the minister do his best to bring forward the department’s dire=
ction.
He wasn’t very kind to members on this side of the House. We’re
asking pretty simple questions, I would think. The minister should have been
able to handle those. We asked about educational partnerships, as per recom=
mendations
out of the education reform project. That gave the Education minister a who=
le
lot of trouble. It is that that the general public dislikes the most about =
this
Yukon Party government. They say they want to hear from the general public,
they want to hear from the federal government, they want to see the federal
government bring a pot of money to the table. Those are the words of the
minister. But they sure didn’t want to hear from Yukoners before the
creation of the budget. They cancelled the community tours. They didn’=
;t
want to hear from the public. What’s up with that, Mr. Chair? That ca=
me
back to us time and time again. It’s something the general public exp=
ected,
and the Yukon Party failed the public in regard to that. They create their
budget and say, “How do you like us now?” T=
he general
public doesn’t forget that they were not consulted, even though there=
was
a memo put out that said okay, if you have questions, give us a call.
That’s what the Premier said. All the member needs to do is go back a=
nd
look at what has been said and what the Yukon Party has done over the years.
There wasn’t a demonstration outside of this Legislature for nothing.
Look at the kinds of signs that were there. This was right on the Education
minister at the time. They were pretty graphic signs, and those types of
messages are still coming from the Yukon Party. So the general public is go=
ing
to put their X where it counts and they will feel it in a general election.=
T=
he members
opposite may not want to go into one, but thank goodness we are going to ha=
ve
to be faced with one sometime soon and not have to put up with this any mor=
e.
We have been hearing this over and over from the general public. Let’s
see what the department people have to say about this in many of the
departments. This Yukon Party government — this Yukon Party —
promised to bring forward whistle-blower legislation. This is about the
protection of employees and speaking out — Some Hon. Member: (Inaudible) Point of order Chair: Mr. Rouble, on a point of o=
rder. Hon. Mr. Rouble: =
The matter that the member opposite=
is
currently debating is not held within the Department of Education. Chair: Mr. Fairclough, on the poin=
t of
order. Mr. Fairclough: <=
span
lang=3DEN-US style=3D'mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> There is no violation of the
Standing Orders whatsoever. I am in the Department of Education. The minist=
er
is just having a hard time. Chair’s ruling Chair: I appreciate the informatio=
n on
that end. With regard to the point of order, I’m pretty sure the Memb=
er
for Mayo-Tatchun will explain how the whistle-blower legislation would be
relevant in the Department of Education. <=
o:p> Mr. Fairclough: <=
span
lang=3DEN-US style=3D'mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> It’s about the protec=
tion of
employees wanting to speak out. This goes across every department. It was a
promise made by the Yukon Party, a promise broken. Not one meeting called i=
n a
year? They’re expecting the public — vote for us again and
we’re going to promise to do better. Well, they did that the last tim=
e.
They said they were going to improve decorum in this House. This is probably
the most I have seen the Legislature deteriorate in all the years that
I’ve been here. A lot of it has to do with the Premier. I give direct=
ion,
the rest follows — they’re all in it together. G=
iven the
time, I move that you report progress. Chair: It has been moved by Mr. Fa=
irclough
that Committee of the Whole report progress. Do members agree? Some Hon. Members: =
b> Disgree. Some Hon. Members: =
b> Agree. Motion
negatived Mr. Fairclough: <=
span
lang=3DEN-US style=3D'mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> Well, thank you, Mr. Chair,=
for the
opportunity to continue. I thought I’d give the Yukon Party a break, =
but
I guess they don’t want it. This Education minister doesn’t have
all that great things to say about the opposition. We bring forward really =
good
questions, the Education minister has a lot of trouble answering them, it t=
akes
20 minutes at times to answer a question. It’s frustrating for the
general public to even listen to this. We get e-mails constantly — ju=
st
before I came in here — about the answers that the minister is giving,
and there is no improvement. This is right down to the wire. It’s rig=
ht
down to the end of the day and we have not seen any improvements. N=
o wonder
there are demonstrations outside of this House. No wonder there are signs t=
hat
say, “Dictator go, mahsi’ cho.” No wonder the public is a=
ngry
at the Yukon Party. It is with these types of answers that we get from the
minister day after day — not just this minister but most of them on t=
hat
side of the House. I say most because it’s not all who are painted wi=
th
that brush. People are tired of it. This Yukon Party government is tired,
they’re burnt out. We’ve seen it time and time again. They̵=
7;re
done, and that’s when the general public will make those decisions
— very soon. I=
t’s
unfortunate. Promises get made; they get broken. The previous minister prom=
ised
a school in Burwash and no, the Premier overruled that and nothing happens.=
The
Minister of Education today doesn’t give any sign of even moving on t=
hat
project, their own promise. It’s their team. I
can’t imagine how the caucus and Cabinet meeting goes on that side of=
the
House, because obviously the minister doesn’t seem to have the kind of
control he should over his department. It is the Premier who has the last s=
ay.
It was quite obvious during the education reform project, when we talked ab=
out
— Chair: Order please. The time bein=
g <=
o:p> Speaker
resumes the Chair Speaker: I will now call the House t=
o order.
M=
ay the
House have a report from the Chair of Committee of the Whole? Chair’s report Mr. Nordick: Committee of the Whole has consider=
ed
Bill No. 24, First Appropriation Act, 2011-12, and directed me to re=
port
progress on it. Speaker: You have heard the report f=
rom the
Chair of Committee of the Whole. Are you agreed? Some Hon. Members: =
b> Agreed. Speaker: I declare the report carrie=
d. T=
he time
being <=
o:p> The
House adjourned at The following Sessional Paper was tabled 11-1-204 Select Committee on Bill No. 108, Legislative Renew=
al Act:
Letter naming Government Caucus member to the Committee (dated Canada<=
/st1:country-region>. Unfortunately, what happens
— and I know this is out of our control territorially, but we need to
work with our federal counterparts to ensure that these contracts for labour
are administered fairly and that there are safeguards and enforcement in the
countries they come from. Foreign workers are coming from areas of the world
where criminal elements are actually threatening their families, and tempor=
ary
foreign workers in this country are being forced to pay money to criminals =
in
their country of origin in order to ensure the safety of their family.Yukon=
st1:State> will be able to fill that a=
rea of
recognizing whether or not a labour market opinion is necessary.
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