Province
Législature
Session
Type de discours
Date du discours
Locuteur
Fonction du locuteur
Parti politique
Saskatchewan
26e
1e
Discours sur l’éducation
17 avril 2008
Ken Krawetz
Minister of Education
Saskatchewan Party

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and I hope that your laryngitis improves because I know that must be a struggle as I went through some of that earlier on in the week. Good afternoon, committee members. It’s indeed a pleasure to be here this afternoon to discuss the Education budget for 2008-2009 fiscal year. 
With me this afternoon to help answer questions that committee members may pose are a number of officials from my ministry, and I want to begin with introducing Audrey Roadhouse who is the deputy minister of Education, Helen Horsman who is the assistant deputy minister, and Darren McKee right behind me who is also an assistant deputy minister. 
From the financial planning and management, director is David Tulloch, on my right here. And from education finance and facilities, we have two individuals. We have Clint Repski, and behind Clint on the far side is Margaret Ball. Seated next to Margaret is Christina Stanford who is also a director within education finance and facilities; Greg Tuer, executive director responsible for HR [human resources] services, and Lois Zelmer, executive director for early learning and child care. Next to Lois is Rosanne Glass, executive director of policy and evaluation. And behind in the last row is Shirley Robertson who’s the acting executive director of the Teachers’ Superannuation Commission. 
Mr. Chair, I have a number of remarks that I want to put on the record since this is the first opportunity for Education to meet with committee members, and it is also an opportunity for me to not only bring to the attention of the committee members but also the many people in the province of Saskatchewan who do pay attention to what goes on at the committee level. And I want to inform them of the many changes that have occurred to the Education budget for this year. 
The ministry’s budget is of course set in the context of the provincial budget and the province’s current fiscal circumstances which are very positive. The Saskatchewan economy is on a roll. We have experienced a remarkable turn around in a very short period of time. We have not only caught up to the rest of the country; we are leading the country in many key areas. We are number one in Canada in wholesale trade growth, retail sales growth, income growth, net home construction, overall construction, and population growth. 
This growth is being felt across a broad range of sectors. The agricultural industry has experienced a resurgence with a global demand for grain at an all-time high. Our petroleum industry is gaining momentum as evidenced by record Crown land sales to oil and gas companies and a significant $1.9 billion expansion to the Federated Co-op refinery right here in Regina. Our potash sector is also thriving with the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan having recently announced a major $1.8 billion expansion of its operations in Rocanville. We are currently producing 25 per cent of the world’s uranium and are very well positioned to take up opportunities to expand economic activity in this sector. 
It is a phenomenal time to be in Saskatchewan. Everyone in our province from larger and smaller centres alike is feeling this momentum. It is our greatest responsibility to ensure that Saskatchewan’s time has truly come and that we finally realize our true potential as a province. 
Education is a key priority for our government. A total of $1.185 billion has been dedicated to education, including teachers’ pension and benefits, to support pre-K to 12 [pre-kindergarten to grade 12] education, the Provincial Library, and early learning and child care in the province. This is a $241.8 million or 25.6 per cent increase over last year’s Education budget. 
It is clear from the government’s support for the ministry initiatives that education plays a significant role in the Government of Saskatchewan’s growth agenda. We recognize the learning success and achievement of our young people is vital to securing the future of our province. This increase includes an additional $100 million for school capital in the province. Our government made the commitment to take a forward-looking approach to any government surpluses, using half to pay down debt and investing half in our province’s infrastructure. 
Education is a very important area of focus because it is so closely tied to economic growth. The improvement and maintenance of our province’s infrastructure, including schools, is vital to creating sustainable development. The $100 million is one-time funding to address a substantial number of capital requests currently on the ministry’s capital project list. The total capital budget for the ministry is $117.6 million. 
This year we will advance new projects in Balcarres, Duck Lake, La Ronge, Oxbow, and Porcupine Plain, and at Humboldt Collegiate, Maple Creek Composite High School, St. Anne in Prince Albert, and Scott Collegiate in Regina. 
Now all of these projects are significant, but I want to speak to a few of them that will really make a difference in preparing these communities for growth. 
All students in Porcupine Plain will benefit from the building of a new kindergarten to grade 12 facility. This new school will replace the existing separate elementary and high schools and will serve as a focal point for the community. The north central community in Regina will benefit from the addition of a new high school to replace Scott Collegiate. The new facility is part of a larger learning-across-the-community initiative that grew out of an innovative partnership of community members and organizations, the school division, and the Government of Saskatchewan. 
A new K to 12 school will replace four existing educational facilities in the communities of Oxbow and Alameda and provide an excellent learning environment for all students in that area. The community of La Ronge will benefit from the significant addition and renovation to Churchill High School. The $100 million will also fund final payments on previously announced capital projects in Norquay and Naicam, at Prince Albert Collegiate, at Yorkton Regional High School, and Collège Mathieu in Gravelbourg. As well the $100 million will complete three high schools in Saskatoon announced in 2003: E.D. Feehan, Nutana, and École canadienne-français de Saskatoon. 
New projects were selected following the long held practices for major capital priority selection. An additional 17.6 million will be provided for smaller renovation projects over the course of the year and to support enhanced capital planning — 12.4 million will be in block funding and 5.2 million will be in enhanced capital planning. 
I’m very pleased to be able to move forward with our growth agenda by providing our students with high quality schools in which they can learn for their futures. 
This budget also moves the ministry forward on our government’s education-related platform and Throne Speech commitments. From my own years of experience as a board member and president of what is now the Saskatchewan School Boards Association, I know that Saskatchewan property owners continue to shoulder a greater share of education costs than any other jurisdiction in Canada. This is simply unacceptable and must be changed. That is why we are taking the first steps to shift the education property tax burden from property owners to the provincial government. 
The property tax rebate has been increased by $48.7 million in 2008-09 as a bridge until a longer term answer to property tax dependency is found. This is the first step forward in the government’s commitment of doubling the education property tax credit over four years. Work on a longer term strategy is being led by Legislative Secretary Jim Reiter. 
The agricultural property tax credit was increased from 38 per cent to 47 per cent. The commercial and residential property tax credit was increased from 10 per cent to 12 per cent. The total cost to provide these rebates is $156.6 million. This is a substantial commitment made by our government. 
There is a $34.6 million increase to the school operating grant for a total $621 million in support. This 5.9 per cent increase exceeds our commitment to increase the operating grant by 5 per cent this year and is the first step toward our commitment to increase the grant by 20 per cent in four years. 
The government is also providing a total of $194 million to fulfil its obligation in funding teachers’ pensions and benefits. This is a $58.3 million increase due in large part to an increase to the teachers’ superannuation plan — again a substantial contribution made by the government. 
The increase to the operating grant also includes $1 million to fund schools of opportunity. This funding will be available to schools after the criteria for approval is finalized. Work is also under way to ensure education funding formulas are fair to all. This too addresses a commitment made by our government. 
I want to make note of a few enhancements within the grant. $4.5 million has been added to the geographic factor in recognition of major cost differences in the areas such as travel, staffing, communication, and shipping in geographically dispersed school divisions. I’m also pleased to note that the government is providing $2.8 million in one-time funding recognition so school divisions will not be negatively impacted by grant changes. 
As promised by our government, there is also a $500,000 increase in funding for nutrition in community schools. Nutrition programs funding provides equitable opportunities for vulnerable children by improving their health and learning potential. This is the first step in fulfilling our commitment to provide $2 million for nutrition support over four years. We do this because the research tells us that improved nutrition supports readiness to learn and increases student achievement. We see this as a very important investment. 
Our government promised to maintain funding for child care and early childhood learning and development initiatives. In fact we have done better. With the addition of the new funds from the federal government, we have provided an 11.3 per cent or $3.4 million increase in early learning and child care. We have also invested an additional $2 million in pre-kindergarten. More and more families are recognizing the benefits of quality early learning and child care. 
As well, growth in our economy is increasing the need for child care spaces. To address this, our government will be funding 500 new child care spaces for a total of 1.7 million allowing more parents to work or further their education and participate in the province’s economy. Funding for each new child care space will include a capital support of $3,000 per space. There is also $1.7 million in the budget to fund a wage lift of 4 per cent for child care centre staff effective April 1, 2008. 
$500,000 will be made available to social services to increase child care subsidy supports. A $2 million investment in pre-kindergarten will increase the number of programs by 38 bringing the total number in the province to 193 serving over 3,000 children. These programs are funded through the school operating grant. 
And $250,000 is available to implement the early development instrument. This instrument is used by kindergarten teachers to assess children’s readiness to learn and plan community resources that can contribute to school readiness. Research has indicated that investment in the early years fosters early literacy and school achievement. Again we see our government focusing on our growth agenda, and we are making budget commitments to support it. 
There are other enhancements in this year’s budget that are noteworthy as well. For this year, $4.07 million will be provided to KidsFirst accountable partners by the Ministry of Education to support vulnerable families in nurturing their children. Services are provided to almost 1,000 families in the KidsFirst targeted sites. KidsFirst also supports community development across the province. This is a 1.8 per cent boost to KidsFirst. 
We have also committed over $3.19 million to fund early childhood intervention programs in communities across the province in the 2008-09 budget. This is an increase of 9.5 per cent and supports the number of children served in the 15 ECIP [early childhood intervention program] programs to be increased from 635 to 704. 
There is an overall 9.2 per cent increase for the 10 public library systems, with over 300 individual library locations, for a total of $8.3 million. This includes an increase of 360,000 to support library Internet connectivity through CommunityNet and a 2.3 per cent increase in support of resource sharing. CommunityNet is Saskatchewan’s high-speed network connecting educational facilities, provincially funded schools and school divisions, First Nations schools, libraries, and other government ministries and public agencies. Stable government funding for 2008-09 will continue to support the capacity of the existing network. 
There is a $3 million increase to the intensive supports factor. School divisions will use these funds to help students who require specialized supports to benefit from their educational experience. In total we are providing $67.4 million for students with learning difficulties, disabilities, and disadvantages. This addresses the increased number of students in our schools requiring specialized supports. 
There is also a $500,000 support to support school divisions to increase accountability by becoming compliant with Public Sector Accounting Board financial statement standards for local government. 
I also want to speak to an issue that will be of key significance to the ministry over the upcoming year, and this is improving student achievement, including the achievement of First Nations and Métis students in our classrooms. There has been growing concern regarding Saskatchewan’s student achievement compared to other provinces. Saskatchewan students are performing below those of most of their Canadian peers in science, mathematics, and reading. 
To ensure that we as a province are ready to say yes to opportunity, we need to help all our students achieve their best in school. This is an important part of addressing our province’s labour shortage to create sustainable economic growth. We recognize that this is a long-term challenge, but now is the time for bold initiatives and innovative thinking in the area of student achievement. I have requested that the provincial achievement panel research and recommend a made-in-Saskatchewan approach to improving students’ achievement. 
In Saskatchewan, as in other parts of the country, we have a young and growing First Nations and Métis population. The learning success of all of our young people is vital to securing the future of our province. The Ministry of Education is coordinating the development of an Aboriginal education action plan. Our lead of the Aboriginal education action plan reflects the provincial government’s commitment to strengthening partnerships and focusing on student achievement for all students. Ministers from across Canada agreed with Saskatchewan’s proposal to host a national summit in 2009 on improving Aboriginal achievement rates. As well, we have just hosted a very successful Aboriginal literacy forum here in Regina April 13 to 15 as part of the Pan-Canadian literacy initiative. 
We have also placed an emphasis on treaty education. We have set the goal of ensuring instruction on the history and content of the treaties signed between First Nations and the government becomes mandatory in the provincial K to 12 [kindergarten to grade 12] curriculum. I’m pleased to report the treaty education working group has been established in support of meeting this commitment. 
There is also a new First Nations and Métis education branch within the ministry to help support the success of these students in our schools. I am optimistic that all of these initiatives will lead to improvement of educational outcomes for all of our students. We see improved student achievement as playing a significant role in the Government of Saskatchewan’s growth agenda. 
Another issue we must address to meet our growth agenda is the shortage of labour. To this end, another initiative our government is very excited to support through the AEEL [Advanced Education, Employment and Labour] ministry are the trades and skill centres projects in Regina and Saskatoon. The government is providing over $1 million through the newly signed federal-provincial labour market agreement to these programs which help youth and young adults move directly into employment or on to post-secondary education. 
Youth engagement and addressing labour market challenges are a priority for our government. We’re solving the issue by more fully engaging the First Nations and Métis people, attracting back expatriates who have moved to other provinces, and recruiting and retaining skilled workers from across Canada and abroad. After losing people to other provinces for two decades, we have experienced the largest increase on record since 1961. Our new government has laid out an exciting agenda for our province, and the education sector system plays a significant role in our common sense plan for Saskatchewan. 
Over the coming years, this government will ensure the ministry remains focused on its core objectives of strengthening student achievement with a curriculum that ensures our children can thrive in the changing world we live, ensuring accountability of the sector by keeping the focus on student achievement, sharing with municipal governments the responsibility to fund our education system so that all children have access regardless of location within the province, working with our sector partners to provide for facilities that support student achievement, ensuring that the very young have access to safe and caring learning environments, supporting First Nations and the large role they will play in the future prosperity of this province, and building the literacy levels of all residents to enrich their quality of life, and finally ensuring access to libraries that provide a window to the world. 
I am excited about the work that lies ahead. Our path to growth lies through investment in ourselves. This ministry budget is perhaps the greatest demonstration of this investment and the government’s long-term commitment towards our future prosperity.
 Mr. Speaker, fairly long opening remarks, but that is a conclusion and I know that there will be many questions from the committee members. And I thank you for patience and your understanding