Mr. Chase: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This government disbanded the board of trustees of the Northland school division last month. Since then Albertans have been learning more and more about the social and economic challenges facing residents of Northland. My questions are to the Minister of Education. Given that the challenges facing Northland were beyond the capacity of the trustees alone to address, would you please describe the efforts your ministry has made to involve other ministries such as children's, Aboriginal Relations, and employment to support the work of the board of trustees, and will the minister table evidence of this previous . . .

Mr. Hancock: Well, Mr. Speaker, we work very closely with Health and Wellness, with Children's Services, with Aboriginal Relations, and with other ministries to make sure that we don't operate in a silo whether it's in the Northland school division or any other school division in the province. The absolute ability for us to co-operate in the interest of children is one of our primary purposes. The first phone calls I made after the changes to cabinet were to the Minister of Health and Wellness and to the Minister of Children's Services, talking about the need for us to continue our collaborative processes supporting children in the education process.

Mr. Chase: Thank you. Part of the question that you may have missed was the tabling of those initiatives prior to the disbanding of the Northland school board.

Given that the previous efforts of the trustees and the government did not succeed in producing acceptable academic results in Northland, what new resources and supports is the government placing at the disposal of the official trustee appointed last month?

Mr. Hancock: Mr. Speaker, I think it's very prudent not to give people answers while you're still asking the questions. We have a review team in place that's visiting each and every one of the communities involved in Northland, talking with the families in the communities, talking with the educators in those communities, working with the official trustee. Rushing in with a dump truck load of programs before we've asked all the questions and analyzed what we can best do to create the community engagement, the community value for education that's so necessary to succeed I think would be imprudent.

Mr. Chase: Thank you. This problem has existed for over 20 years. The government took very dramatic action, blaming the trustees. It would be nice to know what some of the remedies are.

Finally, when the inquiries committee's six-month deadline is up, will the minister release the report to the public immediately along with a timeline for acting on the committee's recommendations?

Mr. Hancock: Mr. Speaker, I take offence to the idea that anybody blamed the trustees. I was very clear that I wasn't blaming trustees. What we were looking for was another way to deal with a very, very important issue so that the children could be put first and we could find a way to move forward with results for the children. The trustees that were involved are still in place, as a matter of fact, as chairmen of their local councils, to which they're elected. We still hope that they will participate in this process. It's not about the trustees; it's about the children. We'll focus on that and make sure that we get it right.