Ms Calahasen: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. "Paternalistic," "heavyhanded" are words I have heard used to describe the Minister of Education's actions in firing the corporate board of the Northland school division. Many of my constituents have children who attend schools run by the Northland school board, and they're worried and hurt and concerned about the future of their children's education and their fundamental right to elect local school board trustees. My question is to the Minister of Education. Since 95 per cent of students who attend Northland schools are First Nation and/or Métis peoples, did you even bother to consult with or speak to First Nation and Métis leaders before firing a democratically elected board?

The Speaker: The hon. minister.

Mr. Hancock: Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Absolutely, I took the opportunity to speak with the grand chiefs of Treaty 8 and Treaty 6 as well as the president of the Métis Settlements General Council and the Métis Nation of Alberta. We also contacted the members of the partnership council, which we've set up with First Nations and Métis in the province. I can tell you that I've had a lot of very positive feedback from right across the north with respect to the steps that we've taken. It's not about firing the board. The board are people who were elected and who serve on their local councils and do good work. It's about what we need to do for the children.

Ms Calahasen: A majority of the Northland school division is in my constituency. My constituents understand that change was needed and that Northland did have challenges, so why did the minister use a hammer to address the problem rather than using a scalpel when it was required? When you do this, the people feel disenfranchised by your actions, and they feel oppressed and silenced. Now that you're running the Northland school board from downtown Edmonton, what's going to happen to the locally elected school committees?

Mr. Hancock: Mr. Speaker, it should be very clear that we're not running Northland from downtown Edmonton. In fact, the superintendent of schools is still in place, operating out of Peace River as per normal. The official trustee will be operating out of the headquarters in Peace River, and the inquiry team will be visiting each and every one of the 23 communities involved. The locally elected boards are still there. No one was fired. We dissolved the corporate board and replaced it with an official trustee. Northland trustees are elected to their local school boards for each of the 23 schools, and they are there as elected representatives and remain there as elected representatives.

The Speaker: The hon. member.

Ms Calahasen: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My constituents are also very concerned about another item, as all Albertans should be, that the dismissal of the Northland corporate board is an omen of further provincial incursions into the jurisdiction of locally elected authorities. Northland was just an easy first target and a convenient testing ground. Is this not a sign that you're going to be getting rid of locally elected school boards? Who's next, Mr. Minister?

Mr. Hancock: Well, Mr. Speaker, I want to be perfectly clear. This question has come up since the start of the Inspiring Education process. We have absolutely no interest or intent or plan to do away with school boards. School boards are a necessary connection between the education system and communities. It's absolutely essential that communities and parents be involved in education, and their connection to the system is through their schools and through the school boards. So that's absolutely necessary. We needed to move in this particular instance to protect the best interests of the children, to make sure that we could make the change that was necessary, not on a slow or incremental basis but immediately.