I had the real pleasure to kick off Reading Week with students from Monsignor Fee Otterson School in my Edmonton Whitemud constituency and at the same time, launch the children's book "I Wish I Could Be Like Tommy Blake" by Albertan David A. Poulsen.

Reading Week focuses on the importance of encouraging and supporting reading by our youth - one of the greatest gifts that we can give our children.  A strong foundation in literacy opens doors to a successful future, and storybooks like David's help young children find the joy in the discovery of reading and learning.

Without a doubt, there will be teaching positions for new teacher graduates this fall. A conservative estimate would say that school boards across the province will be hiring at least 800 new teachers. Where does this number come from?

Good morning.

This may be my last opportunity to speak with you in the capacity of Minister of Education.

Before I begin my remarks, I would like to acknowledge the good work you do for education in Alberta and thank you for the support you have shown during the Inspiring Education and Inspiring Action initiatives. As I have said on numerous occasions, we may not have always agreed on what needs to be done or how it should be done, but we have always shared the common objective of ensuring Alberta's children receive the best education possible.

In recent weeks, several school boards have announced preliminary budgets for the next school year which include reducing the number of teachers and support staff they employ. A representative from one stakeholder group suggested that this will "lead to larger class sizes, less attention for students and more difficulty improving graduation rates." Others have made inflammatory predictions about student safety!

It's easy to make these sorts of dire predictions and out of context statements to frighten parents into believing that more money will instantly produce better outcomes for their children. Not only is the simple notion that "more money equals better student outcomes" demonstrably wrong, but most of the people making these predictions and statements--the teachers' association, school boards and opposition politicians (the very people who should be most knowledgeable about research on effective learning)--should know better. 

Mr. Hancock: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's with great pleasure that I ask for leave to introduce Bill 18, the Education Act, for second reading.

The course of history turns on events both large and small. Often no one can truly understand the significance of what has been achieved in the past until long after events have occurred. For example, more than 570 years ago Johannes Gutenberg perfected movable type, and we are all beneficiaries of the revolution in access to learning that his invention helped to initiate.

More than 290 years ago Wapasu, a Cree trader, brought a sample of bituminous sands to the Hudson's Bay Company post at York Factory on Hudson's Bay. That was indeed a small event, Mr. Speaker, but 84 years ago it resulted in Karl Clark of the University of Alberta perfecting a process for separating bitumen from the oil sands, that has become one of the pillars of Alberta's economy today.

Mr. Hancock: No, Mr. Speaker, we haven't at a provincial level considered changing the guidelines which provide for up to 4 per cent for urban boards and up to 6 per cent for rural boards. It is an area which could be looked at. Quite frankly, I would expect as minister and we would expect as a provincial government that each board would look at their administrative expenses and try to keep their administrative expenses as low as possible in order to direct as many resources as possible to the classroom.

Mr. Hancock: Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker. The question is inappropriately directed to the Government House Leader. It's not within my purview, but I will answer the question. This government makes sure that all reports are made available at the most appropriate time, after thoughtful consideration has been put into them and responses, if necessary, have been prepared.

Mr. Hancock: Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker. This afternoon we will vote on third reading of the Appropriation Act, which will put some finality on this year's budget. It's totally inappropriate to make any changes to a budget while it's in the House. You have to then refile the whole budget. I'm sure the President of the Treasury wouldn't want to do that. The hon. member ought to know through the two months of discussion we've had on the budget that the deficit that's projected for this year comes from the sustainability fund. The deficit that's projected for next year comes from the sustainability fund. When we balance the budget in a fiscal trajectory over the next three years, we will utilize that sustainability fund. It cannot be utilized twice.

Mr. Hancock: Mr. Speaker, in government one has to always look to the horizon while they're doing today. One cannot choose between planning for the future, preparing for the future, and working on the legislative framework for the future while they're struggling with the fiscal issues of the day. In the end there will be enough teachers in the classroom because it's the quality of teachers we have in this province which makes a difference, not the time in front of the students and not the number of students in front of the teacher.

Mr. Hancock: Well, first of all, Mr. Speaker, I don't think it's fair to say that parents who are trustees are not permitted to participate. Every individual, whether in an elected position, whether in this House or a on school board or at a municipal council, has to make a decision as to whether or not they are in a conflict of interest. I think the rules are pretty clear on conflict of interest, that it's a direct pecuniary interest, and if you have a direct pecuniary interest, you should withdraw from the discussion and the vote. However, boards should be able to arrange their affairs so that's not on broad issues like a budget but on very narrow issues relative . . .

Mr. Hancock: Well, Mr. Speaker, I don't think it's fair to say that GSACRD has refused to provide a program. They've met with the parents, and we've met with them to ensure that they understand that as a public board they have an obligation to provide a secular program. They're now in the process at our request of doing a census of parents in the area to determine what the need or demand for a secular program is.

Mr. Hancock: Mr. Speaker, the premise is wrong. This PC government has not failed Alberta students. In fact, this PC government has been the government for a period of time in which Alberta has moved to among the best in the world in education. Although we have a tough fiscal time like everybody else in the world, we're moving through that fiscal time in a prudent way, and we're asking school boards to work with us using their operating surpluses, looking at all of their programs and making sure that the Alberta education system, which is among the best in the world today, will be among the best in the world tomorrow.

This replacement of our existing School Act updates the legislative framework that shapes and guides our province's education system from early childhood through high school.

You may ask, why a new Education Act now? After all, there's arguably little wrong with the School Act - that framework has served us well. However, I don't believe the work of government is simply about solving problems when they arise; it's about anticipating challenges and opportunities and preparing for them ahead of time.

Wayne Gretzky put it quite well when he said that he was a great hockey player because he skated not to where the puck is, but to where it's going to be.

The Speaker: Well, that's quite speculative, but go forward.

Mr. Hancock: It is, indeed, Mr. Speaker, quite speculative.

In fact, because of the impact of the fiscal strategies and the planning of this government this province is going to be leading this North American continent out of the recession. The prospects are already good. We're hearing about shortages of workers already. So next year is going to be a much better year. But it's always prudent for school boards and anyone else who is managing public money to be looking at what they're doing to determine whether we're getting value for it, and there's no better time to do it than when fiscal times are tight.