Charles Dent

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it would take more money in the capital plan. That’s what it would take. It’s fairly simple. So if we win the argument with the federal government, if we are successful at pressing home that we need resource revenue sharing, that we need a reasonable deal with Ottawa, then we have a chance to do that. But this is an issue that’s important not just to Inuvik. We have other communities that within the next couple of years, are going to lose the space that their childcare centres are in and they don’t have new schools planned. So this is a pressing issue...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think that it makes tremendous good sense to have childcare centres in schools. It’s something that I think in the long run we need to try and move towards. That said, I think Members around this table know that we are hard pressed even to live up to the requirements in our current capital plan. We have schools that have to be replaced because their foundations are in trouble. We have other capital programs that we can’t deliver on. It’s not a question of talking to the Minister responsible for Public Works. We need to find -- and it comes back to what I was saying...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The importance of trained childcare workers can’t be understated. It is an area that we need to concentrate on. Aurora College has an ongoing program of training. They offer continuous courses through either distance education or by workshop every year to help people achieve their certificate. There are going to be four courses offered this winter to help people across the North get closer to achieving their certificate, and the college will continue to offer that kind of programming. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In response to Mr. Ramsay in February, I did indicate that the department was willing to talk to day care operators about the inequities in the subsidies. The instructions to the department were to ensure that discussion took place with operators when they were discussing the new regulations that we have been working on. I expect to have some results from that here very shortly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The government believes that this policy could be brought into place. So the affirmative action policy fairly quickly and it could happen during the life of this Assembly, depending on how our discussions go with Members and other stakeholders. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The government has completed quite a bit of work on this and has some ideas for how to move forward with employment equity. We are at the point now where we are ready to discuss it with Members of the Legislative Assembly and the standing committees and then see if there is a willingness to move forward. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The intention, now that we have the curriculum and as soon as we can find the money or identify the funding to offer this program, is to offer the program in various locations on a rotating basis. So it isn’t going to be offered every year in every community. We don’t think that there would be enough uptake to be able to do that. We want to make sure we have the critical mass of students and instructors. We are only planning to offer it in one community for two years and then move it around the North in that way to make sure that everybody has access to it. Thank...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is an area that is extremely important to our department. As the Member pointed out in his statement, we have brought in a directive requiring schools to use the aboriginal language and culture funding for that purpose. We know that some schools are having trouble finding enough qualified instructors, so we have expanded the program. The program design work has been done so that the curriculum now goes for two full years. I would allow it to be a certificate program. It could be brought in. So we are ready to move to that. But, Mr. Speaker, at this point...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m not sure that you can say that the budget is big enough if it’s been planned already without that space there. The community has been involved intimately in the plans for the school. The space has been set aside for it, but there is a requirement for the community to get involved. It’s worth pointing out that the community itself has a number of options right now. The municipality will have access to gas tax funds, MRIF funds, and improved capital funding that my colleague, the Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs, spoke about just last week...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d be happy to work with Members to identify ways in which we can improve our support. As I said earlier, I have already got the plans for an improved subsidy. I would dearly love to be able to offer improved capital grants to operators, but that’s going to take more money that this government doesn’t have. We need to find ways to improve our income as a government in order to be able to get those subsidies to people in the North. I’m quite prepared to work with Members and to see if we can find ways to achieve betterment. Thank you.