Charles Dent

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I had received an e-mail message from one of those groups suggesting that very thing. It is certainly something that could be considered. Typically the past practice of this in our government has been that pan-territorial organizations are consulted, but that doesn’t mean that other nominees can’t be considered. So, yes, I guess we could consider any nominee that comes in from the business community. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Certainly I will request the governance council to consider that situation or that position and ask that they, at their next meeting, consider it. Thanks.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I said earlier, this is not a draft policy at this point. It was adopted by the governance council in 2004 and I would point out that the governance council is made up of stakeholders from the people in the Northwest Territories. Business representatives, employer representatives, employee representatives make up the governance council. The answer to the direct question is, yes, I will make sure the Member and all Members get copies of the policy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At the time this case was taken to the courts and the policy that applied to the case goes back to before there was a clear policy in place from the WCB. The WCB has, since the Martin case in the Atlantic provinces in 2004, adopted a policy around chronic pain. What they have done since adopting that policy is direct their council to approach the courts to ensure that that policy is in compliance with the Charter and all court decisions. They have committed, at their most recent meeting, to revise the policy if anything is found wanting in it.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If there is a concern for safety for the children in those communities, then it is incumbent on the DEAs and the Tlicho Community Services Agency to deal with that issue. Either they need to work with parents to make sure that somebody is walking with the children to school to make sure that they are safe, or they need to find some way to provide that transportation. But, Mr. Speaker, all of the money that we have within the department for schooling goes to schools. We don’t keep any money available for other special projects. So right now, all of the money is...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department has no program for providing capital for buses to DECs. We provide money for transportation as part of the grant that we provide to DECs and agencies like the Tlicho Community Services Agency. It is up to those agencies to determine how transportation is provided. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the budget that has been considered in this House, there is no money that would be specifically allocated for that purpose. It is entirely up to the Tlicho Community Services Agency to determine if that is one of their priorities. If it is, then it is their responsibility to take the money out of their regular programming and put it into transportation. They have the right and the responsibility to do that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize a constituent of mine, Barb Wyness with the UNW, in the gallery.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have already committed to Mr. Ramsay that I will examine the situation. To put everybody on the same footing means that everybody gets the same subsidy. I only have a certain number of dollars to work with, so that may impact on what we can provide everybody. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If we are going to provide subsidies to one, we have to provide to subsidies to all if we want to make sure that there is equity. I think that there are only two ways to accomplish the equity, but I would certainly be happy to take a look at what we could do. I would be happy to put more money into child day care. I think that it is an area that we need to invest in. It is an area that I am planning to bring forward some investment plans in. I think we have to be careful. We are not just talking about profit or non-profit things here. All of the centres in the...