David Krutko

Mr. Speaker, that is good news, but too bad that people aren’t hearing it outside of this building. I recommend to the Minister she puts out a press release on that good news story, because I think people are waiting to hear that. More importantly, Mr. Speaker, people are still having to have the lack of dental care in the region and also for the individuals who have taken it on themselves to bring their children to Yellowknife at their own cost to get them into the dental care system in Yellowknife. Is there a way that those people can be reimbursed for those costs associated with dental care...

Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Minister of Education.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have heard from several residents of the Inuvik region about the lack of dental care in the Inuvik region. Without essential service, children and young adults are going without.

Mr. Speaker, dental care is just as important as health care. Mr. Speaker, the lack of adequate services in the Inuvik region are having to have families and family members pay their own way to Yellowknife at their own expense for their children to deal with braces. They see the oral dentists here in Yellowknife, Mr. Speaker, but, more importantly, they are bearing the costs. Again, they are...

Moving on to page 10-14, Education, Culture and Employment, information item, directorate and administration, active positions. Agreed?

Agreed. With that, information item, page 10-8, Education, Culture and Employment, infrastructure investment summary, information item.

Minister of Education.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I do have a few issues in regard to the budget with this department and mostly in the area of the social program side in regard to income support, the housing supp program. I know that it’s being transferred back, but it does show up in your budget as money coming through CMHC. Again, the time it’s going to take to make this transition, I think that it’s important that we do try to implement it hopefully sooner than later.

But I do have concerns similar to my colleagues from the Sahtu and from the Nahendeh in regard to the whole policy development around income support and...

I, too, will be coming forward with a similar motion in regard to the community of Tsiigehtchic, because I believe that the community should have a high school teacher in the community. I think that if you’re going to deliver grades kindergarten to grade 9 and then also high school, you should have more than two teachers in a community. I think you can’t expect people to carry that large workload and, more importantly, expect to have quality education being provided in those communities. So, again, I will be bringing forward a similar motion dealing with the community of Tsiigehtchic. I think...

Mr. Devitt.