Jackson Lafferty

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. Definitely, by all means we will be through standing committee and also the capital planning process with all of these requests from MLAs and this will be one of them.

The Sahtu region is going to be very busy, as we know. We are closely monitoring their situation. We’re working very closely with the leadership. They were here today, as well, touring the Legislative Assembly. They had various meetings and I did have a chat with them as well. They want to have future meetings regarding various initiatives that are happening in the Sahtu region.

The child care in Norman Wells is...

Yes, Mr. Chair, I do have witnesses.

I agree with the Member that investing in our children is a priority of this government and we must continue to drive that forward. With respect to the capital planning process, we are still going through the process itself on an annual basis. We provide that information through the capital planning process and we will continue to do so. Next year, the following year, we have two years in our terms, and we will continue to push that forward with respect to the centres in the Northwest Territories.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Throughout the Northwest Territories we have child care centres and also daycare establishments, and throughout Yellowknife as well. At the same time, there is always room for improvement, as well, within my department. We’re always exploring ways of improving, whether it be the facility, whether it be changing the policies or programming. We’ve done that in the past where we’ve provided funding to the daycare establishment, where we pay for part of the mortgage and part of the operation cost as well. We will continue to make those changes that will reflect and be a...

Yes, Mr. Chair, we will provide that detailed information.

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. Just going through these binders that we have, we don’t have the specific daycare establishments or the actual numbers, but we can provide that to Members.

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. I have to my left, Dana Heide. He is the associate deputy minister with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. We have Tammy Allison, who is the coordinator of capital planning within ECE. Mahsi.

We have been gathering information or doing our research, especially with respect to Quebec, the daycare, the $7 daycare a day, and also just recently, 2013-2014, they are beginning their junior kindergarten. Those are some of the things that we are monitoring, and we are moving forward within our own initiatives, as well, and then we will provide that information to the Members, that research that we’ve done throughout the other jurisdictions as well.

I don’t have those exact details, dates and times for establishment of those facilities, but I will provide that to the Members.

Again, with the Early Childhood Development Framework, we’ve engaged the general public, the educators, the daycare workers, on what’s required, what’s needed. That is just some of the feedback we received through my department and also Health and Social Services, Again, as we move forward, those are some of the discussions that we will be starting to implement, along with the support or guidance of the standing committee as we move forward.

Mr. Chair, we will provide the recent and most detailed information on the child care facilities at the present time and also what our plan is as we move forward, the short-term and long-term plans as well. Mahsi.