Jackson Lafferty

I did mention in this House that there is a business plan in process that will be underway after session concludes. That’s when we can start opening a discussion with the standing committee. I’m willing to meet with the standing committee and we will continue with our dialogue on how we can improve our program.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Range Lake, that Bill 15, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2009, be read for the first time. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Certainly this is one area we need more consultation with the general public. It will be, I guess, a bigger discussion that we need to have within this Legislative Assembly. We need to hear the input of the general public. We can certainly work towards that with the Members of the standing committee on how we can pursue that.

Certainly, as I stated, we are discussing this with various departments and within our own department and other departments as well, that we’re expecting to see some results based that we can certainly share with the standing committee after session. Probably, we’re hoping that before next session or springtime, or even at the earliest the summer, that we can certainly have a draft documentation saying that this is what we can probably pursue with and then share that with Members of the standing committee.

Certainly that is one of our goals when we transfer the program, the one-stop shop that we’ve been talking about here in the Assembly. We continue to do so; provide various subsidies in a one-window approach. So we continue to improve in that area. However, if we can improve in certain areas, we’d like to hear from the Members as well. Certainly that will be one of our mandates to move forward, to have a one-stop approach.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. There are different pots of funding that we provide to daycare establishments, whether it be for profit or not-for-profit organization. I can certainly share that information with the Members on the criteria of the funding. I don’t have that information with me right now, but I can certainly provide the detailed information on the program, the criteria, the funding distribution to the organizations.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I am pleased to announce new services from the Department of Justice to help families in transition. These services are the first steps in longer-term project design to create an effective and accessible family law framework for more choices for families.

For many people, the court system works well, but it’s only one option. It can be expensive and time consuming. As Members know, mediation offers parents an alternative. They talk to each other, work out their issues, like where the kid will live, visitation, financial support and how they will continue...

Our goal is definitely to look out for the children at hand. We want them to succeed at life. Certainly throughout the North that’s our goal, the primary goal; to look after those children and their well-being and so forth. Certainly this area that the Member is alluding to, we continue to have the discussion on again improving our program. On a going-forward basis, those are the discussions we will be having during the business planning process and having dialogue with the federal government and FMB on improving our programs.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The funding we do provide, the contribution agreements to the daycare centres are to cover the operation and maintenance costs and also the rental costs and the mortgage. Those are the expenses that we cover for ongoing daycare operations here in the Northwest Territories. We do continue to provide the funding and whether it be the capital or base plus, that is the area of discussion that we can certainly have.

As I stated earlier, wherever we can improve our program, we are always keeping our options open. We are always improving our programs. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

I believe the Member alluded to the Early Childhood Certification Program through Aurora College. We do certify them in that respect. Whether it be the legislation to, I’m not sure what the Member’s referring to, but certainly those are the areas we need to continue to discuss. I’d like to hear more feedback from the Member on where he’s going with this. Certainly we’re open to ideas and suggestions within our department. As I stated earlier, we will be going through our next phase of business planning process, so we continue to look for options from the Members.