Julie Green

Thank you to the Minister for that response. Can the Minister please tell us how she's going to make childcare more accessible and more affordable?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about the high cost and limited availability of licensed childcare in Yellowknife. For young families in Yellowknife, the cost of childcare is the second-largest household expense. Parents are paying $900 per month on average to have one child in full-time care. The other issue is availability. The Yellowknife daycare, for example, has a waiting list of 151 children. They have space for 100 children.

These are basic problems, and they exist in other NWT communities, as well. Childcare is unaffordable, even for parents with two good incomes...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with the information that I now have, I am satisfied the Minister has managed an effective solution to the stranded cargo for the High Arctic, which will not increase the expense to customers. Further, he has taken steps to be better prepared in the future by stockpiling fuel in the Arctic communities. Therefore, I will be voting against this motion.

I would like to ask the Minister why the mandate tracker says the commitment to creating an action plan on affordable and accessible daycare is fulfilled when we have a 100-person waiting list here in the Yellowknife daycare, and a month of daycare costs almost two weeks of minimum wages?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Can the Minister explain to us how spending the bulk of the federal contribution to childcare on professional development will make services more available and more affordable? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, for somebody who is hungry today, I'm not sure they're going to be thrilled that there's a whole-of-government response. That isn't going to meet any of their immediate needs. Not only that, many of the people who are hungry today have parents who are hungry, and grandparents who are hungry. There is a poverty trap where people are unable to exit to have enough to meet their needs to actually make a chance in their circumstances. Is the Minister aware of this problem, and what is he doing about it? Thank you.

I appreciate that response. The Minister said there is a presentation next week at the anti-poverty roundtable on the Federal Poverty Reduction Strategy. Can he not tell us what impact this strategy will have on the NWT, as apparently the analysis has been done?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The National Poverty Reduction Strategy challenges provinces and territories to do better and provides the opportunity for a partnership to assault poverty in the GNWT. It's time to establish a poverty measurement, set goals for poverty reduction, and make a commitment to tracking results over time. I will have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Mahsi.

Okay. Those are all my questions on this section. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the answer to that. It is interesting that this government took that approach, and the Alberta government decided that Canada needed to be specifically excluded from paying the tax. From the small amount of information that we have received, what the GNWT wants to do is save $250,000 a year by not paying the hotel tax in Yellowknife. Is that a correct summary? Thank you.