Julie Green

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday, the Minister provided a response to my written questions on the number of cases that were found to be unfounded on sexual assault. He indicated that a reclassification had reduced the number to 18.7. My question, first of all, is whether the Minister is going to direct the RCMP to reinvestigate or follow up with those cases? Thank you.

I think that was an invitation to join Cabinet. I will take it.

---Laughter

Mr. Speaker, the Standing Committee on Social Development was briefed on this RFP in January, and we flagged some problems at that time, which the department then ignored. They put out a completely unpalatable RFP, patently unpalatable. Nobody has bid on it. Is the Minister prepared to work with the Coalition Against Family Violence to revamp the revamp so that this program has someone who wants to offer it?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Justice. The department has advertised for a service provider for the revamped A New Day program, and, despite holding a bidders' conference and then revising the RFP, none of the non-profits have submitted a proposal. At least one that was approached directly declined to take the program on. What is the Minister's understanding of what the problem is here? Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My final question is whether the Minister will advocate at the FPT table for the RCMP to adopt this civilian oversight at the national level so it can be implemented everywhere that they serve. Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this month, some of the Yellowknife MLAs and I have met with the three school boards to hear their concerns, and it is a long list of concerns. Today, I want to highlight just one that is common to them all, and that is busing junior kindergarten students to school.

During the last session, the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment said his department was, "working with education authorities to ascertain the incremental costs of providing transportation for junior kindergarten students, and will be undertaking a review of the busing component of the...

We are talking about a great deal of money here in terms of busing in Yellowknife. We are talking about a combined total of $500,000 for Yellowknife Catholic Schools and YK1. This is not a small portion of anyone’s budget. What is the Minister going to do to offset that cost?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Mr. Speaker, information provided by the department indicates that busing for JK is not mandatory. Could I just confirm with the Minister that this information is correct? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to advise the Minister that the figures come from the school boards. That is where they come from. What I cannot get my head around is, if JK is a universal program, how can the Minister opt out of paying for it? Thank you.

I’d like to ask the Minister why busing is mandatory for other grades, but it’s not mandatory for JK.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. How is the Minister going to prevent family violence going forward? Thank you.