Kevin A. Menicoche

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. As I indicated, there is good support for junior kindergarten in the small communities. I’m very pleased that in the first year of the program it will be in the small communities, and we’re looking forward to that and looking forward with the inclusion and a plan to include and have more early childhood education workers to support the junior kindergarten program. However, like I said, the way the motion reads is government don’t do it unless. You have to do it before the program is implemented. When it reads that way it has implications for my communities. I...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to second this motion. Residents in my communities are supportive of junior kindergarten, and the more and more I learn about how we’re going to implement and the need for early childhood education workers is a critical component of junior kindergarten. Right now, I don’t know how many early childhood education workers we have that we can integrate into the Junior Kindergarten Program, and that’s what this motion speaks about, about getting them involved, getting them involved early. There’s something to be said about teachers not being prepared...

I know that when it comes to replacing health facilities, we’ve got standard plans for type B, C facilities, et cetera. Is that something similar the Minister of Education and his department is working on, template schools for our small communities, because I think what will really help is moving forward. Yes, we’re doing planning studies, but we also need, I think, Class D estimates. We need to know the ballpark figure we’re working with so we can get it accelerated in our capital planning processes because these schools need replacing right away.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Education. Just a follow-up on my Member’s statement.

I have been asking for a new school in Trout Lake for the past 10 years and the Minister said he’s in Cabinet Thursday. Will he raise that as well? When will the education priority of small communities be heard? We need new schools and new gymnasiums in the small communities. When will the government be doing that?

Thank you very much. I’m done.

Thank you. I think he said no. Okay. Can he explain – that is such a significant $30 million adjustment to the 2013-14 budget – how we can be under?

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I know it’s a pretty significant budget at $30 million and I think the term mini-budget is usually termed when you have some such large expenditures. Of course, they are largely unforeseen. I can certainly concur with that.

I have a couple of questions. Firstly, are any of these from the supplementary appropriation list of $30 million, is any of that included in the base going forward into 2014-15 fiscal year at all?

Just one more quick thing. I know that Mr. Bromley’s intentions about getting qualified early childhood education workers is well intended, but at the same time it is a need in the small communities, and once again, the wording is just so bad it’s restrictive to the small communities in getting them started. I cannot support the amendment to the amendment.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honorable Member for Sahtu, that Motion 13-17(5) be amended by deleting the words “before the program is implemented” from the first paragraph of the resolution portion of the motion. Mahsi.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Is that something similar to what Human Resources is doing with the Regional Recruitment Strategy? Is that what the Department of Health and Social Services is looking at right now?