Statements in Debates
Thanks, Mr. Chair. That is a concern of mine. It is the process as well, then, as to who was consulted in preparation of the bill, and I think it would have been more helpful if there had been opportunities for the public to express some views on this, but I understand the department is in a rush to get this done. Can someone tell me whether this is a requirement for the operation of MTS, or is this just the preferred option for the department? MTS could go off and continue to operate, but this revolving fund is not a requirement for the operations? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I, too, would like to recognize a constituent, Yvonne Quick, who is here on behalf of the Yellowknife Seniors' Society today. I also want to recognize her years of volunteer work on behalf of the Northern Frontier Visitors' Association. Merci, Mr. Speaker.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I sit on the economic development and environment committee, and I do have concerns with the bill. In fact, I most likely will be voting against it. My concerns really revolve around a couple of areas. First off, I do not believe that this is a requirement for Marine Transportation Services to operate; and secondly, I am concerned about the purpose of the revolving fund, and what it covers and what it doesn't cover. Lastly, I also believe that setting this up as a revolving fund will limit the ability of Regular MLAs to have oversight on capital acquisitions of marine...
Thanks, Mr. Chair. So the carryover from last year is, if I get this right, $126 million. How does that compare with previous years and is there any overall explanation there? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I am a little bit curious about this $250,000 for community engagement and Indigenous consultation. Are resources going to be provided to NGOs or communities to allow them to hire their own expertise or better engage in this process? It sounds like it is going to be a highly technical legalistic process of drafting this new legislation, so if there are any details on what that funding will actually be used for that, you know, whether the Minister has that at his fingertips or would commit to provide it soon? Either way is fine. Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Does the Minister have any sense of how long taking a look at it is going to take? Is this something that his department is prepared to give us in a week or two, or how long would it take to have the work done? I think it is plugging a few numbers into some formulas and getting calculations out the other end and comparing it to what it would be without JK. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. When does the Minister think he will be able to get back to the Regular MLAs on the availability on the contract being shared with us? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I will try this one more time. I will try to make it as easy as I can. I went quickly through the 2017 school funding framework. I have identified the specific formulas that do not include junior kindergarten and they are as follows:
i. Administration staffing
iii. District education authority O and M
iii. School support consultants
iv. School counselling
v. School secretaries
vi. Custodians
iv. Support assistance
vi. Staff development
vii. Specialized learning materials, assistive technologies
x. Healing and counselling
i. Aboriginal language O and M
ii. Education assistance and...
Thanks, Mr. Chair. The Minister's statement refers to an agreement with the John Howard Society. Is this like a letter of intent, or has an actual contract been signed? What's the status of this arrangement? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am not sure that actually responded to the question. I am wondering: can I get the commitment from the Minister of the department to plug in their projections of JK students and run them through these formulae, where the formulae start at kindergarten, add in JK, and provide those cost estimates for the additional funding that would be required to fully fund JK? Is the Minister committed to provide that information? Thank you, Mr. Chair.