Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that consideration of Tabled Document 324-17(5), Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2015-16, be now concluded and that Tabled Document 324-17(5) be reported and recommended as ready for further consideration in formal session through the form of an appropriation bill. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess I can’t go there. When this report comes out, I’d like to ask the Minister, if it’s going to go to the 18th Assembly, will it be made public? Will it be available to the teachers’ union, the NWTTA? Will it be available to Members of this House, or is it simply going to be a report that is going to sit in the department? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that we report progress.

---Carried

In October of ’14, we were advised that the report would be completed in July of 2015, which gave the current 17th Assembly Members, particularly the Standing Committee on Social Programs, an opportunity to review that report.

I’d like to ask the Minister, when was it decided that this would be punted to the 18th Assembly? This is news to me. I had fully expected to see this report before the end of this Assembly. Thank you.

I think you got my question. What are the duties, I guess, of the safety representative in this small business of less than 20 employees? Mr. Dolynny is suggesting that it’s quite onerous. What is expected of this person? What’s in regulations that I, as a safety rep, am going to have to do at my workplace?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. About 12 months ago the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment promised, in this House, a review of the Junior Kindergarten program. Oh, that phrase sounds kind of familiar. Promised in this House. I’ve heard that before.

The Junior Kindergarten review was to be in done in July of 2015, and at the time of the announcement, I thought it was an ambitious timeline. Education, Culture and Employment has had a very full plate the last couple of years with Education Renewal Initiative and all the other reviews that they have been, and are, doing. But I took the Minister...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thanks to Mr. Grundy for the explanation. My other two questions have to do with Section 4 in the act, but it states or uses the term “work site” and I don’t see that defined, certainly in this act. It may be defined elsewhere but it is not defined in these amendments.

To the concern that Mr. Dolynny expressed about small businesses being impacted, could I get a definition of what a work site is? I don’t know if it is in regulations already or if the department knows what they intend a work site to be. Thank you.

The government mindset from the previous decade seems to still exist where the issue of services for disabled persons is concerned. The issue is still in that black hole. But it must be removed from that black hole. The decade of inaction has to be replaced with a commitment to action. We have 5,000 to 6,000 persons with disabilities in the NWT and about 50 percent of them are seniors. We have a half-finished action plan. We have residents who need better programs and services so they can lead a better life.

It’s not too late to act. This Assembly can send a message to the 18th Assembly. We can...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that we report progress.

---Carried

Thanks, Madam Chair, and thanks to the Minister for his comments. I’m really pleased to hear that the department is starting the discussion and is looking at ways to avoid us overspending our supplementary reserve by half as much as what it was in the first place. So, I’m glad to hear that. I was going to say any guess is going to be better than what we’ve got, but I guess an educated guess, a better educated guess is going to be I think better for us in the budget in the long run. So, just a comment. Thanks, Madam Chair.