Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to echo some of the comments that have already been made. I want to first talk about the income security reform that’s been mentioned. I think we talked about it the other day, but I see this as a great opportunity to do things cross-departmentally. I was pleased to hear the Minister mention the Anti-Poverty Strategy and that that’s kind of in his sights, I guess, as they look at income security.

I look at the description from the business plans and it says that the department administers a range of programs addressing cost of living issues, encouraging...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I will speak to the recently awarded GNWT medical travel contract. Apart from the slap in the face that our local travel companies received as the contract was moved south, the decision has had a negative effect on our economy. A local northern small business will close its doors and three employees will be left without a job.

Mr. Speaker, as a government, we should be doing everything we can to encourage and increase our economy, not reduce it. In all likelihood, Mr. Speaker, as a direct result of this contract award, the NWT government will be losing revenue...

Thanks for that information. It’s good to hear that it sounds as though perhaps it is a better process than what we had before. I just wondered if the uptake has not been what we expected, whether or not the department has considered enhancing the advertising for this program and trying to make the general public more aware that the program is there, or even if it’s targeted advertising. That’s it.

Thanks to the Minister and I appreciate your commitment to look at it. I do want to just add that I know of at least one young person who couldn’t get into the Mine Training Society Underground Miner Program and has since moved to Manitoba. So we’ve lost our 22 or $25,000 annual payment for that young person.

I wanted to also ask a bit about the adult basic education programs that are run in pretty much all of our communities. We as Members did get a bit of a report from the Program Review Office quite a while ago, but it did have some telling information about adult basic education programs...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Minister. I appreciate that they try to respond to people but I guess, you know, as soon as possible, in my mind, if I have an appointment, I want to see my person at the appointed hour.

The Minister says that things are in the works. I’d like to know -- with a school year starting again, they want applications in by July of this summer coming up -- when can the Minister tell us that we will be able to see some of these revisions? When will there be some concrete action for us to look at?

I’m encouraged to hear that it’s going to be looked at. I’m a little disappointed that it hasn’t been looked at already, but something is better than nothing. I guess I want to impress upon the department how important it is that there be a stable source of funding for our daycares. That we’re doing an early childhood framework is a good thing. I think I mentioned that earlier. I’d like to know from the Minister -- either I have a poor memory or it hasn’t been mentioned yet -- when can we expect the results of the review of early childhood that is going to be happening or is happening now.

I thank the Minister for that response. I appreciate that the department is taking action. I would hope for a little bit more specific response.

I would like to talk a bit about the results of another question. This was a question asked about the usefulness of the student handbook. The answers there were very disturbing to me: 71 percent of the replies were negative; 32 percent of them said they never use it; 39 percent of the students said that it was somewhat useful. It seems to me that it’s obvious that a revision is needed. I’d ask the Minister what plans the department has to revise the...

That’s great. Thanks for the response and the clarification. I would like to ask some questions, as well, on early childhood and the funding of early childhood programs. I raised an issue a number of sessions ago, a while ago, as to how daycares and early childhood centres are funded. At the time, I got the impression from the Minister that there was going to be some change to the way that daycares are funded. I just would like to know a couple of things. The first thing is: what is the current method of funding for daycares that ECE provides?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It was announced by the Minister of Health and Social Services last week and we are now in the middle of the 6th annual Drop the Pop campaign.

Last year 84 percent of our schools enthusiastically took part in the program. Ecole William McDonald School in Frame Lake had planned to drop a fake pop machine off the roof of the school to prove that they had moved pop out of the school, but insurance concerns intervened and they had to cancel the event, much to the dismay of the students, I’m sure.

But it is time to expand the Drop the Pop campaign to include energy drinks, Mr...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, it was a little difficult to hear you. I have a couple of questions here. The first one has to do with the numbers on page 10-17 for education operations and development. That’s gone down considerably, from about $3.5 million to $2.6 million or so. Can I get an explanation as to why?