Wendy Bisaro

Thanks to the Premier for clarifying that. It doesn’t make me happy, however. We are now targeting regional centres’ education authorities and Yellowknife education authorities in a second year for a program which presumably is fully funded in this first year. We have 23 communities now ongoing for Junior Kindergarten. We had reductions from education authorities to fund the first year and the reduction in the second year was supposed to fund the second year, from what I understand.

The other concern that I have is that this funding is only coming from authorities who have schools greater than...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that consideration of Tabled Document 115-17(5), Northwest Territories Capital Estimates 2015-2106, be now concluded and that Tabled Document 115-17(5) be reported and recommended as ready for further consideration in formal session through the form of an appropriation bill.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize two members of Yellowknife Education District No. 1, if they are still up there behind me, Mr. Al Cook and Ms. Heather Clarke. There were here earlier. Welcome to the Assembly. I’d also like to recognize two Pages who are here today from Range Lake North School, but they live in the riding of Frame Lake, Brian Johnston and Elijah Lange.

Thanks to Mr. Aumond. So there is no revenue anywhere. Like, the funding that we got from the federal government for devolution, was any of that for these capital assets? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yellowknife has a great legacy of mining. The city is here because of mining, particularly gold mines. With the two mines in our city limits now closed, we’ve been gifted with one huge liability at the Giant Mine site, and after the mine’s abandonment by Royal Oak Mines, the federal government took over responsibility for cleanup and remediation of that site. Their proposed remediation plan didn’t really address the problem. Not surprising, when the planners were thousands of miles away and the threat not in their backyard. But it is in our backyard and today I want to...

Thanks to Mr. Aumond for the explanation. It’s very clear, but again, it confuses me. Why do we not transfer what we’re going to be spending? Why not transfer the other devolution money, the $3.7 million from our devolution money, in the year in which it’s going to be spent? Thank you.

One last question. The Minister mentions that it’s a design/build project. It’s a set price. I have great difficulty with these statements for many projects where it’s a set price. I have to ask, if it’s a set price, why are we having to eat the interest cost? Thank you.

I know the Minister said that they knew early on, but I think again this is a situation where Regular Members weren’t advised and if we were advised, it certainly wasn’t spelled out to us that this was going to be coming at us later down the line. The department may have known, the Minister may have known, but I don’t think Regular Members were advised and told this contract is in flux, we’re going to be coming back at you probably at some point in time to ask for a change in how we’re cash-flowing the money. I certainly don’t remember that we got that kind of a firm explanation of the need to...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just want to make the same comment on this page that I made yesterday in talking about the operations expenditures. These projects have been completed and yet we are only now being asked to appropriate the funds. I won’t say more than that, but we have violated, I guess, for lack of a better word, a policy that we have as a government, that we don’t spend money until it has gone through an appropriation in this House, and all three of these projects are completed at this point and yet the money is only just now being approved. Just a comment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table a document from the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, “Projected Funded Pupil-Teacher Ratio (PTR) Based on September 2013 Enrolment Data.” Thank you.