Kate Reid

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister explain what part of the agreement with the federal government for affordable childcare doesn't allow larger operators for making financially sound decisions like growing reserve fund or modest salary increases for workers? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And, yeah, I guess I just wanted to dig a little deeper on that. I would have expected this might have been the Sahtu with the pressures they've been facing but it's interesting to hear it's across more regions than just that.

So for edging into close to $4 million, much like previous questions in our committee this afternoon, I'm curious what kind of budgeting estimates have been perhaps not been adequate for our needs and anticipating maybe inflationary pressures to see such an increase? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Hoorah, keep going. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yeah, no, I would appreciate seeing that if it could be provided as well as the costing around the additional lab work, x-rays, and travel that the Minister mentioned. It just seems like an awful lot of money for a short amount of time but perhaps with more information, I'll be able to understand that better. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Nothing further.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And thank you to the previous Member for asking for the substantiation on the TB outbreak. I'm curious how many staff were required for this expenditure. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, it's my understanding that from the conversations I'm having that $10 a day childcare helps families, but it seems to be hurting ELCC operators at the scale. So the issue is not so much that the wage ceiling as the Minister said in one of her earlier replies today. It's the funding that's allocated by the GNWT. So what I would like to know, Mr. Speaker -- and maybe I'll just try and put it more clearly -- is operators can't make up the difference due to caps on what they can charge families, the Minister mentioned fundraising, I believe. Is there any...

Okay, so the math is not mathing still for me because -- I'm happy that the Minister has explained that a little bit better; it helps me put things together, but I also understand that the pressures of operating such a large daycare, largest in the territory, mean that there are cost pressures that are not adequately being addressed under these parameters.

So, Mr. Speaker, is it possible for the Minister to amend the regulations to allow for different scale and scope of operators to exist in the territory noting that, of course, daycare looks different in Tsiigehtchic than it does in...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last year, on February 23rd, 2024, the Minister of ECE said that ECE is committed to providing sustainable funding to daycares and I am committed to the relationship with childcare providers in finding out what it is they need and how we can support one another. I do believe that statement is true. But there's another voice in the conversation which is that of the territory's largest childcare operator.

Mr. Speaker, last week I received a letter from the constituent who is also a board member of that operator. With their consent, I shared it with the Minister. They...

That's all right. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. On page 14, there is funding to support an increase in utility costs at 3.7, almost $3.8 million. I'm wondering if the Minister can speak to a substantiation on this noting which regions saw spikes. Thank you, Mr. Chair.