R.J. Simpson

To my deputy minister, Ms. Mueller.

The evaluation of the funding formula will take place in the coming years. We just put this mandate out, and committee knows there has been a lot of back and forth. The policy shops and all the departments have been going full-tilt and haven't necessarily had a chance to lay out our plan for the next four years. That's what we're working on. We know what we want to do. How exactly we're going to do it, that's still being worked out, so I don't have the details of this funding formula, but it's going to take engagement, obviously. I have my own concerns with this. As a Member for four years, I...

Sure. Similar to the comments I made earlier today in the House, I am open to looking at that because I get calls from businesses all the time who are just doing their best to stay open and keep people employed, and sometimes this subsidy or the little bit of help they can get makes the difference between having to lay someone off and helping someone get to that next year, so we will do what we can. Thank you.

Thank you. Yes, that can be shared with standing committee. I think it likely has to be shared with the Cabinet, but not for decision, prior to going to standing committee, but I have no problem doing that. Thank you.

Thank you. We have a line that says "inclusive schooling," but that doesn't mean that all of our efforts related to inclusive schooling are contained in that line item. We talked about the child and youth care counsellors; we talked about the territorial support team; what we're doing with education renewal and innovation. All of that is related to this idea of inclusive schooling. As well, the mandate talks about renewing the Education Act, doing work to review inclusive schooling and address some of the issues that have emerged over the years. Virtually everything we do in education in the...

Thank you. The department doesn't really employ teachers; the teachers are employed by the education councils and education authorities, but we do teacher surveys. Perhaps for more detail I can go to Mr. MacDonald.

Thank you. I appreciate where the Member is coming from. In our modern world, everyone has cellphones. Everyone uses the Internet. It has become sort of a necessity of life. It has been recognized as such by multiple organizations. We do allow clients to use phones and the internet in the Income Assistance office. In this budget, though, we aren't contemplating adding a phone or Internet allowance. There has been some work done on that. Just looking at a basic phone plan and a basic Internet plan on your phone, we are pushing, I think, an additional $2 million or so is what it would cost...

Thank you, and I appreciate the Member's comments. Just this upcoming weekend is the K'amba Carnival in Hay River, so we talk about culture and language and arts, and it's very close to home. I appreciate the Member's comments, and I would love to see increases across the board in all of the great things that we do. We'll have those discussions over the next year about how we're going to allocate our funds. Thank you.

Thank you. The team does get out to communities. It does engage with students from all over the territory, in person; well, rather it engages with the principals and the teachers in person, by phone, over video chat. It's not just based in Yellowknife. What I'm saying is they don't do regular scheduled visits; it's not like, the third Wednesday of every month, they're in this community. The team doesn't work like that. It's referral-based, and these referrals are for assistance with students who have the highest needs in the territory. You know, a lot of students have needs. There is always a...

Correct, thank you.