R.J. Simpson

Thank you. I don't have that information. We do try to track that. I can provide the information that we do have to committee. But I don't have it on hand here. But the Member makes a good point. That's important. Data collection is always difficult in all the areas that we do our work, which makes it difficult to design and evaluate programs. But we are getting better, and I believe we do have some information that the Member will find useful and we will share it with her. Thank you.

Yes, I do. Thank you, Madam Chair.

I am here to present the Department of Education, Culture and Employment’s main estimates for the fiscal year 20232024. Overall, the department's estimates propose an increase of approximately $24 million or 6.7 percent over the Main Estimates 20222023. These estimates support the mandate objectives while continuing to meet the GNWT's fiscal objectives to prioritize responsible and strategic spending.

Highlights of these proposed estimates include $16.9 million to support new initiatives. The amount is comprised of:

$10.326 million in additional federal...

Thank you. And the cost of fuel goes down and it goes up so it could go it could actually come down; we don't know that. It could continue to go up. I'm always the optimist I guess. And we wouldn't be coming back for a supplementary estimate. It would likely be funded from within as we did last time around. Thank you.

Thank you. And I know it's a different situation here in Yellowknife where the school boards predate the Government of the Northwest Territories and so they own their schools. It would be simpler if the government just oh no, sorry, not that school. You know what, maybe I'll just hand this over to Yellowknife's own Sam Shannon. Thank you.

Thank you. I don't think that a forprofit business can call themselves a nonprofit and then, you know, access funding as if they were a nonprofit. So that's not legal advice to the Member but that's my very basic understanding of it. Perhaps for some more information on this and how those two types of organizations are differentiated, I'll hand it to the deputy minister. Thank you.

Thank you. And I think that's probably the next section but I'm very well aware of that issue. I've spoken with the DEA chair about that. It's been raised by the leadership as well with me. So we'll continue those conversations, and we are going through the capital needs assessment process where all of the DEAs provide their requests for capital and then they make their way through the process. So we are working on that. But I'm happy to have further conversations. Thank you.

Thank you. The age will stay the same at 60 years old. The revamped income assistance program will be for persons ages 19 to 59 and then the seniors program is for everyone 60 plus. Thank you.

Thank you. And this number has been very stagnant. I don't know if it's changed for the last decade actually. I do know that when I was in school, there was no food anywhere. And now when I go and I tour schools, there is food all over the place. There's apples. When you walk in the door, there's sandwiches in coolers that students can go get. So there is a lot more food. This is one area where schools receive funding. There's also the Breakfast Club of Canada and there's a number of other organizations that all contribute. That being said, I agree that this is very important and I would love...

Thank you. So the way that we are distributing that, we look at how many staff are required under the regulations in a child care facility. And based on how many staff are required, which is based on the number of children and the age of the children that that facility cares for, we provide funding for each of those employees that are required. This year the funding is about or it is $12,750 for each of those employees. And next year will be just over $16,000. And I say for each of those employees, but this actually goes to the provider itself. It goes to the operator themselves, and then...

Thank you. So if someone a senior needs assistance with their seniors home heating and they run out of their seniors home heating subsidy, they can always apply for income assistance and there's the chance that they're they could be topped off. I've seen that a number of times. As an MLA, I've had a number of constituents who they used all of their senior home heating subsidy and income assistance was able to provide them support. I've had as Minister, I've seen that come across my desk from every region in the territory and for the most part, they're always provided with support. We don't...