Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just to the motion here now, I will be supporting it, but I don’t see why we need to support the existing daycare facilities. I’m not sure if the mover of the motion would be able to amend this, but the real problem that I see is in the small communities… I know in a lot of the tax-based communities like Yellowknife, Inuvik and Hay River it’s not an issue when it comes to daycare because you have the numbers of children to fill those buildings, but in the small communities you’re constantly losing money when you’re running a daycare because you might have one or two children in that facility yet you have to have at least two people to watch them. I’ve seen in the past, well, I’ll just use Tsiigehtchic for an example. Almost half of the children that are in the daycare program are children of the people that are running it. It’s a challenge, I know from past experience. In other communities, I know it’s really successful in Fort McPherson. We have in the neighbourhood of 10 to 20 people going to the Head Start program, actually, and that’s very successful and the people that run it are doing a great job there.
I think that we need to work with a lot of the communities that are having difficulties. As I’ve said, again, the cost of operating these facilities, I know it’s a big challenge for some of the communities. There are discussions of junior kindergarten, but you can’t put a price on these children. These children need a good education. We’ve seen it in the numbers that we get under education. All the presentations we get in committee, it’s very clear that we need to do something better and putting our children to school earlier, that’s what we need to do, so I don’t think we should be putting a price on that. With that, I’ll be supporting the motion.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. To the motion. Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much. It’s kind of like a big community motion built on using the word small communities, but I am going to support it, but only because it’s a recommendation at this point. Of course, committee will be wanting to have full discussion with government on it and I will look forward to further details as we move along on this motion.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. To the motion. Minister Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Chairman. I would like to thank the Members for highlighting this as one of the priorities of this government.
These 10 communities that the Member is referring to, the one that that has been highlighted, this will obviously provide child care programming into these 10 communities that we currently don’t have any licenced programming, licenced early childhood programming. So we are capturing those 10 communities.
Part of the discussion I’m hearing is that we’re not providing or supporting these daycares in the communities. We are currently providing subsidies to these daycare operators in the Northwest Territories and currently delivering existing funding. I will just capture some of them. It is a start-up contribution, $340 per infant as a start-up cost for these infants for these daycare operators. Operations and maintenance funding is another one. Minor health and safety contribution, up to $10,000 per year that these operators can access. We also cover rent or mortgage up to 25 percent annually. There is also a Small Communities Initiative of $15,000 per year. The list goes on with the subsidies.
My department is willing to work with all the daycare and child care operators. That is what we have done in the past, will continue to provide those supporting mechanisms and we will continue to provide the support.
This is obviously direction to this government and we are currently delivering and providing those support mechanisms in place already and we will be capturing those 10 communities for early child programming. We are currently delivering it, we will be. So, Mr. Chairman, Cabinet colleagues will not be supporting this initiative at this point. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. To the motion. Minister Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just a number of brief financial comments. The number that I have heard for universal daycares is somewhere in the neighborhood of $42 million in new money. This motion talks about reallocating existing resources. I would point out that junior daycare is reallocating existing resources and I hear, especially from the Yellowknife MLAs’ considerable heartburn, that in fact the reallocation has been done and the government should pay for everything. So, it is the issue of affordability, and we want both, we want both the daycare and junior kindergarten. I don’t know how you would propose to fund that, knowing that reallocation of resources has already been done on the junior daycare. This is a motion that has significant implications. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger.
Question has been called. The Member has asked for a recorded vote. All those in favour, please stand.
Mr. Yakeleya, Mr. Menicoche, Mr. Blake, Mr. Bouchard, Mr. Hawkins, Ms. Bisaro, Mr. Moses.
All those opposed, please stand.
Mr. Beaulieu, Mr. Abernethy, Mr. Miltenberger, Mr. McLeod – Yellowknife South, Mr. Lafferty, Mr. Ramsay, Mr. McLeod – Inuvik Twin Lakes.
The results of the recorded vote: seven for, seven opposed; a tie. In this case, colleagues, my vote as Chair is against the motion in order to retain status quo and provoke further debate. The motion is defeated.
--Defeated
Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that we report progress.
---Carried
Good evening. Can I have the report of Committee of the Whole, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Your committee has been considering Tabled Document 22-17(5), Northwest Territories Main Estimates 2014-2015, and would like to report progress. Mr. Speaker, I move that the report of Committee of the Whole be concurred with. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Do I have a seconder? Mrs. Groenewegen.
---Carried
Orders of the day for Thursday, February 27, 2014, at 1:30 p.m.:
Prayer
Ministers’ Statements
Members’ Statements
Reports of Standing and Special Committees
Returns to Oral Questions
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Acknowledgements
Oral Questions
Written Questions
Returns to Written Questions
Replies to Opening Address
Petitions
Reports of Committees on the Review of Bills
Tabling of Documents
Notices of Motion
Notices of Motion for First Reading of Bills
Motions
Motion 12-17(5), Extended Adjournment of the House to March 3, 2014
First Reading of Bills
Bill 13, Devolution Measures Act
Bill 14, Waters Act
Second Reading of Bills
Bill 12, Northern Employee Benefits Services Pension Plan Act
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Tabled Document 4-17(5), Northwest Territories Electoral Boundaries Commission 2013 Final Report
Tabled Document 22-17(5), Northwest Territories Main Estimates 2014-2015
Bill 5, An Act to Amend the Motor Vehicles Act
Bill 10, Northwest Territories Lands Act
Bill 11, Petroleum Resources Act
Committee Report 2-17(5), Report on the Review of the 2012-2013 Public Accounts
Report of Committee of the Whole
Third Reading of Bills
Orders of the Day
Thank you, Madam Clerk. Accordingly, this House stands adjourned until Thursday, February 27th, at 1:30 p.m.
---ADJOURNMENT
The House adjourned at 8:28 p.m.
