Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, we are still in the cost of living section. I move that Tabled Document 419-18(2), Proposed Mandate of the Government of the Northwest Territories, 2016-2019 (Revised) be amended on page 23 by inserting the words "creating an action plan for a phased-in approach to making childcare more accessible and affordable." Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Ms. Green. There is a motion on the floor and has been distributed. The motion is in order. Ms. Green.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, our original mandate document called on the government to create a plan to provide for universal child care in the Northwest Territories. The intention there was not necessarily to look for the funding to implement universal child care within the life of this Assembly, but to ensure that there was a plan in place in the event that there was money available to implement universal child care. As it turns out, the new federal government does have money to create 40,000 new spaces for child care in Canada over the next ten years. What we need is a plan so that when the bilateral negotiations finish, and this money begins to flow, we have a solid understanding of where we need to improve accessibility and affordability of child care by creating this plan. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Ms. Green. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Earlier in general comments, I neglected to say that I actually support most of the changes that are going to come forward. This is one, though, that I think the public deserves to know more about. This is a fundamental change in the document, in the mandate, that was tailored by Cabinet about what we are going to do about child care. The original mandate document reads "implementing universal and affordable child care." The version that has been tabled by Cabinet reads "making child care available and affordable." The words "universal" have been taken out. All along, I have objected to this change, and certainly back in December of 2015, when we were collectively putting forward our own individual priorities, I said that children, and more specifically child care, was one of the three priorities that I felt that we should be working together on.
Where that arose from was the work of the 17th Assembly. In December of 2013, there was a motion that was passed unanimously in the House that called for a feasibility study to be done on child care. That work was done by the University of Toronto. It was a well-researched document, and it said that if we were to implement universal child care here in the Northwest Territories along the lines of a Quebec model, it would cost us $20 million a year. There are additional benefits as well that would result in increased GDP of $16 million or more, increased labour income in excess of $15 million. It would create about 200 new jobs, increase female participation in the work force, increase tax revenue, and decrease social assistance. That's the kind of benefits we could get with universal child care. We are moving away from that, and I think the public deserves to know this, and we should be transparent and open about it.
I will support the motion that is here because at least we will end up with an action plan. It is not clear to me, though, how we would actually ever measure something like making child care more accessible and affordable. What does that really mean? I guess I have been on record saying, I believe this is a broken promise on the part of our government, something that I do not support, a moving away from universal child care. I would like to know from my Cabinet colleagues, why they are backing away from this commitment for universal child care? Is it too expensive? Are there other commitments that are a higher priority? I would like to start with that, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. To the motion. Mr. Testart.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to ask for a recorded vote. Thank you.
Recorded vote
Thank you, Mr. Testart. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. A recorded vote has been requested. All those in favour, please stand.
Ms. Green, Mr. Nadli, Mr. Nakimayak, Mr. Moses, Ms. Cochrane, Mr. Abernethy, Mr. McLeod - Yellowknife South, Mr. McLeod - Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. Schumann, Mr. Sebert, Mr. Blake, Mr. McNeely, Mr. Vanthuyne, Mr. Testart, Mr. Beaulieu, Mr. Thompson, and Mr. O'Reilly.
All those opposed, please stand. All those abstaining, please stand. The results of the recorded vote: 17 in favour, zero opposed, zero abstentions. The motion is carried.
---Carried
Ms. Green.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Our final amendment is on page 27 in the section Community Wellness and Safety. I move that Tabled Document 419-18(2), Proposed Mandate of the Government of the Northwest Territories, 2016-2019 (Revised), be amended on page 27 by deleting the words "we will continue to work collaboratively to reduce poverty in the NWT by funding community-based partners, convening meetings of stakeholders, finalizing indicators that allow performance to be assessed, and developing additional options for action" and inserting the words "we will continue to work collaboratively to reduce poverty in the NWT by funding community-based partners, convening meetings of stakeholders, finalizing indicators that allow performance to be assessed, collecting information from these indicators into an annual report, developing additional options for action, and ensuring continuous quality improvement to the administration of the anti-poverty fund based on evaluation results." Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Ms. Green. There is a motion on the floor. The motion has been distributed. The motion is in order. To the motion? Ms. Green.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The effect of this motion is to make the wording in this particular bullet more specific since the mandate was passed in March of last year. There have been two roundtables convened, and there has been some progress in identifying performance measures for reducing poverty. It is my understanding that at the next roundtable in November, there will be a type of report available to participants that will show what progress has been made on these indicators. This is one area where fighting poverty is something that we all aspire to, but making progress is something that we need to measure. The government has invested significant money into this area in a number of different ways. It is not only in the anti-poverty fund, but in the child tax credit, and the increase to the seniors' benefit.
We need to know whether this is making progress on people who are living on low income, and by selecting and reporting on indicators, we will be able to do that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Ms. Green. To the motion. Mr. Testart.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to request for a recorded vote. Thank you.
Recorded vote
Thank you, Mr. Testart. To the motion?
Question.
Question has been called. A recorded vote has been requested. All those in favour, please stand.
Ms. Green, Mr. Nadli, Mr. Nakimayak, Mr. Moses, Ms. Cochrane, Mr. Abernethy, Mr. McLeod - Yellowknife South, Mr. McLeod - Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. Schumann, Mr. Sebert, Mr. Blake, Mr. McNeely, Mr. Vanthuyne, Mr. Testart, Mr. Beaulieu, Mr. Thompson, and Mr. O'Reilly.
All those opposed, please stand. All those abstaining, please stand.
The results of the recorded vote are 17 in favour, zero opposed, zero abstentions.
---Carried
Thank you, committee. I was going to congratulate our clerk here on her TV debut, but I think you have been pre-empted by bingo already. Anything further? Seeing nothing, does committee agree that consideration of Tabled Document 419-18(2) and Committee Report 12-18(2) are concluded?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Tabled Document 419-18(2) and Committee Report 12-18(2) are concluded. What is the wish of committee? Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that the chair rise and report progress.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. There is a motion on the floor to report progress. The motion is in order and non-debatable. All those in favour? All those opposed.
---Carried
I will now rise and report progress.
Mr. Speaker, you committee has been considering Tabled Document 419-18(2) Proposed Mandate of the Government of the Northwest Territories; and Committee Report 12-18(2), Standing Committee on Priorities and Planning Report on the Progress Review of the Mandate of the Government of the Northwest Territories, 2016-2019. I would like to report progress with five motions being adopted, and that Tabled Document 419-18(2) and Committee Report 12-18(2) are concluded. Mr. Speaker, I move that the report of the Committee of the Whole be concurred with.
Do I have a seconder? The Member for Kam Lake. The motion is in order. All those in favour? All those opposed?
---Carried
The Member has requested a recorded vote. The motion is in order.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour, please stand.
The Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, the Member for Hay River South, the Member for Thebacha, the Member for Hay River North, the Member for Mackenzie Delta, the Member for Sahtu, the Member for Yellowknife North, the Member for Kam Lake, the Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh, the Member for Nahendeh, the Member for Frame Lake, the Member for Yellowknife Centre, the Member for Deh Cho, the Member for Nunakput, the Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, the Member for Range Lake, the Member for Great Slave, the Member for Yellowknife South.
All those opposed, please stand. All those abstaining, please stand.
The results of the votes: 18 in favour, zero against, zero abstentions.
---Carried
Bill 27 has had its third reading.
Colleagues, I would like to thank the Pages who have joined us in the Chamber during this sitting, the interpreters who have been with us each day, and the contractors who have contributed to the success of this sitting as well. We appreciate the hard work and dedication that you show each day.
Today, we will conclude the second session of the 18th Legislative Assembly. The third session is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, October 19, 2017. Before we conclude, I would like to take this opportunity to remind everybody that the Mid-term Review Committee will gather in this Chamber tomorrow, October 5th, at 9:00 a.m. to commence the mid-term review.
Early in the life of this Assembly, we, as Members, committed to hold a public mid-term review in an effort to demonstrate our shared commitment to greater transparency and accountability. Our standing committee on rules and procedures has considered the matter and recommended a process which has been agreed to by all Members of this House.
The proceedings of the Mid-term Review Committee will be televised live across the NWT on local community channels and direct-to-home satellite on the Bell and Shaw Direct networks. It will also be broadcast via Facebook live on the Legislative Assembly Facebook page and on CKLB Radio on Thursday evening from 7:30-9:30 p.m. The public and media are invited to observe the proceedings of the 18th Legislative Assembly's Mid-term Review Committee from the public gallery.
