Merci, Monsieur le President. It’s been almost six months since the signing of the federal territorial agreement promising $10 a day child care for parents across the Northwest Territories. In reviewing the issues of implementation and delivery of benefits, I regret to say that a lot of progress still needs to be made.
The biggest issues remain putting money in the hands of parents who continue to pay for child care after the deal was signed and creating enough spaces to meet demand. The rebate money has to flow through the child care providers to the parents, and that can only happen when providers opt in to the conditions of the program. The deadline for that opting in was April 15, and according to media reports and communication from parents and providers, there are still a lot of questions and uncertainties.
I will be asking the Minister for the status of service providers opting in and how he plans to deal with providers who have not.
A big decision point in whether or not providers opt in is the cap on increasing fees in the future to deal with increased costs. The Minister has confirmed there is a 2.3 percent ceiling or cap on cost increases providers can charge if they opt in, unless special approval is given for a higher increase. Even at the time of signing, we knew Canada was in for a period of inflation, and it’s now running at 6.7 per cent nationally, and 7.1 percent in Yellowknife. This agreement handcuffs our operators to increases 4 points below inflation, and I wonder why Cabinet agreed to such a cap.
Then there’s the question of creating additional spaces and the allowable use of the agreement funds. For operators, questions remain unanswered on whether funds can be applied to training and staff development, or to wage subsidies for marginallypaid workers. Crucially, can the funds be used to meet the costs of infrastructure that must be built if we are to expand capacity and access? $10 a day child care is meaningless if there are no spots available for care in all our communities. There are at least 10 communities that lack any child care at all, a huge handicap to the development of local economies as well.
I will have questions for the ECE minister on the status of this agreement and its implementation that lie ahead. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Members' statements. Member for Nahendeh.
