Caitlin Cleveland

Mr. Speaker, if I -- I guess the word I should have used instead of discrepancy was difference. I'm acknowledging that there is a difference between Alberta's regulations and our regulations and said to the Member that I would look into why that ability for Alberta to be different than us exists, and I am certainly committed to figuring this out. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, as I said, appreciate the Member's comment. As far as staffing that's not something that we, as Ministers, you know, ask for that to be moved around, but certainly the deputy minister and the assistant deputy minister are here as well. The positions do work to serve multiple communities. There are three early childhood consultants in Yellowknife, and they are responsible for visiting Tlicho communities and my understanding is they do visit frequently. And these are staff who help set up daycares, help set up day homes, and I understand through...

Thank you very much. Mr. Chair, I'm going to be very honest with you, I know the Member knows that, you know, there was asks today on the floor of the House for talks and conversations, and so without having committed to those conversations and without having had them to date, because I've been here in this House, you know, it's -- I don't think it's fair of me to fully answer that question. What I can say is that with the funding that we've been allocated by this House, and the funding that we've been allocated by the federal government and under the regulations of the agreement that we have...

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So when I sit down with education bodies, we always talk about this program every time I'm in front of them. This program is incredibly important to me, and I also see this program as a living program because as we change and as our demographic changes and as our student body changes over the years, the needs are very clearly going to change as well. So I think it's important that we continue to talk about this program and that it continue to evolve.

And so this year, we're working with education bodies to collect more detailed data on specific types of programs...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I've never used any of the words that the Member has just outlined, neither has the department, and I see day homes as a necessary and a very much well used aspect of our childcare sector in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at this point there's no specific plan to move staff around to regions. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So within the section the Member is speaking of, the only agreement with Canada is the one for the North Slave. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, every single school in the Northwest Territories participates in this program in one form or another. So if the Member wants further details, I'd be more than happy to share them.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, the wage gap does not have a ceiling. So it sets the minimum hourly; it does not set the maximum. What it does do, however, or what the whole program does do, is it stipulates what parents can charge to families, and so that's where we're running into an issue here. It also stipulates, as we explored yesterday, that parents can't charge, you know, like, a membership fee, for example, because that fee would then have to be deducted from the fee that parents are charged. So what can we do?

There is, you know, always the nuclear option which is...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the individual who would be my subject matter expert on that one is waiting in the dark little room to my right.