R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We I've stated before that the increase that is laid out in the contribution agreement is 2.3 percent, and if there are legitimate reasons why a business or a childcare centre needs to increase that, we're happy to have those discussions.

I think that a lot of the concerns that we're hearing are increases of 20 or 30 percent from programs that are already at the top end of what is being charged for childcare. So we are accommodating, but we're not accommodating increases that essentially wipe out a reduction in parent fees. Thank you.

Thank you. With us today we have Andrea Giesbrecht, director of labour, development, and standards with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment; and Ian Rennie, legislative counsel with the Department of Justice. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, twice a year we all adjust our clocks by one hour. First, we move them forward, and then we move them back. People have always questioned the wisdom of this annual tradition but in recent years a number of jurisdictions have taken concrete steps towards eliminating seasonal time change.

On Monday, April 4th, the Government of the Northwest Territories will begin a sixweek public engagement to help us determine when and how we will eliminate seasonal time changes. The public engagement will invite residents to share their views on seasonal time change through an online survey. The...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm here today to present Bill 39: An Act to Amend the PostSecondary Education Act.

The PostSecondary Education Act received assent on August 21st, 2019, and is not yet in force. The act creates a structure for recognizing postsecondary institutions within the Northwest Territories and will enable the transformation of Aurora College into a polytechnic university.

The bill seeks to amend the PostSecondary Education Act to address gaps or inconsistencies in the act that were identified during the ongoing drafting of the related regulations. As well, an opportunity was...

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that Bill 48: Arbitration Act, be read for the second time.

The bill repeals and replaces the existing Arbitration Act. The bill is based substantially on the Uniformed Arbitration Act adopted in 2016 by the Uniformed Law Conference Of Canada. The bill provides extensive and necessary updates to the law governing arbitration in the Northwest Territories, including provisions respecting:

The commencement and consolidation of arbitral proceedings;

The composition of arbitral tribunals and the appointment and removal of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So maybe a warning to the next Assembly: Don't ask for 22 different things if you don't have a plan to pay for them, because I agree, we need to focus our priorities; we need to ensure that we can pay for what we want.

All of you know, I often hear that we want more of this, we want more of this, more of this. But on the rare occasion, we do hear some suggestions on how we can increase our funds, our revenues. But for the most part, we hear, more, more, more.

So I thank the Member for raising this issue that we do need to to raise our revenue, do need to put a greater...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know the Member said that she wasn't quite sure who to direct it to. So I appreciate you putting that confidence in me that I could answer the question.

ECE is not a lead on any sort of a population growth strategy; however, we do lead the labour file and recognize there is a significant need for labour in the territory. It really is holding back a number of industries and holding us back from providing the level of service that we want. So there is a lot of effort going into this from the HR standpoint, and I know health is doing work in terms of HR. We are looking at...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And just to be clear about my previous answer, the federal government will make it take years for us to get the program that the Member's talking about. They have processes in place that they take immigration very seriously, and they have a very robust process that does take time. So even to we can't just transplant a program from the Yukon. There is a lot involved.

In terms of an immigration advisory council, we're not looking to establish something like that at this time; however, I understand what the Member is getting at. And right now, ECE and ITI are going out and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So we have a service desk already. It is not specific to Ukraine, but it can handle the calls and the requests for information. So anyone who wants to contact them by email can contact @email or by phone at 18554405450. Thank you.

Thank you. With us, we once again have Mr. Ian Rennie, legislative counsel with the Department of Justice; and Mr. Brad Patzer, assistant deputy minister, Attorney General of the Department of Justice. Thank you.