R.J. Simpson

Thank you. I believe the grants were perhaps I'll ask the deputy minister. Thanks.

Thank you. Madam Chair, I'm here to present the Department of Education, Culture and Employment's main estimates for the fiscal year 20222023. Overall, the department's estimates propose an increase of $5.159 million, or 1.46 percent, over the 20212022 Main Estimates. These estimates support the mandate objectives while continuing to meet the GNWT’s fiscal objectives to prioritize responsible and strategic spending.

Highlights of these proposed estimates include forced growth funding of $778,000, including:

an additional $645,000 to address the increased demand on the senior citizen's...

Thank you. I don't have that level of detail with me.

Thank you. So through the capital process, we are looking at ways to enhance the ability of the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre to, you know, store and display art. There is not the level of federal funding that one might think available for things like this. It's actually quite limited. Generally, museums, art galleries are not 100 percent funded by a provincial or territorial government. Again, there's other avenues for funding and so we are exploring, you know, how to perhaps access some of those other avenues and how we can perhaps tie in with some other projects that might be...

Thank you. So that is related to the extension of the CanadaNWT agreement on early living and childcare, so not the Canadawide. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't have significant concerns about the transparency and accountability of the RCMP so I haven't had those types of conversations. That said, I do have regular conversations with the commanding officer of Gdivision; the department has regular conversations as well. So those conversations are ongoing. And noting the your comments earlier, I will keep this last remark brief. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. So the numbers in the budget are what's in the budget so there are no increases this year. That being said, the numbers in here don't represent the totality of the funding that heritage centres receive from the GNWT. ITI also provides funding to heritage centres. It's not specific for heritage centres but they can and have accessed to ITI funding a number of times to undertake capital upgrades to their facilities and whatnot. But the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre also provides inkind support. So, you know, we have staff from the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre...

Thank you. And perhaps I will hand it to the deputy minister for some more detail, but first I will say that we do fund the arts at the second highest level in Canada, after the Yukon. So we are providing some significant funding. But in terms of how we support a lot of the small artisans in the territory, which is what, you know, the territory is made up of, I can hand it to the deputy minister through you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. And I hear the Member's comments. I guess I have to say that we have focused on licensed childcare spaces even through our own programs and sometimes we do have to pick a lane and stick with it, and I think that our efforts are focused on licensed childcare centres, and supporting people who are providing childcare in a community without a licensed centre but as if they were a licensed centre. So, you know, there are babysitters in communities where you drop your kids off but they aren't licensed. And so when we learn about that, we do do our best to help them become licensed, and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There's varying levels of accountability. I know in jurisdictions in the United States, they elect their sheriffs and you could say that's the ultimate accountability. So we don't have a system like that but we are focusing on ensuring that the RCMP are taking steps to become more transparent and accountable to the public. And I mentioned my policing priorities. One of the other four is accountability and transparency. So I am focusing on this in response to, you know, concerns I've been hearing from people like the Member. Thank you.