R.J. Simpson

Thank you. That would be ideal. That is what we would hope for, that we could have these supports in every community, or every region, at least, but the fact is that it's expensive. The cost of travel would be dwarfed by the cost of having these people in all of these regions. I'm not sure if that answers the question. We would love to, but it's not feasible at this point. Thank you.

Thank you. I agree. I want to make sure that we have the resources available to do that. Everyone knows what our fiscal situation is. Everyone knows how much is being committed to new initiatives. What the report of the auditor general says, and what the priorities of this Assembly say, and what the mandate of this government says is all the same thing essentially. It's mandating us to do what we do. The Department of Education, Culture and Employment is supposed to be increasing educational outcomes. It's supposed to be increasing early developmental index scores. Those are the things that we...

Thank you. The funding is provided by the federal government, pursuant to an agreement that is ending this month, actually, I guess, March 31, 2020. Initial discussions from what we can tell, it looks like there will likely be a one-year extension of the status quo. After that, or during that time, we will enter into negotiations. We will be looking for more money, obviously. We always do. We still have to figure out what the feds want to do. With the reorganization of federal departments, we're not quite sure what their direction is going to be. What they might like to do is fund directly to...

Thank you. Our budget is going to continue to be our budget. Then there is this supplementary funding coming from the federal government. In the long term, like the previous Member stated, we do have to consider this. Is there a need for these 173 positions? If there is, why aren't they being funded from within the department? Why isn't that part of our funding formula? These are big conversations we have to have.

Some of the schools I have been to have an amazingly high amount of Jordan's Principle workers there, whether they are support assistants or teachers. You talk to the teachers in...

Thank you. There was no change in the budget. Just the actuals were low that year because it was undersubscribed. Thank you.

Yes, I do, Madam Chair, thank you. I am here to present the 2020-2021 Main Estimates for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. Overall, the department's estimates propose an increase of $8.858 million, or 2.7 percent, over the 2019-2020 Main Estimates. These estimates support our fiscal objectives to prioritize responsible and strategic spending while matching the modest expected revenue growth over the coming year.

The increase is primarily related to forced growth funding. The proposed estimates reflect:

$5.866 million for collective bargaining increases in the department...

Thank you. There are always plans to do more. It often comes down to money. The government has been supportive of that centre. The Member mentioned the old Hay River hotel. That was donated by the GNWT. I believe there is a marine vessel that is making its way over to that museum at some point in the near future, as well. That came from the GNWT. We are contributing where we can, but I agree with the Member that it would be nice if we could do more to support those organizations. Thank you.

Thank you. I appreciate what the Member is saying. It would be nice if we had the resources to send the team out to the regions on a regular basis, but the fact is, they just don't have the time. We don't have enough people. This is intended to augment what's already going on in the community, not to replace that. It's not the only service that these students would be getting. It's valuable. For the students who need it, it's very, very valuable for the students, the parents, and the teachers. I would love to do what the Member is asking and get them out into the different communities on a...

Thank you. To answer the Member for Kam Lake's question, there were 112 graduations at the college. There are also completions, which aren't graduations. I will get those numbers for the Member by tomorrow. Thank you.

Thank you. Could the Member please clarify which page he's on?