R.J. Simpson

Thank you. The Member was talking about synergies between a polytechnic university and the museum. I haven't really put much thought into that, but I think that would be an avenue, perhaps, to pursue, especially in terms of capital funding. You know, the federal government or other entities might be more open to supporting a museum project if it does have that association, given that there is also a research component, as well. The territorial archeologist is in that facility, as well.

I just want to temper everyone's expectations here, that this would not be a cheap build. We have a lot of...

Thank you. If I could hand it to Mr. MacDonald?

Thank you. At this point, we haven't done that work. A lot of times, people are bringing in pay stubs, they're bringing in things from the bank, and those are being brought in for verification. It isn't something that really lends itself, but that being said, I'll look into what other jurisdictions are doing and see if there are efficiencies to be found in that way. Thank you.

Thank you. We hope to have that ready for tabling in the upcoming May-June session. Of course, prior to that, it will be making its way to committee for comments, feedback, et cetera. Thank you.

Thank you. I will say the department has done some preliminary work on this already, on the funding formula. We are going to have to work together, talk about collaborative fashions, the education leaders, the chairs of the authorities in all of the different communities. There has been a lot of interest from Indigenous governments on this, as well, not just the funding formula but the act and how the renewal or the modernization of the act will relate to Indigenous governments and their involvement. If they are going to have a greater involvement, direct involvement, then they are going to be...

There are 320. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Anything is possible, but for details on what sort of discussions have happened, I will turn it over to my deputy minister, who is well versed in that. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. STIP, yes. The review that was legislated is scheduled to be complete by the end of the calendar year. It's always an ongoing process of determining how this is working. I mean, each calendar year, or each school year, schools have to fit this into their schedule, and so we've been learning every year. Part of the education renewal and innovation report that just came out was a review of STIP, as well, so we've had that review after a few years, and we're going to have a final review at the end of this calendar year. Thank you.

Thank you. That's a good question, and those are the kinds of questions that we have to answer every time we spend money, what was actually achieved by this. This is a difficult file, in many ways, because there are so many barriers to improving access and affordability. Some of those are the fact that it's difficult to find people to do this work, and so, you know, wage subsidies that are offered through this program help to retain employees for daycares who may have otherwise not continued to be employed. Is that concrete evidence? Perhaps we need to do a better job of evaluating this. I can...

No, I haven't looked into that. It would be difficult to sort of extrapolate that from other jurisdictions, to say, "This has worked in other jurisdictions, so it will also work in the territory." We are vastly different from most places that would do this type of research. I have been very open with the Members that I want to have an Income Assistance program that helps people get back into the job market. A lot of people on Income Assistance, they are in and out. Some, there are additional barriers that keep them out of that job market. What are those and how can we assist them to get into...