R.J. Simpson

Thank you, and I believe the Member's questions were more focused on our mandate and increasing the availability and affordability. A lot of what we have done is focused on quality and shoring up the foundation of our childcare, but, to the point of increasing it, affordability and availability, you know there is still obviously much work to be done. Thank you.

Sure. Similar to the comments I made earlier today in the House, I am open to looking at that because I get calls from businesses all the time who are just doing their best to stay open and keep people employed, and sometimes this subsidy or the little bit of help they can get makes the difference between having to lay someone off and helping someone get to that next year, so we will do what we can. Thank you.

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.

The evaluation of the funding formula will take place in the coming years. We just put this mandate out, and committee knows there has been a lot of back and forth. The policy shops and all the departments have been going full-tilt and haven't necessarily had a chance to lay out our plan for the next four years. That's what we're working on. We know what we want to do. How exactly we're going to do it, that's still being worked out, so I don't have the details of this funding formula, but it's going to take engagement, obviously. I have my own concerns with this. As a Member for four years, I...

Thank you. I appreciate where the Member is coming from. In our modern world, everyone has cellphones. Everyone uses the Internet. It has become sort of a necessity of life. It has been recognized as such by multiple organizations. We do allow clients to use phones and the internet in the Income Assistance office. In this budget, though, we aren't contemplating adding a phone or Internet allowance. There has been some work done on that. Just looking at a basic phone plan and a basic Internet plan on your phone, we are pushing, I think, an additional $2 million or so is what it would cost...

Thank you. Our government has not accessed that, to date. Thank you.

Thank you. The department doesn't really employ teachers; the teachers are employed by the education councils and education authorities, but we do teacher surveys. Perhaps for more detail I can go to Mr. MacDonald.

Correct, thank you.

Thank you, and I appreciate the Member bringing this up. I know he has always been a strong advocate for the museum and all it does. As many of the Members know, the museum is getting on in age right now. I did a tour of there not long ago. There are sections of it where there are dehumidifiers that have to be emptied nightly by security guards. The space is an issue. The Prince of Wales Heritage Centre serves a central agency function for the GNWT, storing many of its archives, so we have a lot to store. In addition to all of the cultural treasures that we have in the territory, there are...