R.J. Simpson

Thank you. And I think that speaks to the need for why we don't need this, because we are constantly innovating. We don't just need this sort of projectbased innovation fund; that's what we do. I heard someone the other day saying that, you know, the government doesn't acknowledge the negative issues or the, you know, problems with the education system and they're not doing anything about it. And I looked at what we had ten years ago and what we have today. We didn't have junior kindergarten. We didn't have northern distance learning. We didn't have career and education advisors. I have a...

Thank you. That is not what is being contemplated. The museum does have a site, and it's amazing the way that you can view the different pieces of art. But that is not the plan right now for all of the GNWTowned art. At some point in the future that would be great, but it is not something that we are currently working on or envision beginning any time soon. Thank you.

Yes, it is. Thank you.

Thank you. And I'll say right now, to everyone, all the day homes, day cares listening, we are going to increase funding. We've told them that at the meetings. We have early childhood association meetings. The department has been meeting with them trying to make the repair those relationships. I know that discussions and meetings don't always make it out to everyone and so perhaps that's part of the issue. But we're also seeing entrepreneurs who have looked at the environment, the current operating environment, and decided to open day homes and so they are in we're now in the process of...

Thank you. And I know if we go back into the culture section that we've already passed, that's where those funds are. And the Indigenous governments, you know, we provide them with funding for language and culture. But we also want to do something as a government. I mean, if we gave them that money, the next call would be why aren't you doing anything for languages and culture; put money in the budget for languages and culture. So that's the money that we have there for languages and culture. I will say as we, you know, work on modernizing the education system and the governance system, we can...

Thank you. I will hand it over to one of my witnesses. But I will say that for the small organizations to receive a big chunk of money unexpectedly, it makes it difficult for them to just spend it if they didn't have a plan to spend it. In Hay River, we had, you know, the flood, and people were dealing with that, so. I don't think that it saw a significant uptake, at least not at all the centres. But for more information, I'll hand it to Mr. MacDonald. Thank you.

Thank you. We looked at the program, thought about what we'd like to do with the program, and then figured out how much it would cost, and then figured out how much we might actually be able to get. And that's really the way we do everything, is we shoot for the stars and then we get chopped down, you know, at each stage until we wind up with the number that we can get through all of the various stages. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. It's been a while since I've done any algebra. But the plan is to develop the programs going forward in conjunction, or in cooperation with the sector to ensure that we have all those numbers and that in the end we are providing child care centres and day homes with the funding that will allow them to be sustainable while still ensuring that our own funding is sufficient. So we only have limited dollars, and we are doing our best to ensure stability and stay within that budget. This is a massive system change. It hasn't been as smooth as I would have liked...

Sure. Well, I appreciate the comments from all the Members. And the Member's correct, it takes the whole community, needs to be involved and engaged in education. The government can't do it alone, absolutely not, so. And I will say that the Member's correct. In Fort Smith, they do value education. They have a lot of longterm educators who are able to mentor a lot of the younger educators that come in and so they don't run into the same issues that you might see in the smaller community where your whole staff, you know, has one or two years of experience. So they are you know, they're lucky...

Thank you. There has been a lot of work done so we're not trying to reinvent the wheel as the deputy minister alluded to. What we are doing is going to pursue the renovations through the normal capital process. So Members will have a chance to get that information through that process. There's nothing that is shareable right now really beyond what the deputy minister has stated. Thank you.