Statements in Debates
So just to be clear, again, is the Minister's letter confidential, and was she suggesting she'll provide that to Members? Maybe we'll deal with these one at a time. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I think Members, if I may speak for myself or at large -- I'm not sure in this case -- but I think we were given the assurances this was a Cabinet document to be approved through the treasury board, etcetera; it didn't require special legislation to approve. Has something significantly changed that may put this financing at risk? Thank you.
Can the Minister provide those to committee members. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It gives me great pleasure to talk about population growth today. Mr. Speaker, as I talk to employers, they talk about their struggles of getting anyone to work. I had a great conversation the other day with the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce, and they are fearful about what's actually happening with the nominee program because their membership, including our community at large, is struggling to find people to fill jobs. They don't care where they've come from, Mr. Speaker; we're dying to have anybody here with a pulse in these jobs to do these jobs, Mr. Speaker...
No, I'm not interested in your parenting -- I have two of my own, and I'm not here to tell you how to manage your kids and I would prefer we don't do that.
So, Madam Chair, the issue is, then -- I think the Minister may have her finger on the issue which is the indoctrination of perspectives and keeping things fair. So what oversight, policy, direction, can be provided to the school boards that can help trickle down through the education system to ensure that they're receiving a balance of perspectives? And sometimes we're going to hear things you don't want to hear, sometimes you're going to...
Thank you, Madam Chair. Sorry, earlier I was unavailable; my computer died, so. I did want to -- I appreciate the opportunity to return to this.
I did want to follow up on what has been done or said about the nominee program with respect to the numbers. Maybe the Minister can enlight on that or the department as to what action they've actually specifically taken to demonstrate they need the current numbers. Thank you.
Well, there's a couple problems, Mr. Speaker. One is it's the grid that's the problem and the fact that it's setting a floor but also a ceiling in some cases. So it depends on where you're sitting, Mr. Speaker.
I'm asking the Minister because the money -- the funding is tied also to the grid, the funding each daycare gets, this negatively impacts those who have had different scales and are told to maintain them at the upper scales so the funding gap then starts to widen. Mr. Speaker, what can the Minister do to address the funding gap that is caused directly by this grid. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister keeps avoiding the question by saying how nice she is by saying I meet with this person and -- sure, that's great. But it's time to get the people in the room so you can hear their one major concern, the grid, and the grid it controls them, and it leads to the funding problem that they're facing.
Mr. Speaker, I ask again would the Minister call a meeting on behalf of -- or with all the daycares and their executive directors to sit down and get their one ask, help them with the wage grid? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to follow up on my statement which is my concerns about how daycares are paid -- or sorry, structurally paid through the grid formula created by the Department of ECE; and furthermore, Mr. Speaker, the challenge, of course, is that when a person with ten years of experience is paid less than a summer student, or even a grocery clerk, we have to start asking ourselves who are we serving in that particular thing.
Mr. Speaker, my question specifically to the Minister of education comes down to this: Given the immediacy of the urgency of the...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday I had the pleasure, if not honour certainly, to speak to the executive directors of the Centre for Northern Families daycare, the Montessori daycare, and the Yellowknife daycare as well, Mr. Speaker. Although I didn't get a chance to speak to the YWCA daycare, I still feel for their plight and their concerns will be in my statement as well.
Mr. Speaker, the ladies quite eloquently, and I'll say firmly and clearly, made it very clear their challenges of staying alive in the sense of a business are being impeded by the government-imposed wage grid. Now, the wage...