Shauna Morgan

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So thank you, Mr. Speaker. So given that fixed amount that the Minister referred to, will the Minister commit to including the NWT Early Childhood Association or child care providers in any future negotiations with the federal government about child care funding agreements? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thanks to the Minister for making that clear. So can the Minister recommend ways that child care providers can successfully attract and retain staff given that the government's proposed wage grid is well below salaries for comparable positions in early learning in NWT communities? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yesterday we had a federal Minister here to celebrate the NWT achieving an average cost of $10aday child care. Unfortunately, this drive to lower fees has pushed this sector to the brink, especially in regional centres of the NWT such as Yellowknife and Inuvik.

The feds and the GNWT seem to have gone about this backwards based on a poor understanding of the struggles and challenges within the child care sector. By treating staff wages and organizational viability as an afterthought, it implies that the problem that we're trying to solve is that these...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have further questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment regarding daycare.

So on February 9th, the Minister and the Department of ECE shared a very helpful package of information with Members on this side of the House that included detailed numbers broken down by NWT communities and regions about the number of child care providers, the number of spaces we have, and changes over the past decade or so. So will the Minister commit to sharing this information with the Early Childhood Association as they have been requesting? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So given that three large child care providers are considering opting out of the funding formula, does the Minister have concerns that this could leave us with a segregated system where some parents are forced to pay much more than they currently do? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So my questions today are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. So the other day in the House I spoke to the fact that in the past the government has had to step in when nonprofits collapse and they're providing essential social services. So if the largest nonprofit daycares in our regional centres are forced to shut down because they're no longer financially viable, is the government prepared to take over the operation of these daycares? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So what are our options here today? We can decide to continue on with the afteraction review where MACA hires an independent contractor, or we demand a fullblown public inquiry with the power to subpoena documents and witnesses to testify before a quasijudicial panel?

I would argue that there is a third path, which is potentially the best one in terms of balancing the need for a fully independent review with the need to do it relatively quickly and cost effectively, and that is to appoint an independent panel to manage an independent review team similar to what was done...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Whereas so this is Motion 1620(1), Appointment of Deputy Chairpersons of the Committee of the Whole.

WHEREAS Section 47(1) of the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act requires that there shall be two elected deputy chairpersons of the Committee of the Whole;

NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River North, that the Member for Deh Cho, Sheryl Yakeleya; and, the Member for Sahtu, Daniel McNeely, are hereby chosen to be the deputy chairpersons of the Committee of the Whole.

I was saying there's a difference between throwing chunks of funding haphazardly for community events and throwing shortterm chunks of funding haphazardly to keep roofs over peoples' heads. And so I don't want to stand here and plead with the government to have a heart and please donate money to these heroic organizations because that's part of what got us into this mess thinking that we can just offer charity when we have extra money in our pockets. I'm asking this government to think practically about what services our residents expect and how we can make longer term plans to collaborate...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, then, in dealing with these nonprofits who have been providing the same basic social services in our communities year after year, often for decades, to what extent does the GNWT negotiate these contracts and the terms of reference for the funding contributions collaboratively with those nonprofits? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.