Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. I know in my Member’s statement I mentioned that the Kids Corner Daycare in Fort Simpson asked the Minister of Education for $200,000 towards a new daycare facility. In his rejection letter, he noted that his department doesn’t typically support infrastructure projects that are linked to daycare, yet a daycare facility in Inuvik received $1 million in the capital budget early in the 17th Assembly.
Can the Minister explain the rationale for his decision not to support the daycare project in Fort Simpson? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When it comes to daycare operations, we work closely with the operators. With the experience in Inuvik, that was some time ago. There was a need for a daycare establishment. The community fund raised up to 90 percent of the funds. That is an experience we’ve gone through. There is a policy being drafted now on public investment on private infrastructure. It’s been shared with the planning committee. Now there’s feedback to Cabinet. It’s before Cabinet to develop a policy with respect to that, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi.
The funding of private infrastructure policy is certainly being worked on, but before I get to that, the government, right from the start the Early Childhood Framework aimed to enhance the quality of children’s programs and services. In a document on the department’s website, I noted that a review was underway to examine program funding and governance.
Can the Minister indicate whether the review is addressing the matter of daycare infrastructure and whether any funding will be earmarked for the purpose of enhancing daycare facilities? Mahsi cho.
With our programming, obviously there is always room for improvement. What the Member is referring to is enhancement of feature programs that we’re concentrating on as we speak. There are programs that we are going to enhance as well. So, it is looking at the programs and services in the 32 communities we serve. We will be making those changes that will benefit the communities along the way. Mahsi.
Can the Minister identify which of the GNWT departments are working on a policy to support the infrastructure needs of non-profit and private sector organizations? Mahsi.
We do have a committee established that deals with these kinds of initiatives and policy development. The Program Review Office has initiated the discussions.
As I stated, that letter has been sent to standing committee and the feedback has come back to us now within our Cabinet to consider those recommendations brought to our attention by the standing committee to integrate that into our new policy that has been drafted. So, we will be updating that and sharing that with the standing committee once it’s available. Mahsi.
Can the Minister provide a timeline for completing this policy? In other words, will it be done before this Assembly is concluded by our September sitting? Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
I need to confirm that with the Program Review Office. Part of the target date will be either late this summer or before the end of this term of the government. We want to establish a policy, so we want to expedite that since we have the feedback from the standing committee. We will expedite the process along the way. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, when we’re talking about the policy, is that something that will be done at the end of this Assembly or will have to make its way into the transition document for the next Assembly, Mr. Speaker? Thank you.
Those are discussions we are currently having and that could be part of the transitional document. There are other programs under review. It is part of the discussions we are currently having with the Program Review Office, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.
