Debates of November 27, 2007 (day 3)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to speak today of day care matters. Yes, Mr. Speaker, day care matters to families in the North and in particular to my constituents.

We have to take a serious look at the state of affairs for our children and their care, Mr. Speaker. How do we provide day care in the NWT? Do we do sufficient work? Do we provide sufficient standards to make sure that they’re safe in that place? Do we provide appropriate training? Do we provide access to training? Do we provide appropriate funding? We need to take a serious look at how we fund these agencies and organizations that provide safe and secure places for our kids to go during the day.

Mr. Speaker, we need to make sure it’s affordable, because our average hard-working family is finding this to be a difficult and daunting task. Good and affordable day care, Mr. Speaker, is a foundation of an appropriate investment to all of our futures. I fear without that investment, this is an area where we are punishing the working family, Mr. Speaker. We need to allow people to work, earn a living, and still be confident that their children are receiving the head start that they deserve. We cannot afford to contribute to another crisis to the working family. Eight hundred dollars per child per month is really out of reach for the average family. This government has seen the signs and the signals, but it’s time that they act.

Mr. Speaker, in the 2006-2007 fiscal year only 92 families in the entire Territories receive funds through the childcare user subsidy. How can this be? With 4,500 children in the NWT under the age of five, are parents unaware of this program or is the threshold just too high for them to qualify? We need to have a serious look at how we support our day care options. Funding based on daily attendance rates does not make sense. There are fixed costs that these operations must adjust for, given registration and capacity issues. The onus is placed unfairly on the shoulders of these operations to make sure that everything works okay; but when it doesn’t, it certainly goes down the toilet quick.

Formulas must find middle ground, Mr. Speaker, because we must make sure, we must ensure that these operations are always open and always able to take kids. Last month we had a crisis in Yellowknife where they had to send kids home because they could not afford to keep those doors open. That cannot happen again.

Mr. Speaker, this government needs to respond by making sure that their options for good…

Mr. Hawkins, your time for your Member’s statement has expired.

Mr. Speaker, may I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement? Thank you.

The Member is seeking unanimous consent to conclude his statement. Are there any nays? There are no nays. You may conclude your statement, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the fact is, the government must make sure that day care is accessible and reliable to all her citizens and definitely our parents, because we have to be providing programs for those we care about most.

Mr. Speaker, I will have questions for the Minister later today, because day care matters, truly matters, to my constituency and the North. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause