Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my first questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Earlier this week I delivered a Member's statement about child care struggles in the Northwest Territories. It's one of the top things that I'm hearing about right now from the people that I serve. I also tabled a document that day by the C.D. Howe that outlined potential solutions. One such solution pointed to shared equity mortgage program to increase child care space infrastructure. Is the GNWT or ECE willing to explore creative solutions like this to increase infrastructure specifically for child care spaces in the Northwest Territories? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, of course we're willing to explore innovative solutions. I have not had a chance to look at the report the Member tabled. It seems like every week there is a report coming out on child care and I do get to them as they come out, but I haven't got to this one yet so I'll have a look at it and go from there. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister for that. Mr. Speaker, the other thing that is currently on the go right now with ECE in regards to child care is determining a wage grid for child care workers. I'm wondering what standards are being used to determine the child care wage grid and will the standards be based on minimum wage, living wage, salaries currently paid to similarly educated ELCC providers based in schools; where is the starting point for this conversation? Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I believe just last week is when the department really went out and started working with child care providers to get a better understanding of the financial situation. Based on the feedback, the wage grid will be based on geographic location, current wages, roles, responsibilities, experience, postsecondary education, other education, and Indigenous knowledge. And as we develop it, there may be more factors to be taken into account. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, child care providers are concerned that given the GNWT cap adjustment in annual revenues that's in place and will also be and also sorry, that they're implementing these wage grids that they will not be able to meet the funding shortfalls that they might see, especially given the rising costs that we're seeing, whether it's through insurance, electricity, food costs. This has been highlighted multiple times in this House over the course of the implementation of the new child care subsidy structures. So how will ECE ensure that funding shortfalls do not close day cares in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So what the Member is talking about is an unacceptable situation where the, you know, implementation of a move towards universal child care will actually cause, you know, a collapse of the sector. So that is the primary thing that we don't want to happen and so we are working diligently to ensure that that doesn't happen. As part of the development of a new wage grid, we are also working on a new overall funding model. So as we work with centres, as we understand their revenues, their costs, their needs, we can put into place something that will ensure that the revenue they receive is more that allows them to be sustainable; it's more predictable. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one of the things that I'm hearing quite regularly is this concern over closed doors and there's such a struggle to get your name on a list, to get your child in a door to begin with, then to start potentially losing those spaces is very scary for parents. It means that they're not able to go to work, it means they're not able to pay their mortgage, it means they're not able to continue to live; they're not able to support themselves. And so in light of all these concerns and the threat of day cares potentially having to close their doors, what is ECE doing to communicate these viable solutions and the work that they're doing with both child care providers but also parents that are using this sector? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So as I stated, the department has gone out and has been working directly with child care providers. There's always ongoing discussions with the Early Childhood Association. On the website there is a lot of information for parents. We are trying to determine what the wait lists are. You know, a number of parents will put their names on a number of different wait lists. We don't really have a sense of, you know, how many duplicates there are so it's very unclear at this point. So we're trying to get to the bottom of that as well because we want to make sure that we know what the demand is so that we're better able to support it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Great Slave.
