Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the agreement education, culture and employment entered into with the federal government to work towards $10 a day daycare was designed to invest in early childcare for the betterment of all in the Northwest Territories. Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories had committed to creating 300 new childcare daycare spaces by 2026, but as of June 2024, only 76 new spaces have been created. A $50 million investment from Ottawa in 2021 was intended to create the 300 new spaces and reduce childcare fees to $10 a day within a five-year period, Mr. Speaker.
Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, what we're hearing from early childcare providers is that rather than investing in early childcare, we may be just putting them out of business. It seems, Mr. Speaker, we were not quite fully prepared for this agreement and the conditions that come with it. There seems to be no inflationary factors built into the agreement. With the cost of food rising, Mr. Speaker, some centres may have to cut nutritional programs. The wage grid for full-time equivalencies have not been calculated correctly in some instances. For example, Mr. Speaker, rather than a full-time position for -- two full-time positions for a certain number of children, what I'm being told by the care providers and centres is that it should be more around 2.5. Early childcare centres are now provided funding for employees who often have to stay late when parents may need more time to pick up their children, but yet childcare centres are not permitted to charge a late pickup fee, which parents would be more than willing to pay, Mr. Speaker.
There's a narrative that centre-based childcare has to become on par with day homes. According to the NWT Early Childhood Association, this is not correct. Day home providers are struggling as well and are not included in the wage grid subsidy program.
In the previous year's budget, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment agreed to an additional $3.5 million to assist early childcare. This money was intended to help all programs in early childcare. Let's give them the money, Mr. Speaker, for wages and some autonomy for the association on how it's spent. Let's include family day homes in the wage grid program and ensure they can continue to operate. Let's remove as many roadblocks as possible, Mr. Speaker. Let's provide as much assistance as needed to give the tools to these providers to complete the essentials course for both day home and centre providers. Let's ensure that the people that work to ensure that others can work are not left with no choice but to close their doors and leave so many of our hardworking residents with no options for daycare. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Inuvik Boot Lake. Members' statements. Member from the Deh Cho.
