Charles Dent

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to assure the Member and this House that the government shares that concern. Children are the most important asset that we have and we need to make sure that we protect their potential to develop as they should. Yes, I can assure the Member that the process of reviewing our income security programs that is being led by my department will keep children in mind as one of the priorities as we’re undertaking that review.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is to deal with one of the concerns that was raised by Egale Canada and Out North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I certainly will.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We are changing the definition of spouse so that it no longer means people who are married, so common-law couples will be included now as well.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t know where the Member gets the idea that the funding that we offer to school divisions now is prescriptive. There’s about $125 million that goes to schools. The only part of that that is prescriptive is the $7 million that’s stipulated to go into aboriginal languages and culture, and the $16 million that has to go into special needs. Other than that, it’s wide open. The schools can use the money as they see fit. We give them money that we say this portion is allocated for transportation, but we don’t require them to spend it on transportation. They can put the...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that clause 10 of Bill 17 be amended by striking out “section 6 of Bill,” in proposed section 1.1 of the Workers’ Compensation Act and by substituting “section 6 of Bill 17,”.

Madam Chair, this motion amends clause 10 to correct the internal reference back to Bill 17, Modernization of Benefits and Obligations Act, in a new application provision being added to the Workers’ Compensation Act.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Let’s take an example. If a person is a member on a board, like in our Conflict of Interest Act. For instance, if one the Members here…They have to declare the interest of their spouse. What this amendment does is make sure that that condition exists under the Conflict of Interest Act. So a member of a board would have to then be aware and public of the interests of their partner, whether they are same sex or heterosexual. Right now, that is not covered. Right now, the Conflict of Interest Act doesn’t provide the same protection to the public that you find in some...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If an education authority wanted to put their money into providing that kind of service within their school area, they could. Mr. Speaker, I just want to be clear about my previous answer. Many of the kids who are not attending school tend to come from poorer families and we need to address that issue before we start addressing finding those families and making them even poorer to put them back in school. The Member has been recommending that we use the law to try and enforce attendance at school by finding families if their kids don’t attend. What I said yesterday was...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I can only go by the chair's opening comments to the bill today in which it was noted that the committee decided not to proceed with moving any amendments during its clause-by-clause review in order to allow for discussion of any motions in Committee of the Whole during its review of the bill in its entirety so that all Members could participate.

Thank you, Madam Chairperson. With me, I have Ms. Lucy Austin, who is the executive director of the Legal Services Board; and Mr. Mark Aitken, the director of legislation division.