Jane Groenewegen

Thank you for that long list of symposiums and forums and meetings that the department engaged in, but consultation is a two-way street. Sure, the department may have been telling educators and telling people who run daycares and telling people that are in this line of work what their vision of Junior Kindergarten was. I understand that we were telling them. I’d like to ask the Minister, what were they telling us? Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Miltenberger. Mr. Campbell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I indicated in my Member’s statement, my questions are to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. I’ll try and be very, very clear. I know that if the public is watching, it may get a little bit hard to follow at times because there are so many different programs out there funded in so many different ways. I guess what the common denominator is, is that if Junior Kindergarten proceeds, it’s going to pull four-year-olds out of a program, which is a significant removal from any program that’s already out there, existing and successful. I think the Aboriginal...

Thank you, Minister Miltenberger. General comments on the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Mr. Bouchard.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m the first one that will stand up in this House and say that I’ve made a mistake, and I would like to retract a thought and a theory that I put forward in this House last Thursday.

The Minister’s plan and the Department of Education’s plan for Junior Kindergarten is not only going to hurt the regional and large communities, it is going to be a disaster in all communities, including small communities.

You cannot move an initiative like this forward with no resources. I know I may be repeating myself, but you can’t do it. You can’t throw $15,000 at a small community and...

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Does committee agree?

Thank you, committee. We’ll commence with that after a brief break.

---SHORT RECESS

I’d like to call Committee of the Whole to order today. There are a number of items as listed by the Speaker that are before Committee of the Whole. What is the wish of committee? Ms. Bisaro.

I would like to refute the Minister’s assertion that this is beneficial to all communities. I just listed that when you take the four-year-olds out of all these other programs that are existing and have existed for many years with very good success, you can’t do it in the name of… and not all parents can afford early childhood development. There is no fee for service. There’s parents’ cooperative. There’s volunteerism that goes into the Hay River Cooperative Playschool. Parents are involved. That’s a good thing. The Treehouse, the parents are involved. The Growing Together, the parents come...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment today. With all due respect to the Minister and the good intentions of the Department of Education, Culture and Employment with respect to Junior Kindergarten as a response to the need for more emphasis on early childhood development, I believe that the rollout and the planning and the way that this is being implemented is not right. There are so many downfalls. There are so many negative repercussions in the larger centres where we already have a very good focus on early childhood development.

I am...