Julie Green

Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate that answer from the Premier. It's time to take a look at these levels and to make them reflect the work that is being done, that there be some specific methodology to how these numbers are determined, and that they are reviewed annually to ensure that the money granted keeps up with the cost of inflation. My fear is that, while GNWT employees have received increases because of their collective agreement, the non-profits are being left behind, and I am calling on the Premier to do something about that. Thank you.

Thank you. Can the Minister tell us what kind of research is being done on this topic, whether there is a jurisdictional scan, for example, to see how childcare is provided in other remote and high-cost locations? Thank you.

I’m jumping on this bandwagon. I’m particularly interested in the possibility of providing childcare space at J.H. Sissons school, which is in my riding, and which is going to be rebuilt, starting in the near future. Is it still possible to talk about providing childcare space in that school? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to welcome my constituent, Be’sha Blondin. Thank you for all the very great, healing work she does in our community. Mahsi.

Thank you. My final question has to do with the languages commissioner. It's my understanding that this position has been vacant for some time, so can the Speaker tell us what the spending in this fiscal year is for? Thank you.

Thank you. I note that the Human Rights Adjudication Panel amount has gone up over last year and the year before. Can the Speaker say why that is? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I agree; it goes both ways. What I am suggesting here is that there be a methodology based on deliverables and that we are assured that we are getting value for money from the NGOs as much as we are from any other government spending. I think that you can find an example of how this could work with the shelter standards. It was a long piece of work, but finally, there are standards for the family violence shelters so that the contribution of money to those shelters for their operations relates to something tangible. I think that that's a methodology that could be...

Thank you. I do appreciate that the Minister is familiar with this background. The thing is, though, that, when non-profits fall too far out of sync, which is a variation of more than about 40 percent with the government, they can't keep staff, and then productivity goes down because they're in a constant turnover of staff. This is not big grant money compared to the totality of the budget, so I am calling on the Premier to review these. I don't expect them to be brought to government levels, but I do expect a gap to be closed between what the funding levels are historically and what they...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I noticed, in the segment "women's advisory," that the amount of money granted to the Native Women's Association and the Status of Women Council, and, in fact, the Women's Initiative Grants, have been static for the last two budgets. My question for the Minister is: how is this funding level determined for these non-profits? Thank you.

Okay, let me be the first to call the Minister a party pooper. What I'm interested in knowing is: in the event that it is possible to build childcare spaces in schools, what would that look like? Would it be on a partnership model with respect to service delivery? Would the partners need to bring money to the table? What are the Minister's initial thoughts on how this would work?