Julie Green

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Am I correct in understanding that it is coming out of schools, and it is going back into schools versus inclusive schooling? It is just changing hands within the same pot; is that correct? Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to welcome Lynn Elkin, the executive director of the Yellowknife Association for Community Living, and Ben Russo, the vice chair of the Board, to the House. They are my constituents, and I would like to thank them for the work they do on behalf of disabled clients. Mahsi.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the clarification from the Minister on that. My next question has to do with reworking the inclusive school funding. Could the Minister please provide us with an indication of whether there is any work going on to rework the inclusive schooling funding formula? Thank you.

Masi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I want to talk about a situation in which universal health coverage is not universal in the NWT. This government perpetuates a two-tier service for family planning. The women who are losing out on birth control and medical abortion live on low income or have no income of their own. This vulnerable group is non-Indigenous and they are often new Canadians. Our health system is failing them.

The Non-Insured Health Benefits program gives Indigenous women access to birth control of all kinds and pregnancy termination services at no charge, but women who don't...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. When we talk about three positions for case management, we are talking about IT positions for case management. Is that correct? Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Great Slave, that notwithstanding rule 4, when this House adjourns on February 15, 2018, it shall be adjourned until Tuesday, February 20, 2018;

AND FURTHER that at any time prior to February 20, 2018, if the Speaker is satisfied after consultation with the Executive Council and Members of the Legislative Assembly, that the public interest requires that the House should meet at an earlier time during the adjournment, the Speaker may give notice and thereupon the House shall meet at the time stated in such notice and...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I had the pleasure today to go to a unique event hosted by Ecole St. Patrick, called "St. Pat's Serves." The intent of the day was to engage students in a variety of work done by organizations that fight for social justice and provide various volunteer services and opportunities, here in Yellowknife.

A total of 24 organizations participated, including non-profits like Food Rescue and the Tree of Peace, volunteer organizations like the Rotary Club and Alternatives North, as well as faithbased organizations. It was a very impressive list.

Each group had up to half...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Infrastructure regarding the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) Sole-Source Contracts Report for the period April 1 to December 31, 2017. They ask for a rationale for contracting on a sole source basis for specific goods and services.

Could the Minister please provide:

With respect to sole source #02865 for $7,200,000 and #2922 for $14,800,000 with Imperial Oil Ltd for the supply of petroleum products, an explanation why this purchase was necessary through sole-source purchase and not by public tender;

With respect...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned in my statement today, the second largest expense for a family of four in Yellowknife is childcare, amounting to $16,000 a year to provide full-time care for a child and after-school care for another child. To that end, I want to ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment about the recent study of childcare in the NWT that revealed that families had difficulty accessing childcare subsidies. I am wondering what the Minister is doing to make it easier for low-income families to qualify for childcare subsidies? Thank you.

I appreciate the Minister's willingness to go back and look. For what it is worth, the income threshold is also too low for the Canada Child Benefit. Mr. Speaker, the point of the living wage is not to ask government to legislate the living wage, but rather it is to encourage employers to see the benefits for themselves of paying a living wage in order to recruit and retain and encourage greater productivity from their work force. We are not looking for legislation of the living wage.

I want to talk about how the cost of living has been gone up in the last two years; 5 per cent each for shelter...