Robert C. McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the Member is correct. I mean, they can apply for it every year. They can bank it, and they can also supplement it with their O and M funding or their capital funding as well, to offset the cost. The Member is absolutely correct, they can bank it. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the liability issue is: if somebody felt they were mishandled they could actually sue the community because they didn’t have the proper training, and so our challenge is to make sure the communities have the proper training. For us to say that we would take on the liability, I think we’re just opening ourselves up for potential lawsuits or anything along those lines. Our challenge and our goal should be to make sure the communities are adequately trained that they can respond, and then they can go the next step and get an ambulance if they choose to do so. But...

Apologies to the Member. I should have added that there was no change to the criteria as well. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, we will have the research done during the life of this Assembly, and then we will make a determination of whether it is viable and if it is something that will work here in our jurisdiction but the research itself will be done. We will share that with Members and get some feedback from the Members as well. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I’ll refer to Ms. Young. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, to my right I have Mr. Sandy Kalgutkar, who is the deputy secretary to the Financial Management Board. To my left I have David Heffernan, who is our chief information officer. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, this is an application-based program and they can apply for up to $40,000. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the funding was a reduction because the program wasn’t fully subscribed to. We also recognize that this is an issue that we have to address. We will do our work and then if we can enhance this program we will come back to this Chamber to seek more funds once we’re in a position to do so. We would like to assist the communities and I think the best way to assist the communities is to ensure that we have people in the communities that are able to be first responders, especially if they get on the scene right away. This is a program that we have been hearing...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I think we all share that same passion for the youth. I think we have made that quite clear in the investments we have made into youth. In the last two or three Assemblies, the youth contributions have gone up fairly significantly. We all share that passion. We will continue to ensure that our youth are adequately funded. As I said I will get the exact detail on the $25,000 and share it with the Member. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I will ask Ms. Young to respond to that. Thank you.