Tom Beaulieu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this program is not for what the Minister thinks it is for. We know. We negotiated this. We know exactly why we negotiated this. We negotiated this money, $3 million, and we asked for a lot more than that. We dealt with the Minister of Finance, and we negotiated this money to address the low employment rates in small communities.

I have asked the Minister now 16 questions. I am trying to find out what happened. How did this shift occur? All the Minister is telling me is that there is an economic downturn, we are trying to help this; this is very clear. We...

I am going to try for the third time here: did the Minister consult with someone else before he made the decision to take this money and put it outside the small communities? This was clearly a small community fund. This was clearly for small communities. This is clearly understood by this side of the House, that this was for small communities. Did the Minister consult with anyone else on his side of the House before making a decision to move this money out of small communities into the regional centres?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Like I said in my Member's statement, this is a major disappointment to watch 10 years of our work go down the drain with one decision.

I'd like to ask the Minister: who made the decision to change the communities that this program was intended for? This program was intended to address the small communities; not the regional centres, the small communities. The regional centres have other ways of getting employment, obviously. Who made the decision to go outside the small communities with the Small Community Employment Support Program? Thank you.

I'm wondering if the Minister could tell me who was consulted prior to making this decision.

Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I, too, would like to recognize Darrell Beaulieu, a constituent of mine from Ndilo. It is partly his fault that I am here today. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the history of this is that there were other communities approximately that size, and some have gone through full long-term care facilities like in Fort Simpson. Others, like Fort Resolution and Deline, were shut down completely, although the unit that's there belongs to the NWT Housing Corporation. I understand that, and I'm satisfied with the response that the Minister has given me on the Great Elders Facility in Fort Resolution. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I apologize for that. Mr. Chairman, on the administrative and support services, the same system the previous Member spoke of, the mental health and addictions information system, on the detail it indicates clinical data from mental health patients. I'm just wondering if that includes addicts as well. Thank you.

Marsi cho, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, committee would like to consider Tabled Document 416-18(2), Capital Estimates, 2018-2019, concluding the Department of Health and Social Services and going on to the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation, the Department of Finance, and the Department of Justice.

This program was not to prevent communities from being hurt by economic downturns. It was to change the employment rates in the small communities because they are much lower than anywhere else in the NWT. That program was put in place so it could address the issue of low employment rates in small communities. I said in my Member's statement, they are clearly way below regional centres, and way below Yellowknife. I am asking the question: did the Minister make this decision unilaterally to take the money out of the small communities to try to address the economic downtown in other communities...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to continue my questions for the Minister of Education on the Small Community Employment program. Mr. Speaker, I said that this was disappointing, and the Minister said it was not disappointing, but I think I would know if I was disappointed. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister, considering that he was not in the room when we were negotiating $3 million, if he consulted with anyone. I am wondering if he even consulted with the Minister of Finance before making this decision. Thank you.