Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just have a question here with regards to the advertising strategy that the department has adopted within the last six months or so. I talked about this the other day and asked some questions of the Minister, but one of the things that concerns me particularly, and I’d like to bring it up again, is this need for an e-mail address in order to apply for a job with the GNWT.

I’d like to know from the Minister, he’s mentioned that they’ve made some adjustments; they’ve changed a few things so that basically people will be able to apply. So, I have no computer, I don’t have...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. That’s good. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I’m struggling to understand the system. I guess if I’m given two years in which to get my certification but I’m also working full-time, I’m really struggling to understand how I’m supposed to accomplish that.

I have heard that there will be an on-line system or an on-line program, I guess, but for me to take stuff on-line, I think it’s going to take quite a long time. So, I’d like to know from the Minister if he has looked at the amount of time that’s going to be required for any professional to get the certification that’s required for them to get the greater wage...

Mr. Chair, to the Minister, I would like to know how we expect these two organizations to maintain the services and the programs that they provide when we don’t give them any kind of an increase. Every other department or every other aspect of this government deals with forced growth every year, but we’re not giving any kind of an increase due to forced growth for these two organizations. Can I get an explanation as to why not? Thank you.

Thanks to the Minister, and I don’t disagree that we need to do something for our early childhood practitioners. They definitely are not paid what they’re worth, but I’m struggling to understand. The Minister didn’t really answer my question as to where this approach came from. I find it unlikely that the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative would have laid out this kind of an approach to increasing wages for early childhood practitioners.

My next question to the Minister has to do with how this program is going to work. I am struggling to understand just how this is going to roll out, so...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have a motion. I move that this committee defer consideration of the Department of Human Resources at this time.

I inquired of the Minister of Education a short while ago whether or not his department will make any adjustments to the funding formula for daycares as a result of the implementation of junior kindergarten. The response from his office indicated no funding changes are coming. According to reports in the news media, the Minister has said that daycares will be provided with infrastructure money to change four-year-old spaces to spaces for babies or toddlers, but money for cribs and blankets doesn’t address the problem of bigger wage costs.

Until we have publicly funded early childhood care/early...

I’m not sure I quite understood the Minister’s answer. We have 150 people that we are trying to accommodate. I think that is what he told me. I appreciate confirmation to that if that is correct.

If there is someone who simply is not happy with the accommodation that has been offered and there have been negotiations back and forth and they simply cannot come to an agreement between the new department and the individual or the department where the individual is returning to work, I guess I should say, if that happens, is there an appeal mechanism for me as an employee? I don’t like what I’ve...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I just have a couple questions here. I’d like to know from the department, at one point we had a great number of grievances and the department was diligently working their way through the grievances and trying to bring them down to a reasonable number. Between last year and this year, projected budget year, can I get some kind of an idea of whether the number of grievances we have had has gone up or down or has it stayed steady? Thank you.

Mr. Chair, what page are we on? I think I might have got ahead of myself.