Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Minister. I appreciate that they try to respond to people but I guess, you know, as soon as possible, in my mind, if I have an appointment, I want to see my person at the appointed hour.

The Minister says that things are in the works. I’d like to know -- with a school year starting again, they want applications in by July of this summer coming up -- when can the Minister tell us that we will be able to see some of these revisions? When will there be some concrete action for us to look at?

I’m encouraged to hear that it’s going to be looked at. I’m a little disappointed that it hasn’t been looked at already, but something is better than nothing. I guess I want to impress upon the department how important it is that there be a stable source of funding for our daycares. That we’re doing an early childhood framework is a good thing. I think I mentioned that earlier. I’d like to know from the Minister -- either I have a poor memory or it hasn’t been mentioned yet -- when can we expect the results of the review of early childhood that is going to be happening or is happening now.

I thank the Minister for that response. I appreciate that the department is taking action. I would hope for a little bit more specific response.

I would like to talk a bit about the results of another question. This was a question asked about the usefulness of the student handbook. The answers there were very disturbing to me: 71 percent of the replies were negative; 32 percent of them said they never use it; 39 percent of the students said that it was somewhat useful. It seems to me that it’s obvious that a revision is needed. I’d ask the Minister what plans the department has to revise the...

That’s great. Thanks for the response and the clarification. I would like to ask some questions, as well, on early childhood and the funding of early childhood programs. I raised an issue a number of sessions ago, a while ago, as to how daycares and early childhood centres are funded. At the time, I got the impression from the Minister that there was going to be some change to the way that daycares are funded. I just would like to know a couple of things. The first thing is: what is the current method of funding for daycares that ECE provides?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It was announced by the Minister of Health and Social Services last week and we are now in the middle of the 6th annual Drop the Pop campaign.

Last year 84 percent of our schools enthusiastically took part in the program. Ecole William McDonald School in Frame Lake had planned to drop a fake pop machine off the roof of the school to prove that they had moved pop out of the school, but insurance concerns intervened and they had to cancel the event, much to the dismay of the students, I’m sure.

But it is time to expand the Drop the Pop campaign to include energy drinks, Mr...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, it was a little difficult to hear you. I have a couple of questions here. The first one has to do with the numbers on page 10-17 for education operations and development. That’s gone down considerably, from about $3.5 million to $2.6 million or so. Can I get an explanation as to why?

I have one last question; I believe it belongs on this page. The Auditor General’s report on education referenced a number of things, but one of the things that I think was fairly strong in her report was that the department needed to do more in terms of data accumulation and program evaluation. I’d like to know from the Minister whether or not that recommendation from the Auditor General was taken into consideration with the development of this budget. How much is being spent on this particular area within the department? Has there been an increase in the funds apportioned to data...

Thanks for the explanation. It creates another question. Where do the other costs, the other $200,000 in fees and payments show up? Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, thanks to the Minister. I appreciate that there is lots of work to be done. I appreciate that there are different priorities. I am just having trouble understanding how the establishment of libraries in communities is going to assist our students in school to achieve success. Can I have an explanation from the Minister as to how that is going to happen? Thank you.

I guess I would like to ask the Minister if he would commit to provide that information. I’d like to know what it’s costing us to do this. If there are savings, where are the savings coming from and how do we get to cost neutral and/or actually gain some money? If he could commit to that, thank you.