Denny Rodgers

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you, Minister Kuptana. Obviously, that speaks to the need, Mr. Speaker, that we need, you know, additional housing not only in Inuvik, and I'm sure that's, as the Minister says, throughout the territory, especially in our regions, smaller communities.

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister commit to prioritizing housing for the elderly and disabled? I'm not sure how many of those families or how many on those lists for the onebedroom are elderly or have disabilities, but can the Minister commit to prioritizing for disabled residents on the waitlist and elderly residents...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I move that this committee defer further consideration of the activity education in the main estimates for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment at this time. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, before I give my question, I do want to have a quick congratulations to Minister Semmler and Minister Kuptana and their Member statements today and congratulate them on this special day as well.

Mr. Speaker, I spoke about the waiting lists and the issues around housing in my community. My questions are for the Minister of housing. The first question is how many vacant units are there currently in Inuvik, Mr. Speaker?

It's surprising, because when the president of Aurora College sat in front of committee, it certainly was made very clear to us that if there's one thing that they could get to continue would be that $500,000 funding to ensure that program continued on. So I'm a little surprised that it wasn't brought forward to the department as well. The department obviously is aware that they do require that funding for that training, that particular program, to ensure that they can qualify the programs would qualify the insurance requirements to become a polytechnic. So has the department had any...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Minister Cleveland. So just then to confirm, the reduction of $850,000 is not a reduction to the program itself or the services that it offers? It's still going to maintain at the same levels it was maintaining when we spent $850,000 more last year?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I move that this committee defer further consideration of activity early learning in the main estimates for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment at this time. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And, again, like, I appreciate the work that your department's done on this. Again, you know, from all indications from the Children's First Society in Inuvik, you know, they're very appreciative of the work that's been done by you and your department. And that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying I want to give you more money. I think you need more money. We need to continue this. We need to make sure that we got it looked after. That's great, that people in public housing can open day homes. I encourage people all the time, hey, if you're at home, open a day home. Hey, it...

Thank you, excellent. So my obvious question is, then, why is that not in here? Because I think it should be if we need it. So if we need that, let's get it in the budget.

Would that then so are we talking, then, about being able to provide more spaces based on that or just that's what we need to maintain our current levels of 1,956?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the Committee of the Whole wishes to consider Tabled Document 9320(1), 20242025 Main Estimates, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, would the chair please rise and report progress.