R.J. Simpson

Thank you. The department does have a relationship with the federal government and at officials levels there are always discussions and there's always meetings. There haven't you know, we haven't made a formal request for more money from the federal government for the student financial assistance program. Thank you.

Thank you. So this would be the section, the early learning and child care section. Most of this money flows to the providers. We have a number of programs that support both day homes and day care centres. They're funded on a per child basis. We've increased the funding for staff for day homes. We are working on amending our per child funding as well to ensure that it is more responsive to the needs of child care centres and day homes. I mean, it's a pretty big question. I'll I won't just list all of our programs. I'll hand it back to the Member. Thank you.

Thank you. And I appreciate the Member's comments about the leadership program. And I have spoken with people about programs like that and, you know, what it sort of what happened in the past, why we don't have it, and what we can change to do going forward. So, you know, I'm definitely not opposed to that. It is late in the government, as the Member mentioned. And it is on the department's radar. I think that once we get into our discussions with Indigenous governments about the future of the education system and governance and how it all works, you know, that's one of the areas that could...

Thank you. The Member is correct; we did have a contract in place to have a revenue study completed. Unfortunately, the contractor did not deliver that revenue study. So for some information about the path forward given the challenges we've been facing, I will hand it to the deputy minister. Thank you.

Thank you. So we want everyone to be aware of these funds and know what they're going to be getting in September. So a lot of work has happened. Once this budget passes, a lot more work will happen. And we want to make sure that this is widely communicated. I think this is such a great new story that we shouldn't have a problem letting everyone know about it, once we iron out those details and are able to tell people exactly what we're providing. So we're well aware that there are deadlines and we want to ensure that we are working to ensure that everything is completed ahead of those...

Thank you. So in many small communities, there is child care that's provided often by the Indigenous government, and it is often provided free of charge unlike the larger centres. And we are aware of that then we want to support those organizations as well. So a portion of this funding is available to those centres to help them with yes, stabilization funding and as well we have our other streams of funding.

In terms of, you know, providing funding directly to, say, grandparents who are looking after their grandkids, we are bound by the terms of the agreement with the Government of Canada...

Thank you. So ECE offers a number of different programs that employers can access and that individuals can access. We also have the Student Financial Assistance program. So someone might need income assistance but perhaps they might decide they actually want to go to school and with the increases that we're proposing for student financial assistance, that makes that a possibility as well.

So, with the unlimited semesters, it's possible that someone could, you know, do their best to pursue their postsecondary education and if they have difficultly or if they take a longer time, we're supporting...

Yes, I do.

Thank you. And I had the same thoughts as the Member. So these changes that we really have not discussed publicly will take effect for the upcoming so the 20232024 academic year. So students going to school in September would have access to some of these changes that we're making. The increase in the budget is about $1.4 million. As well, we've made some other reallocations internally to adjust the program as well. So some of the changes are the basic grant. We are increasing that for first of all, this program, again, is supposed to cover 80 percent of the cost of attending school in...

Thank you. So I'll have to admit I am not as familiar with this particular issue and school maintenance as I could be. So what I will do so I can't commit to anything right now but I will commit to actually talking to the chair about this. You know, I have regular contact with the chairs of the school boards, and I know we have a new chair at YK1, and he's not shy to share his thoughts and concerns. So I will have that conversation with him and then work with the department. Thank you.