Shane Thompson

Thank you, Mr. Chair. There is a North Slave and a Tlicho. Can the Minister explain the difference in these two areas? Thank you.

This will be my final question, I hope, on this section. I thank the deputy minister and the Minister on this. I think that it is very important to do a needs-based assessment. I would hope that we do it yearly so that we can continue to see that we are meeting the needs. The other thing is, are you guys going to be doing reports and, are you going to be sharing that with committee so that we can see the progress in the work that the department is doing and from there. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. Chair, when we are looking at inclusive schooling, it has gone up by about $100,000, but I have heard the deputy minister talk about this being important and how it is going to be making it better for the students and that. They seem to have big plans. I am just trying to figure out how those plans actually meet this budget when we are only talking $105,000 increase, when in reality, the work that you guys seem to be talking about seems to be huge in nature. Can you please elaborate? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. In regards to the reporting, has the department gone to the federal government and said this is a hindrance, this is a challenge for the people within our communities? You know, the reporting is a challenge, and if that's stopping people from accessing funding that doesn't bode well for the people with disabilities. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. When are we going to find this information out, about half-time positions that are being moved? We have to look at the budget and we have to research to find this information? Because this is now two positions within your department that have been either deleted with reductions or transferred, and which is two positions in my riding. I'd like to get that clarified please. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Can the Minister explain how his budget was developed? I am sitting here looking. There are increases and decreases throughout this page here, and it doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason, but I know that the department has done a good job of preparing it. I just need to understand how they did it. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Could the Minister explain how they get the information out? Is it a walk-in or do they actually go out and go and see the people, the clients, out there? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I thank the Minister for that. However, I guess my question is: how come this information wasn't brought to our attention previously? One of the positions was cut; now this is the first time I'm seeing it and I'm seeing it in the business plans here. The information we're getting about cuts, are they only full-time positions? Is that the information, and that half-time positions are just showing up? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I guess can the Minister, deputy minister, explain how long it took to implement the system, because when I look at the actuals, it's $1.146 million, and the revised budget for 2015-16 is $1.143 million, so it was a $3,000 reduction compared to the year before, but it is what the main estimate was: $747,000. It was almost a $400,000 increase. It concerns me that there was a revised budget, and they had revised estimates later on. Could they explain if it was a process this system is now done and it was over two years, or what is that contract services all about then? Thank you, Mr. Chair.