Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to follow up on my statement which is my concerns about how daycares are paid -- or sorry, structurally paid through the grid formula created by the Department of ECE; and furthermore, Mr. Speaker, the challenge, of course, is that when a person with ten years of experience is paid less than a summer student, or even a grocery clerk, we have to start asking ourselves who are we serving in that particular thing.
Mr. Speaker, my question specifically to the Minister of education comes down to this: Given the immediacy of the urgency of the financial ability of all of these daycares, I would ask the Minister would she convene a small conference of executive directors and presidents or chairs of each society to have a conversation to hear directly their financial stresses and how they are presenting solutions that can get to solvent daycares as opposed to where they're going right now which is insolvent daycares. Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have the Northwest Territories Early Childhood Association which is made up of both daycares and day homes and their representatives which is in constant contact with ECE. I have also had the opportunity to meet with that organization, and my last words to them was I'm more than happy to get together anytime. I'm also more than happy to get together with daycare providers. I have had outreach now as of last night from YK Daycare Association, and any time that, for example, the YK -- sorry, the YWCA has reached out to me, I have certainly taken them up on the opportunity to sit down. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I'm asking the Minister would she convene an immediate meeting and host a discussion with them about trying to solve their financial challenges, because right now they cannot afford to keep their doors open any longer, people are turning jobs down in the Northwest Territories because they know there are no spots, and they're losing employees to other jobs because they cannot pay them outside of the wage grid. Mr. Speaker, would the Minister call for an immediate discussion with these people? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have heard from the YK Daycare Association, and I'm very happy to meet with them. I'm very happy to meet with any organization that would like to sit down, and they also have constant access as well to ECE, to their early childhood coordinators, and I know that the director of early childhood and learning has also met with people. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister keeps avoiding the question by saying how nice she is by saying I meet with this person and -- sure, that's great. But it's time to get the people in the room so you can hear their one major concern, the grid, and the grid it controls them, and it leads to the funding problem that they're facing.
Mr. Speaker, I ask again would the Minister call a meeting on behalf of -- or with all the daycares and their executive directors to sit down and get their one ask, help them with the wage grid? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm not going to meet with daycares on the Member's terms. I'm going to meet with the daycares on their terms. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from Range Lake.
