Julian Morse

I really appreciate that. And similarly, the community, culture and innovation is cut almost perfectly in half. Can they just give a quick description of what's behind that.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Maybe the Minister could help enlighten me as to how we come up with money for something that is unfunded and if we are coming up with that money, why on earth are we not simply just putting it in the budget? Thank you.

Okay, thank you, Mr. Chair. So I'm a little bit confused if that's the case. We have 366 new clients. I'd have to do some very quick math to figure out what 1200 minus 794 is, but it soundings like there's been a significant decrease in registration for the program. So can the Minister explain what's going on with the numbers there. Is there another program that people have fallen into; can the Minister just help us understand.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So just to be clear, were staff listing the organizations that are losing money this year? Is that -- she kind of characterized it as those are the organizations we fund; I was asking who is losing money.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, my first question is does the department have an update regarding the recent changes that they made to the extended health benefits program; are more residents now accessing the program? What kind of data have they been able to pull over the past year since changing the program?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I think, you know, I could go on and on about the Aurora College, but maybe we'll save that for some Members' statements in the next couple weeks.

Because I do -- I am genuinely curious, knowing that the mandate's out, to question the Minister about how they plan for that to be successful this time considering the previous mandate did not succeed.

The literacy funding item, I notice there's a fairly significant cut, and that seems to be over and above the closure of the community learning centres. So, overall, adult literacy is taking some big hits in this budget. Can...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, I'm interested in understanding the difference between the funding that is going to the health and social services authorities on this and then the funding that's being spent by HSS. So does this mean that we are spending on residential care, for example, $96 million? Or can they just explain the difference between the $97 million that's contained over here and then the $46 million. So do we have -- yeah, I think I'm asking the question in such a way that makes sense, but I'm just trying to understand how much in total we're spending on sending people out...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. My next question is related to the next page, on page 46 here. Aurora College transformation I notice we've also subsequently declined that item. And as we knew, MLAs kind of negotiated extra money into there, and now it is gone.

So the first question is not actually about the cut. Mr. Speaker -- or sorry, Mr. Chair, when is transformation of Aurora College to a polytechnic expected to be complete? Thank you.

Okay, thank you, Mr. Chair. So just to confirm and make 100 percent sure, we're not looking at service cuts for respite, seniors, or anything related to the long-term care? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I appreciate those comments from the Minister and obviously, you know, she's been busy with us so she can only do so much with one -- I don't know what I'm trying to say here. But there's only one Caitlin. And she's in this building right now so she can't meet so maybe we should wrap so she can go off to her meetings.

But I guess I just wanted to highlight, you know, for the Minister and her staff, you know, this area's a high priority for me. Certainly growing spaces is the big one. You know, in my riding, it's something that I heard from a lot of parents about. There...