R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There will never be enough money for Education. I think that's fair to say. You know, we can always do more. But I can say that we have made some changes to the funding formula that do benefit small communities. The way communities are funded, they're based on school population and at times there's a bit of a cliff when the school falls below a certain number of students it can experience a drop off in funding. So we have smoothed that slope for a number of different funding streams. And so that is something that happened this year that is benefitting small communities...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't have control of the operations of the RCMP so I can't make that assurance personally. But the RCMP is aware of the situation and they do have the ability to bring in other officers, as I've stated. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And there's been really no major amendments since 1980s on that bill so that's why it's a repeal and replace essentially.

So in terms of scope, the purpose of the legislation is to ensure that parties who contribute work, labour, or materials to a construction project in the NWT are paid and to provide a remedy if they are not. Lien legislation also creates stability and predictability for owners of construction projects by setting out obligations they have to other parties involved in the project. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And this is a national issue. This isn't just one community in the Northwest Territories. During the pandemic, the depot where RCMP officers are trained in Regina was shut down and it was not accepting new recruits and was not graduating new recruits. So we are now in a time where there's a shortage across Canada of RCMP officers because they weren't training. So this is an issue that everyone is feeling. However, this is part of the daily operation of the RCMP. If there's staffing shortages, they deal with them. And the department works with them to deal with them. We...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the department is currently drafting the bill for the new Builders Lien Act, which will replace the existing Mechanics Lien Act, which is quite a bold piece of legislation. The legislative proposal, which is one of the very first steps in turning a need into a law, was submitted in summer of 2021, was approved in late November, and the drafting began earlier this year.

The department was hoping to introduce the bill last year but, you know, things take time and it's fallen a bit behind. Nonetheless, we are considering all the feedback that the Member referenced and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the new money from the federal government, it's about $10 million a year, and it doesn't quite double what we were already spending. We were spending $10 million in GNWT funds and about $2.4 of federal money. So there's already a significant amount of money going into the system prior to this new influx of money.

So the current funding that is flowing out that everyone knows about is intended to reduce the costs for parents. However, there is obviously additional money, and we are working to get that out the door.

So the childcare fee reduction, that's the money for...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe there's 98 organizations in the Northwest Territories all together who provide childcare and charge fees. And I can say that 100 percent of the centrebased programs that offer infant and preschool programming opted in to the childcare fee reduction subsidy for 20212022, so prior to the beginning of this fiscal year or last the end of last fiscal year as well as this current fiscal year. All but one family day home opted in to that time period as well. And all but two organizations who offer after school programs opted in for the entirety of the program...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the work is going on to create those supports so that we can go into the communities and support the teachers. So I hate to say to the Member but we are making those plans. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We've been planning to make plans, and then we've been implementing those plans. I can say that much for sure.

It is clear that we need to support small schools and the students in those schools, and that's why prior to the OAG releasing their report, we've been taking steps to better support students in small schools.

One of the biggest things is junior kindergarten. You know, that's a few years old now, but that is the age where intervention has the greatest effect. And so we've implemented that and we spend millions of dollars each year on that.

Northern distance...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Now that is not a simple answer. So what I can say is that northern distance learning has produced some amazing results. You know, I hear great stories about it. I hear about students who, you know, in small communities who are taking these, you know, advanced level courses, academic courses, and making their way to university. And it's not obvious that they would have that opportunity in their community if not for northern distance learning. So it is a very valuable project, and I'm I don't want to say proud, but I'm happy with the investments that this government and...