R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the end of the 2019-2020 school year approaches, planning for how to safely reopen schools in the fall is well under way. The Department of Education, Culture and Employment is working diligently with its education partners to create a supportive and effective learning environment for students in the 2020-2021 school year, and beyond.

As we emerge wisely into more relaxed public health restrictions, I want to be clear: the upcoming school year will not be a return to normal. I understand that all of us want desperately to get back into our routines and have this...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We will defeat the scourge of COVID-19, and when we do, we will be better prepared to attract and welcome new residents.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to provide an update on the new immigration-related initiatives that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment has implemented or undertaken in the past six months, including an immigration settlement and integration pilot project, development of a new immigration stream, the creation of new resources for newcomers, and a refreshed website. I am also happy to officially announce the launch of the all new online...

I know that every time we talk about universal childcare for the next four years, it's going to come back to the quote from the Premier saying, "I am all about universal childcare." I thank her for that. In the government's mandate, there is a commitment to develop a 2030 early learning and childcare strategy in consultation with stakeholders that considers the availability of childcare spaces and reduction of childcare costs. This is under the commitment to advance universal childcare. What the Member's asking is what is in the mandate.

This is what we plan to do, how can we move towards a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes.

Unfortunately, I wouldn't say there are necessarily a lot of lessons learned. It's highlighted a lot of the things that we already knew: that there are a limited number of qualified early childhood educators; the pay scale is not quite comparable to other fields. In the letter the Member referenced, it talks about the pay scale for early childhood educators and people who work at childcare centres. It's much lower than, say, teachers, for example. A lot of times, people who have those qualifications move on to the JK to 12 system. It's tough to hold onto them.

The department has been trying to...

ECE gives out a lot of money. The Members are always asking me to give out more money. I have to let them know there is a process. There is a process in the government whereby I have to go to the Financial Management Board and present this. That being said, these funds were put out there for a reason. It's because COVID-19, we were afraid it was coming to the territory, and we needed to be prepared. As such, we put a lot of time into it in a short period of time. We put a lot of hours each day into this.

We are in a different place now. What we have to do is go back, look at what we have in...

I already committed to the Member to have a look at this. This is the type of work that I am glad is getting brought up here because these are the things that I was looking into prior to COVID sort of derailing things. It's nice to get back to business as usual. I have made an offer to the standing committee to make a presentation where we could sit down and have some more in-depth conversations on this, and I look forward to it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes, I would be happy to share this information with the standing committee. As the Minister mentioned, it is quite new, so that information hasn't started flowing yet. I will make sure that happens. Thank you, Madam Chair.

I understand the Member is using the term "clawback," but it's not like we're taking people's money. What happens is that the Income Assistance Program is there to provide people with their basic needs, and so, if there is money coming from another source, then that money goes towards the basic needs, and the amount, that gap, is lessened. That's the situation here.

With that said, this is the first time I am hearing about this, and this is different from money that comes from an impact benefit agreement or a land claim. This is money that is earned through the corporations, I believe. It is...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I know that we are on this number here, but these two numbers are connected. There is $600,000 total in here for Indigenous language revitalization. The $450,000 is being put towards the development of an Indigenous languages immersion pilot program, and the $150,000 is going to Indigenous governments with the idea that that can be used to cover the costs that aren't covered by SFA to have people attend this program. Thank you, Madam Chair.