R.J. Simpson

Thank you.

Thank you. That is quite specific. Perhaps I should pass it over to the assistant deputy minister for corporate services.

Yes, I do, Madam Chair, thank you. I am here to present the 2020-2021 Main Estimates for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. Overall, the department's estimates propose an increase of $8.858 million, or 2.7 percent, over the 2019-2020 Main Estimates. These estimates support our fiscal objectives to prioritize responsible and strategic spending while matching the modest expected revenue growth over the coming year.

The increase is primarily related to forced growth funding. The proposed estimates reflect:

$5.866 million for collective bargaining increases in the department...

Thank you. There are always plans to do more. It often comes down to money. The government has been supportive of that centre. The Member mentioned the old Hay River hotel. That was donated by the GNWT. I believe there is a marine vessel that is making its way over to that museum at some point in the near future, as well. That came from the GNWT. We are contributing where we can, but I agree with the Member that it would be nice if we could do more to support those organizations. Thank you.

Thank you. If you'll indulge me, I will go back to the Member's previous comments about the Early Learning and Child Care Agreement annual report that is done by the department. That was tabled in the last Assembly, the last year of the last Assembly, so that should be readily available. In terms of the Member's present question, yes, we are doing that work of looking at the spaces available; what type of spaces we can use; you know, looking at whether or not we can use government infrastructure, looking at how, in conjunction with the Housing Corporation, homes can be used for spaces. We have...

Thank you. Again, I'll bring this back to what I've been saying and what everyone has been saying here, that it would be great if we could increase all of these programs and do all of these things we want to do, but we have to focus on the priorities of the Assembly and the mandate. There are a lot of great ideas and wonderful things that I would like to see done in Income Assistance, but they all cost money, and so I want to temper everyone's expectations. While I am open to discussing everything and changing what we can do, changing our mentality, it all costs money, and so I am not...

Thank you. Could the Member please clarify which page he's on?

Thank you. For the 2019-2020 school year as of December 2019, the combined amount received by education authorities in the territory was $15,960,616, and there were 173.26 positions created using that money. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. It is territorial.

I am not quite sure what the Member means by "interactive," if that's the people working at the centres or if that is like a touch screen type thing. That would really be up to the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment who runs those. I would definitely encourage it. I know that at the north of 60, for the 60th parallel visitors' centre, when you enter the park, we have the big sign, which is strictly in English, but then, as soon as you enter the park area, the sign includes all the Indigenous languages.