Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I look forward to that taking place and the fallout of what that might be after the discussions take place with the day care providers. Mr. Speaker, the federal government has developed a program that pays each family $100 per month for each child under six. I am wondering what the intent of the Government of the Northwest Territories is to work in conjunction with that federal program to offer how we might augment that program with something we could offer here in the Northwest Territories to parents looking for day care space and some help. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd certainly enjoy an opportunity to look at changing our subsidy program so that parents could see more support through this government as well. However, we need to identify more revenues. As Members around this table know, we are challenged to meet our current obligations and are running into what the Minister of Finance has called a debt wall not too far off in the future if we don't get more money from Ottawa. So it is certainly something we have plans for, but to be able to deliver that kind of program, we need to have more revenues. This government needs to have more income to be able to put it into families' pockets. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think it gets back to priorities and setting priorities in the government. I could tell the Minister right off the top of my head where $2 million could be easily found, and that's repatriating the jobs from his department back to the Housing Corporation and scraping the macroeconomic policy shop that's planned.

But, Mr. Speaker, I wanted to ask the Minister, given the fact that there's a shortage of trained childcare workers here in the Northwest Territories, what strategy or plans does the Minister have to help us get more trained childcare workers here in the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The importance of trained childcare workers can't be understated. It is an area that we need to concentrate on. Aurora College has an ongoing program of training. They offer continuous courses through either distance education or by workshop every year to help people achieve their certificate. There are going to be four courses offered this winter to help people across the North get closer to achieving their certificate, and the college will

continue to offer that kind of programming. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I guess it's quite obvious, given my line of questioning here and my Member's statement today, that I don't think we're doing enough as a government to address the area of day care and the space that's provided, the training for childcare workers and whatnot, and I'd like to ask the Minister, given the fact that all these problems are evident, can he come up with a research method or some kind of strategy or if he needs more help I think we need to explore all of our options here in this area and I'd like the Minister to commit today to doing that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd be happy to work with Members to identify ways in which we can improve our support. As I said earlier, I have already got the plans for an improved subsidy. I would dearly love to be able to offer improved capital grants to operators, but that's going to take more money that this government doesn't have. We need to find ways to improve our income as a government in order to be able to get those subsidies to people in the North. I'm quite prepared to work with Members and to see if we can find ways to achieve betterment. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement I spoke to the need for an early childhood learning centre in Inuvik. I say need, Mr. Speaker. It's not a want, it's a need. There is a difference. This is an issue that's specific to Inuvik at this particular moment because we have a new school that's going up, but this may be an issue that's specific to the other communities when their turn comes for a new school or renovations. I'd like to ask the Minister of ECE if his department has had discussions with Public Works, and in this case the new Minister; and, no, Novel won't do. I wonder if he can have discussions with the Minister of Public Works about the feasibility of adding the childhood learning centre into the construction of the new school in Inuvik. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think that it makes tremendous good sense to have childcare centres in schools. It's something that I think in the long run we need to try and move towards. That said, I think Members around this table know that we are hard pressed even to live up to the requirements in our current capital plan. We have schools that have to be replaced because their foundations are in trouble. We have other capital programs that we can't deliver on. It's not a question of talking to the Minister responsible for Public Works. We need to find -- and it comes back to what I was saying to Mr. Ramsay -- we need to get resource revenue sharing. We need to get a share of the wealth that leaves our territory on a daily basis in order to have adequate funds to be able to make some of these wise choices ourselves. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I totally agree with the Minister that this is another good argument for getting resource royalty, but that's something that's still in the works and this is something that we need to do right away. My colleague from Kam Lake spoke to $32 million going into corrections, $4.5 million into childcare. I mean, there's something wrong with this picture, Mr. Speaker. Why, besides money, is this government so reluctant to consider putting the childhood development centre as part of the new school in Inuvik? The budget is big enough. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm not sure that you can say that the budget is big enough if it's been planned already without that space there. The community has been involved intimately in the plans for the school. The space has been set aside for it, but there is a requirement for the community to get involved. It's worth pointing out that the community itself has a number of options right now. The municipality will have access to gas tax funds, MRIF funds, and improved capital funding that my colleague, the Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs, spoke about just last week. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Final supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it would take more money in the capital plan. That's what it would take. It's fairly simple. So if we win the argument with the federal government, if we are successful at pressing home that we need resource revenue sharing, that we need a reasonable deal with Ottawa, then we have a chance to do that. But this is an issue that's important not just to Inuvik. We have other communities that within the next couple of years, are going to lose the space that their childcare centres are in and they don't have new schools planned. So this is a pressing issue across the Territories and one that we would dearly love to deal with. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.