Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The committee had supported the Minister in negotiating base funding in addition to any per capita funding that might flow out of a federal Early Childhood Development Framework Agreement.

However, with the recent change in government, and the uncertainty of federal funding to improve regulated day care in the NWT, it may be necessary to shift focus on our current early childhood programming.

As committee members heard during our pre-budget consultation process, residents are very concerned with the state of early childhood programs in the NWT. The lack of suitable infrastructure in smaller communities coupled with unstable funding and a piecemeal approach to programming is meaning that children are not getting the head start they should, and parents are being forced to use caregivers that may not be able to provide for their children's intellectual stimulation.

Committee members are of the opinion that the current programming related to day care in the Northwest Territories is geared towards larger communities that have the necessary volunteers and infrastructure to get a day care off of the ground.

The committee is aware there is extra funding available for smaller communities to get day care programs up and running but are, nonetheless, of the opinion that this extra funding does not go far enough in addressing the infrastructure needs and shortfalls at the community level. Committee would like to see the department bring forward a plan to improve and revitalize the current program. The committee is also very interested in seeing the outcome of the review of the day care program being undertaken by Alternatives North and would encourage the department to participate in the review process.

Mr. Chairman, it is realized we do not have the funding to deal with the infrastructure needs of a universal day care program in the Northwest Territories regardless of the amount of funding secured from the federal government in the future.

Subsequent to the review of the business plan, the committee did ask that the department consider dedicating one of the early childhood development positions to assisting communities/day care operators in finding suitable, long-term day care facilities in communities. Constituents have told committee members that the day care consultants seem to place a greater emphasis on the regulation of existing day care operators than on helping new operations get started or helping existing operations to survive and prosper. It was thought by the committee that reprofiling one of the positions to help new operators could be a positive step in increasing the number of licensed day care spaces in the Northwest Territories.

The department's response to this request, Mr. Chairman, was that the four regional early childhood education specialists were expected to offer this kind of assistance as part of their regular duties and that any new position or reprofiling would be redundant. Residents are encouraged to utilize the regional early childhood education specialists in setting up regulated day cares in their communities.

Members would be very interested in discussing any new ideas or initiatives that could address these issues during the review of income security programs and in the next business planning cycle.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to hand this over to my colleague, Mr. McLeod.