Thank you, Madam Chair. In the smaller, remote communities, I guess, there is always a challenge of getting qualified educators in the schools there...qualified educators of science. Engineering is probably even a bigger challenge. What options does this department provides for these small schools, which some of them only have two or three instructors there? Are there any course upgrades or teacher support programs that would allow an instructor who has maybe been in a community for a couple of years but wants to upgrade the interest in science, can he come back and get some funding through Education to upgrade his training? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The money in the budget we will get to somewhere down the road. There is about $1.2 million for professional improvement across the Northwest Territories. That's a program that we run in conjunction with the NWTTA.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Mr. Villeneuve.

Thank you, Madam Chair. This Experiential Science the Minister mentioned, could he just clarify or explain to me what kind of a science that is for my own interest? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Madam Chair. It's pretty much the same science curriculum that you would find with the 10, 11, 20 or 21 level, but it has been redesigned or reworked so that it includes...It puts the topic in a more relevant way, a more relevant manner for northerners. It's difficult to explain the difference because it's the same concepts. For instance, it brings in the concepts that you might use in trapping instead of around other things that a kid might see studying a science book from down south. We are just in the first year of piloting it. The Experiential Science 10 is being piloted this year. So we are just testing it for the first time in the classroom to see whether or not we have been successful.

We had our curriculum folks work with taking the standard science curriculum, say what are the key concepts, how can we make that more relevant to northern students, and then we brought in a group of elders and worked with them to ensure that we were on the right track. So we think we've done the right thing. It's piloting in the classroom right now. I would be happy to get some more information to the Member if he wants to see what the curriculum looks like.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Mr. Villeneuve.

Madam Chair, I would be interested and I am sure other Members might be interested to see what it involves. Is it just in the bigger schools, or is it across the board in all Grade 10 classes across the North?

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am afraid I can't tell you today whether it's in all schools at this point. Actually, the pilot right now this year is for Experiential Science 20. So it's a 20 level course. The same concepts are being learned as if a student was taking Science 20, but we tried to turn it into something more relevant to northerners. I can also find out which schools it's being piloted in, if it's not in all of them.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Next on my list I have Mr. Ramsay and then Mr. Lafferty.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I wanted to just mention another subject that I think has been overlooked since the funding reductions of the mid-'90s and that's home economics. Madam Chair, that's where, as a teenager, I learned to cook, I learned to sew, some pretty fundamental things for a young person to learn; also healthy eating, food groups. Those are the types of things you learned in home economics. Again, I think the home economics teacher nowadays is extinct. We don't have the funding required to have the home economics teachers around, so I just wanted to mention that again for the record.

I wanted to touch on early childhood development. Madam Chair, one of the things that really concerns me is the incident of autism in our community and what support services are out there for parents and children who have autism. There are a number of them in Yellowknife and we don't seem to have anything suited or geared towards early childhood development of children with autism. If you go back to 1970, and that just so happens to be the year I was born, one in 2,500 kids would be born with autism. If you go 25 years later to 1995, it's one in 285 and that number is steadily creeping up. So it's more and more prevalent in our society. I would like to ask the Minister if the department has any plans to set up what would be a day care facility for children with autism. I am talking about the kids who are between the ages of two and four. They don't quite qualify for Four Plus or programs like that, but they are in that grey area. There is a definite need in the community for something like that. So I would like to ask the Minister if the department has plans to address that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am responding to Mr. Ramsay's earliest comments to courses like home economics. Currently technology studies do incorporate courses like home economics. What we are hoping is in a number of schools where they haven't been getting enough funding for student support, we are increasing dramatically this year and next year. Where they haven't been getting enough funding for physical education, we are bringing up the funding there significantly. Where they haven't been getting enough funding for trades training, many schools have been putting the money into those areas. What we are hoping is that when we provide the funding, it will provide some flexibility so that the schools will be able to expand their offerings in other areas. I expect we will see that in schools across the Territories.

In terms of early childhood development, the government, at this point, does not provide space for childcare, so we are not into providing centres. We are, as you know, talking about increasing our contributions to operators to try to make it easier for operators to be successful.

We are also looking at increasing the user subsidies. We do provide a larger subsidy to operators who provide spaces for children with challenges. So there is a recognition within our funding formula of the higher cost that may be there for children who need special services. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Given also the prevalence of FAS and autism in our community, I wonder if it would be worthwhile to look at a dedicated facility or a care mechanism for parents and children that have the learning disabilities and they need the extra help. It could be a specialized venue where they would receive the care and support that's required. I think that's something the government should take a serious look at.

Madam Chair, you will hear me talk more later this week about a constituent who has a child with autism who is caught in the social quagmire that is the Department of Health and Social Services and Education, Culture and Employment, income support. She can't work. Looking after her son is a 24-hour job and Health and Social Services wanted to suggest she get an aid, which would cost in the neighbourhood of $3,000 a month to get an aid in, but she would have to leave the home with her other daughter. This is not a workable situation for her. She can't have that much to live on. She needs some help. You will hear me talk more about that later this week.

Again, I really think given FAS and autism, maybe it's time we looked at a dedicated centre and get the parents and children the help they need in one location so there is support there. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I will certainly take the time to talk to my colleague, the Minister of Health and Social Services, about the issue. In education, our focus tends to be on inclusion. We think it's useful to make sure supports are in place where possible to include everybody in the classroom. We think it's good for the students with those special needs and for others to learn about interacting with people who have challenges too. So our society needs to focus on including everybody, and that's been our focus in education. I will certainly discuss the issue with my colleague.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Madam Chair. What happens, Mr. Minister, if a parent has an autistic child and there really is nowhere for them to go during the day? There is no day care that would entertain that unless there was an aid hired. There is nothing there. Between the ages of two when a child can be diagnosed with the spectrum disorder that is autism until they turn four, there is really nothing there I think that's the window that we really have to have a look at. What is there? Is there anything there for a parent with a child that has autism today between the ages of two and four? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I am not sure what services Health and Social Services might make available. In terms of Education, Culture and Employment, what we offer is an increased subsidy to operators of day homes or day care centres where they provide services to children with special needs. That is the support that is provided to ECE. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Mr. Ramsay.