Thank you, committee. We’ll move onto pages 8-6 and 8-7, Education, Culture and Employment, activity summary, education and culture, infrastructure investment summary, total infrastructure investment summary, $2.329 million. Any questions, committee? Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I’m going to commence my discussions with respect to the project listing on page 8-8, the Children First Centre, the early childhood development facility in Inuvik. I do want to go on record that I’ve had substantial dialogue with a number of NGOs throughout the Northwest Territories, spoken at length with some of the Members here, knowing full well that this is precedent setting that we see before us here today. I want to make sure that the people of Range Lake know that I’ve gone through a great deal of investigation, knowing full well that with precedent setting also comes risks and also reward.

That said, it’s hard to look back in the rear-view mirror on something that truly is a great deal of a success story for the people of Inuvik, raising the amount of money that was raised to come to this point and having the balance come forward to the government.

So the first question I have for the Minister is: Because this is precedent setting, is the department looking at creating a new policy with respect to how this government will fund or continue to fund, moving forward, NGOs and infrastructure?

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Minister Lafferty.

Mahsi, Madam Chair. As the Member of this House clearly stated, early childhood development is very critical, an important piece of work that’s before us and an important matter for the entire community to adopt

as a priority. As you are aware, the responsibility for proper care for children not only falls on government but also the entire community. It’s a shared responsibility. It is, therefore, very encouraging to see this principle and collaboration of action with the town of Inuvik, where the entire community rallied for the costs and came out with 80 percent of the costs for building a place for the children of Inuvik.

The Children First Society, with the help of the Town of Inuvik, private sector and residents of Inuvik, were able to raise a significant portion of 80 percent of the required capital funding. The contribution from the GNWT will allow this facility to be constructed and the society will fund the O and M costs, as well, through user fees.

I understand that some of you are troubled by what looks like a one-off, providing funding to an NGO for this type of facility in the absence of a broader policy, as the Member alluded to. It is precedent setting, and I agree with you that such a policy framework needs to be devolved and we will definitely work toward that, but we have to keep in mind that early childhood development is a priority that we all share, and the government is committed to developing the updated Early Childhood Development Framework.

Funding policies for daycares and the like, however, should not be developed ahead of time or in isolation of the framework initiative but, rather, reflect on the intent and objectives of the overall Early Childhood Development Framework. So we are committed to work towards that. That’s what I wanted to share with the Members. I know Members have raised this issue in the past and we’ll continue to work towards the policy.

Thank you. I appreciate the Minister’s candor on the subject. Again, our congratulations go out to the town of Inuvik and the Children First organization for 80 percent of fundraising. That’s incredible.

As the Minister alluded, this is precedent setting and because the commitment from the government clearly indicates that policy will be forthcoming as a result of this precedent setting, it’s very, very difficult for us to look in our rear-view mirrors at where government may have not come forward. It is for those reasons, and those reasons alone, that this is precedent setting with new policy that we need to move forward. With that, I will be supporting this project. No further questions.

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. I didn’t hear a question there. Minister, did you feel the need to respond?

Mahsi, Madam Chair. I would just like to say thank you to the Member for his support. This has been a huge undertaking by the community of Inuvik and the

town council. So we have worked with them and we will continue to work with other communities as well. Mahsi.

Thank you, Minister Lafferty. Mr. Moses.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I, too, just want to make a couple of comments in regard to the Children First Centre and knowing that is precedent setting and that coming out of this, if government is able to create a policy in which it tops up funding for registered NGOs in the Territories to be able to run their programs and to create capital projects, such as the hard work of the dedicated people of the community of Inuvik, I think this government should be supporting those kind of programs seeing as how we’re in a fiscal restraint. When a community can work hard and help find funding for 80 percent of a project, a big project at that, that’s going to be able to house up to 120 students that will be both projects indoors and outdoors, as well, having all the donations, in-kind donations, the fundraising that went on, I think that it’s a positive project. It’s a big win for the government and people of the Northwest Territories.

I do thank all committee members. I know we’ve had a lot of discussion on this item since we got back into the House here and the first time that we saw it on the capital budget. There have been a lot of concerns, and I appreciate that we had some good dialogue on this and that some Members on this side of the House are in favour of supporting the program. Anything that comes out if it, I think that a policy should be developed where we can look at topping up NGOs that do a lot of work in the Northwest Territories.

I commend the Minister and his staff for looking at ways to get this project on the books, and I appreciate the hard work, and the community of Inuvik appreciates your commitment and support to not only early childhood development but to the future of our community and the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Moses. I didn’t hear a question there either. Minister, did you wish to comment?

Mahsi, Madam Chair. I’ll just, again, thank the Member and also thank the community of Inuvik for their commitment and dedication towards this project. So, mahsi.

Thank you, Minister Lafferty. I have nobody else on the list. Are there any other questions? Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I wanted to just first maybe get an update on what the situation is with the renovations to the museum. I know there have been a few kerfuffles lately, and I know that the work is being done by Public Works

and Services perhaps, or they’re involved. I know there were some toxic materials found and I think the situation there is now under control, but I don’t see it in this budget. So I think the hope is that we’re going to get that addressed this fiscal year. So could I just get that confirmed?

I know a lot of people would like to see the museum fully functional again, especially with the cafe there. It draws in visitors and makes better use of the facility. So if I could just get an update on that situation at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre with regard to the fire-related renovations. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Minister Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Chairman. There has been a lot of work in the Yellowknife Prince of Wales Museum. There’s been a tender for kitchen work that has been advertised and a revised schedule for construction to start in November and to be completed by March 2013. As the Member indicated, there is construction happening with the chimney repair starting in mid-September that should be completed by the end of October. There have been little hiccups that have been encountered, but that have been resolved as well.

With respect to the asbestos material, that’s been clearly resolved as well. It has been in the works, and we’re in the final stages of going through the process of completing the actual work itself. We are expecting that at the end of October, the repair of the chimney will be completed. By March the kitchen area should be completed as well.

Thanks to the Minister for those remarks. I’m sure he, as well as myself and the public, will be very interested in seeing that work completed.

I have to comment on the Inuvik children’s facility, the Children First Centre. As I believe the House knows, I’m a huge supporter of early childhood development programs and so on. Child care programs are not necessarily child development programs, and that distinction needs to be well understood by our decision-makers.

I have a major disappointment that this decision was made without a policy in place. As the Minister alluded to, that was pointed out in discussions with the Minister from committee and, again, a huge disappointment that there doesn’t seem to be understanding of the need for a policy on which to base these decisions. That’s so important to me because there have been many organizations, possibly equally motivated, who have been turned down for support. Ultimately, it becomes a question of fairness and particularly during a time when infrastructure funds are very tight. On that basis

and with the failure to establish a policy, I’m not sure that I will support that expenditure.

I understand, too, that we have not worked to have any influence on the programs offered by declaring an interest in investing a million or a good amount of money into this piece of infrastructure. There is that concern too. I think, when we’re investing infrastructure, we want to be sure and have a policy role as well.

I guess I’ll leave it at that for now and ask the Minister if he has any comments.

This position or project came into play and has been very unique the way it’s been approached by the Children First Society. It has been in the works for the last four or five years now, or even longer before that, with the committee. They’ve initiated their discussion with the community and the leadership got involved.

It’s similar to what we’ve done here in Yellowknife area with Betty House and the dementia centre, just to name a few. We were in a position to make a decision for 90-plus children in a centre and this should be a good-news item for the Northwest Territories, with a contribution of the town council of just over $2 million. Our contribution is just under 20 percent. It is a very unique position to be in and we are investing in our children, as the Member alluded to. That’s always been the case of this government, we need to invest in our children. Yes, it is precedent setting.

I did commit that we will be drafting a policy pertaining to the Early Childhood Development Framework. It is in the works. There will be consultation as well. We were caught in a position where we had to make a decision for one of our communities. We did that. It wasn’t just GNWT money, it was various sectors involved, the leadership of the community of Inuvik and our department as well. I must also commend the committee, the Children First Society, for their tremendous work and dedication. Without their effort, we wouldn’t be sitting here discussing this particular important piece of work. Then again, the policy will be in the works and, yes, it is precedent setting, but we have done that in the past, as well, in other projects, as I’ve just named a few.

Can I get confirmation that the Minister said the department will be developing a policy for non-government organizations’ infrastructure that we would consider contributing to? Not just to a Children First sort of structure but an NGO structure.

When I speak of this policy, of course, I can only speak from my departmental perspective. The early childhood development framework, that has to pertain to that. If Members are alluding to overall GNWT initiatives, that’s an area that we need to discuss further.

Involvement of NGOs, their input, of course, will be invaluable towards this policy because it is for their pursuance down the road when they seek funds through the GNWT. We will be working with them, as well, and also the standing committee of the Regular MLAs as we move forward on this particular piece of work.

I mentioned earlier that I’m a big supporter of early childhood development and the social aspects of child care. I think this government should provide universal child care. The Minister is making steps in that direction. Can I assume that the department supports universal child care in the Northwest Territories?

In my language will be [English translation not provided], meaning that we have to take certain steps towards this. It is in the works with the Early Childhood Development Framework. That is the start for us. We’re thinking long-term universal, and that could be the end goal, but we have to take baby steps, as well, towards this framework that’s before us. We need to finalize that with the input across the Northwest Territories. We’re going to be consulting with stakeholders and we will be listening to those experts on how we can start implementing this framework. We are working towards that as a long-term initiative.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Moving on with questions I have from Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have a comment and a couple of questions here.

I want to follow up to discuss the project for the Children First Society, the early childhood care and education facility in Inuvik. Like other Members, I fully support this project, it’s needed, and I give full credit to the members of the Children First Society, who did a great job of raising funds and have done an excellent job to get themselves the facility that they know they need.

My concern with this particular project is the process that was used to get it to the capital budget. We have apparently, according to the Finance Minister, have and have had a red-flag list, and I think the Finance Minister said earlier last week that the red-flag list is projects that are next in line. So one therefore assumes that projects will be on the red-flag list, then, as capital budgets go by, they will move from the red-flag list into the capital budget. This item was not anywhere near the red-flag list. This item wasn’t on anybody’s capital list until about a year ago. Probably not even that long ago.

In my mind, the problem is that we are funding a facility which the GNWT will not own. I appreciate that it is an NGO. I appreciate that they’ve done good work. But we are, as the Minister has said, setting a precedent.

I don’t think it was well thought out what precedent we were setting. I don’t think it was well thought out the implications that it would have for every other NGO in the NWT who is struggling for funds and would love to have a million dollars of infrastructure funding. The project itself is great, but the way that we got it to this capital budget, in my mind, was not the right way to do it and I don’t think it was well thought out.

We do need a policy, and the Minister has said he’s looking at a policy just for his department, and I want the Minister and all of the Cabinet to know that the policy that we need is not one just for Education. We need a policy that will cover every department, every NGO in the territory, so that we have a policy that when an NGO asks for infrastructure funding, no matter from what corner of the NWT they come, or what corner of the budget they’re coming from, that we have a policy that we can lean on and that will guide us in making a decision to fund them or not to fund them. The policy should not refer just to either Education or to early childhood development. It needs to be one that applies across the board of the whole of government.

That said, I’ll just leave that at that. The Minister has spoken to this project already. I don’t really need a response. I guess I do need a response. I would like a confirmation, and if the Minister can’t give it, then I think Members on this side of the House would like it from the Premier or Cabinet that the policy that is going to be developed will be one that applies across government and not just to the Department of Education.

The other thing that I wanted to mention, there are a couple of things that are not in the budget. I mentioned these in my opening remarks but I do need to mention them here again. There are several educational facilities which, again, are not on the budget. Sissons School is one. It’s well past its time for renovation and it was on the capital budget a number of years ago. It is no longer anywhere to be seen on the capital budget. I think that’s wrong. I’ve been advised that it’s in the works. I can’t see it on a piece of paper, so that concerns me.

Mildred Hall School is another one which has had renovations a number of years ago but there’s a certain portion of those renovations which were not completed, and again, there’s no money in any budget that I can see now or in the future that will allow for Mildred Hall to finish those renovations, the ones that weren’t done.

Thirdly, and again this has been mentioned a number of times, but there is no indication in the budget for any funding anywhere that I can see in the future for a stand-alone campus for Aurora College in Yellowknife. I know the Minister has responded and said, you know, it’s being worked on

and so on, but it needs to be into the capital budget. As I said, I don’t see it anywhere and that really concerns me.

In terms of these three facilities, I guess my question to the Minister is: Why are they not in the budget? If not for the 2013-2014 capital year, why are they not in future years? Why do we not have an indication that they are on the radar soon and that these three facilities are going to be getting the money that they need to start their planning to do their renovations or to do their building within the next couple of years?