CSO is a very integral part of our department when it comes to income assistance and programs. They do a great job in providing information to our clients, as well as our Career Development Officers, and we're just finishing up a one-year pilot program with Employment Transition Officers that actually go into the communities. Some of our Current Development Officers also go into the communities to provide education, training, information on resume writings, skill development and other areas in terms of literacy and numeracy to help people find jobs who apply for training workshops and finding those kind of things. So, yes, our staff is already kind of doing those things.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister work with other Ministers in Cabinet to utilize other government programs. I spoke of other government programs that can, I guess, create employment in the small communities. So can the Minister commit to the House to working with other Ministers in order to look at all the employment possibilities at the small communities? Thank you.

Yes, I will commit to doing that. I chair one of the education training and youth committees, and I want to make sure that it's on the agenda and that it is a priority especially for the small communities where it's needed most and finding the unique and innovative ways to get our residents educated, trained and also into the workforce.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Masi. Minister of Transportation.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Transportation uses every opportunity to maximize northern involvement in residents and delivering programs and services to upgrade and maintain all the highways in the Northwest Territories including the Liard Highway. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I again thank the Minister for his answer. It was a little bit short and it could have been more elaborate, but we'll work on that. Mr. Speaker, last session I spoke about how the department was able to guarantee that companies' commitment was upheld for northern involvement. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister please explain to this House what mechanisms are used to ensure Northern involvement are in these contracts?

Mr. Speaker, there's various mechanisms in place to ensure the Northern involvement in our contracts. This includes assigning a project officer to the project to monitor the subcontractor's involvement during the construction of the project. In addition, the contractor submits an employment record to the department each month with the progress of payments' request, and these reports are tracked to the employment records, so that confirms northern involvement of these individuals on the project.

I thank the Minister for that answer. This past summer, the contract was awarded to a southern company for Highway No. 7. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister explain how much local workforce was used for this project?

With respect to this northern contractor and the employment of residents in Fort Liard on this contract, I'm glad to report to the House that almost 31 per cent of the workforce in June was from the community, 40 per cent in July and 43 per cent in August, and that includes some residents from Nahanni Butte as well.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Minister for his answer. I was actually really impressed with those numbers considering I heard numbers lower than that before, so I'm very happy to hear that. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister provide us with what other work went to local companies, small businesses, in that area for this contract? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The contractor has also hired a gravel truck from Beaver Enterprises for resurfacing work and has used a local hotel for accommodation, but the contractor is also negotiating right now with Beaver Enterprises for the project cleanup of this project. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question here today is directed to the Minister of ECE following up from the June 7th Hansard here on the issues of day homes and day cares. If the Minister could elaborate on what has been in place here going back to the question that I brought up at the time here that there would be those facilities rolled out in October. So if I can get a status reply? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With all the communities we do have some communities that have early childhood programs, some that don't. We also have funding allocated to some of these communities. For instance, in Deline pre-school we have 15 pre-school spaces. We fund just over $37,000 for that. We have funding for the Behdzi Ahda First Nation still there's no licensed program but we do have the funding there. There's funding that's allocated to Norman Wells to do some work; nothing has come to date yet; we're still trying to find an organization or group to work with. In Tulita we do have 20 pre-school spaces and we currently fund them over $40,000. Mr. Speaker, I might add with start-up costs, we do have a very good incentive package for organizations, even individuals that own their own home that might want to start up a daycare or a day home and we can provide that information to the Member that he can provide to his communities as well. Thank you.

It's very good to hear that the programs are there to help the working parents that are having their children attend school, and the ones that are not are looking at opportunities such as the program funding available to initiate a day home. Can the Minister elaborate on any facilities in the day home category in the five Sahtu communities?

Currently, I don't think there's any day homes that are licensed right now in the Sahtu communities. I can go and do a scan and see if there are any and also develop some packages that we could hand out to people who own their own homes and who might want to start up a day home. Like I said, we have a very good incentive package, but I can get that information and get it to the Member.

I'm glad to hear that the programs and services and criteria and guidelines are there as well as the money is there. Would the Minister commit to having these opportunities for funding to support the day home through a briefing presentation to the community by community leadership in the five communities?

Since I've been in the position, I've been to about 20 of the 33 communities in the NWT speaking on all the initiatives through the Department of ECE, and listening to the concerns of the people. I am looking forward to doing a tour of the Sahtu, not only bringing information on early childhood programming, the day homes, the daycares, but also all information that we take control of in the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, and we'll work with the Member to get that tour set up at some point.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.