It is my understanding that ECE increased its subsidy for the first time in eight years last fall, but that no further increases are being planned, and yet these programs are going to lose their four-year-olds, or some of them, come this fall. How is the Minister going to offset the loss of those children in the fee-based programs?

I can't look into the future and say how many students are going to be in early childhood programs throughout Yellowknife and our regional centres. We are dealing with what we need to do today. We want to provide services to all families across the Northwest Territories, give families in Yellowknife, in Hay River, in Inuvik, the same options and opportunities that we have in our small communities by providing quality early childhood programming through junior kindergarten in the schools.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister's plan is going to provide the lowest common denominator of early childhood education, where there will only be junior kindergarten and plain daycare. An alternative to this would be to provide a subsidy for each child of four years of age rather than to a whole program. I asked him if he would examine this option, which on the face of it would save a lot of money -- it is less than half the cost of having a child in a school classroom -- and report on his research, but I haven't heard back. Does this research exist? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Minister responsible for Public Education, we have to provide the same programs and services to all communities across the Northwest Territories. As I mentioned, I can't look into the future and see where parents are going to put their children in terms of early childhood programming. What we are doing is we are addressing the needs of four-year-olds right across the territory, and we are going to continue to do that.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.

Masi. Minister of Justice.

Yes, Mr. Speaker, I can advise this House that the coordinator will be located in GNWT offices. I don't think an actual address has yet to be determined; however, we did hear from contractors during the evaluation of this program that the administrative work was a burden, and for that reason it was decided to have a GNWT coordinator so that burden would be lifted from the deliverers of the program. Thank you.

So far, it's not looking good. The evaluation of the program which we eagerly awaited last sitting states that probation services were particularly emphatic about the usefulness of the program and the importance of it. However, the RFP appears to indicate that the program will not accept referrals from outside agencies like Probation Services. Is this in fact the case?

I'm not absolutely sure about that. My impression would be that they would be accepting referrals from outside agencies, but I will look into that and get back to the Member opposite.

Oh for two. The program currently incorporates traditional knowledge and elders. Will there be a similar cultural component to this program? Because, again, the RFP is silent on this.

I can advise that the coordinator will actively support facilitators to include cultural supports in the delivery of the program, including connection with elders.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A very bureaucratic answer. It's a ball. Two strikes and a ball; how about that?

---Laughter

The RFP is virtually silent as to what the new program will look like. It states that the information on the model of the long-term program is attached in Schedule A, but all I can find is a blank page that says "Appendix A" at the top. So can the Minister commit to immediately making the details of this program public? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I've not had an opportunity to review the request for proposals. I am confident, however, that all the necessary information is in the request for proposals. I have a competent staff; they spent considerable amount of time preparing this and I am content that the RFP does set out what is required by potential contractors.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, government procurement often comes up in my discussions with constituents, and particularly in supporting our economy, and our government has recognized that government procurement is an important driver. So now that the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment also has the responsibility for the Department of Transportation, soon to be the Department of Infrastructure, all under one roof will he commit to a comprehensive procurement reform for the Northwest Territories that involves stakeholders and creates a better system of government procurement? Thank you

Masi. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't believe I need to commit to that because I believe we have a robust system that's in place and procurement is well-documented in the Government of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I think some business people might disagree, and certainly it's good but that doesn't mean it stops there. Good is the enemy of great, and I think we deserve a world-class procurement system.

So will the Minister commit to establishing a committee of businesspeople and procurement experts to evaluate objectively our procurement system here in the Northwest Territories?

As I've said, I believe we have a robust, great procurement system in the Northwest Territories. As long as I've been the Minister, I have not had any complaints around the procurement or the process in the Northwest Territories and I will not commit to that.

Can the Minister tell us what is the complaint process for procurement in the Northwest Territories? How do people complain about our procurement system?

We're a small territory. Like everybody else in the Northwest Territories, if they have a complaint they either go to their MLA or go directly to the Minister.