Thank you, Mr. Chair. Over the course of this budget review, I want to be able to speak to some of the work standing committees did during the business planning process. We touch on this often in our sittings to benefit our constituents that MLAs are hard at work for the fall of every year, reviewing the departments' annual business plans. This takes a lot of time from the Ministers' offices, the standing committees, and from the departments and departments' staff. It is a significant amount of work, and it should not be understated how important this is in the functioning of consensus government.
One of my concerns, however, is, after the conclusion of these reviews, standing committees make numerous recommendations to government. The real test of that business-planning process is whether or not Ministers accept the recommendations and move to implement them. I think that is the true spirit of effective consensus government when that exchange over the business plan actually results in progress moving forward. That goes greatly to my disposition on these final budget documents.
First off, I will just speak to some of the highlights here that the Minister indicated in his opening remarks that I support fully. The $2.1 million dollars to offset the costs associated with junior kindergarten implementation and the additional inclusive education schooling, this is something that we have heard as Regular Members from our education partners and something that we have lobbied hard for on the floor of this House and behind closed doors. It is good to see this additional funding implemented.
My only concern around it is it is not fixed permanently. It is something that we hope will continue as there is a shortfall in enrolment. It is something that I hope continues so we have fully paid-for junior kindergarten going forward.
I think the new $1.6 million to expand distance learning program is also a welcome investment in education. $1.4 million to establish six new career and educational advisors, I have heard from colleagues that they have seen these officers working firsthand at schools and at job fairs and that they are very much welcome conduits for skills development for young people. The force growth spending, $1.7 million to address income assistance program and other income assistance program investments are good things. We don't want to fall behind with our social assistance programs.
I do want to look at a few of the concerns around the department's progress on mandate commitments. I will be quite clear from my seat, at least. Post-secondary is a real mess. It has taken a long time to get to a point where we can actually see legislation moving forward. There is a high likelihood that further delays will push this into the last year of our term or perhaps the next Assembly altogether. Meanwhile, there has been a huge push from the federal government to invest in post-secondary infrastructure and programming that we have not fully capitalized on, and we do not have a concrete plan to really invest in post-secondary opportunities.
Aurora College is, of course, the poster child for that lack of progress. We started with a strategic review, which turned into a foundational review, which, when complete, will become a new strategic plan, which was the plan all along. I think what I am expecting is that we see real change to Aurora College and real independence granted to the institution.
One of the fundamental problems with the college, from everything I have heard, is political interference with the operations of the college. I do not mean politicians are getting their friends jobs there. I mean the overall direction of the college is controlled by the department and the department's frameworks and strategies. It is being used as an instrument to develop on Skills 4 Success and other labour market strategies. That is not the role an independent post-secondary institution should play. ECE's interaction with the college should be one based on funding agreements, but the college should ultimately be the ones to dictate programming choices and operational matters, and the college needs to start listening to students. They should be at every school at a younger age talking to students. This is standard practice for every post-secondary institution, and they just do not do it. That is something I have heard about and was confirmed to me recently in the foundational review that is going on right now.
These are things that we do not need two years of work to figure out. These are very clear things. It needs an independent board. That board needs to be empowered to make clear decisions, and it needs to be severed from government. It should not be operating as a public agency. It should be operating as a public academic institution, and I am not sure if that is what is happening at all. The business planning process, which is more in depth than this, did not give me an satisfaction that that is, in fact, the direction we are moving, and we need clarity on this issue because time is a-wasting, and people need those skills and development.
The standing committee, again, recommended that the Teacher Education Program and Social Work Diploma Program be reopened for enrolment. The department has ignored that recommendation, and I am not sure why. They cleave to the foundational review, but the issue is those programs are dead in the water if they cannot enrol new students. In effect, they are being bled dry by a lack of enrolment, and again, this is, I think, the second time the standing committee has made that recommendation and the second time it has been ignored.
The standing committee also recommended that childcare subsidies be made available to parents and families on income or means-tested bases. That is echoing other previous recommendations. That is not indicated in this business plan, either.
The standing committee recommended that arts funding be increased by $500,000, doubling the current support to the arts council, and also that a touring grant be established for $100,000 to help NWT-based performing artists in performance opportunities outside the Northwest Territories. I fully support these additional investments in our creative industries. Again, those recommendations were not taken up by the department.
I think this is troubling. These are significant areas where we can work together to improve the department's budget and the department's operations, and these recommendations that standing committees are making are modest. They are not exhaustive. They are not hundreds upon hundreds of minute details. They are high-level policy recommendations that are not being taken on by this department.
As the Premier mentioned in his opening statement, employment in Yellowknife does quite well. We have very high levels of employment. It is really the smaller communities outside of the capital that suffer from very high unemployment, and that is something that this department needs to address. The Small Community Employment Strategy has stumbled to get off the ground, and I hope that we will see progress on that through the commitments made in both the business plan and this budget.
Finally, on to the issue of arts funding. The creative industry in Canada employs more people than forestry, natural resources, Canadian Armed Forces, and fisheries combined. There is nothing preventing us from developing an industry, not of that magnitude in the Northwest Territories, but certainly we could lay the foundation for it, and that starts with doubling the investment in the Arts Council. That will help creative professionals find more funding for their projects and develop their professional skills. We are talking about the whole gamut from filmmakers to architects to graphic designers. They are all involved in these creative arts projects.
Not only that, but it allows more wellness and vibrancy in our communities. It helps people take pride in themselves. It hits a whole number of areas of important public policy goals that this government has set for itself, and not increasing it because times are tough is not enough. We need to start an investment now so that investment will pay off in the future. The arts council and arts communities have been waiting 10 years for increased investment, and the fact that this department cannot see the wisdom in expanding not only arts and culture but employment in these industries is very disappointing to me.
With that, Mr. Chair, I will conclude my opening comments, but I will have more to say as our budget deliberations develop. Thank you.