Merci, Monsieur le President. Since our last sitting, we've received the good news that a Canada-NWT Childcare Agreement has been reached promising $10 a day childcare for parents across the Northwest Territories. Excellent news, but how's it going to actually work?
The first big issue is putting money in the parents' hands who have continued to pay for childcare since the deal was signed. Ottawa requires that money under the agreement flow to the childcare providers. So how does it move on from there on to the parents who pay the childcare invoices? How will this affect the GNWT's existing funding agreements with providers? Will this create an administrative burden for licensed childcare providers?
Another big issue is infrastructure. Can any portion of these funds be spent on the construction or remodelling of facilities to create new childcare spaces? This agreement is only as good as the space available for the programming and we still have many communities without quality childcare. What's the story with this agreement and whether it includes infrastructure funding?
Roll out to communities is another area of uncertainty and possibly a source of real inequity. In the larger communities, it may be possible to retool existing spaces but in smaller communities, surplus or any space may be lacking. How many years will it take to ensure equitable access to childcare across all the communities of the Northwest Territories and will this new agreement actually help?
And finally, the long-term. The last Assembly committed in its original mandate to a plan for universal childcare before 2019 then rolled that commitment back halfway through the Assembly term and I was the only MLA to speak against this rollback.
The 2015 feasibility study of universal affordable daycare in the Northwest Territories pegged the cost of universal childcare, at that point, at $20 million a year. It's not clear whether GNWT's committed to maintaining the universal and affordable childcare after this five-year agreement ends. I will have questions later today for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment and how we make this a truly good news story. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.