Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Your Standing Committee on Social Development is pleased to provide its Report on Bill 68: An Act to Amend the Child Day Care Act and commends it to the House.

Executive Summary

Bill 68: An Act to Amend the Child Day Care Act, sponsored by the Department of Education, Culture and Employment was referred to the Standing Committee on Social Development for review on November 3, 2022.

Committee thanks everyone who came forward in person and in written submissions for their time and candid comments. Committee appreciated the favourable response to a number of the motions and the willingness of ECE to work with us. Committee members believe the motions passed during the committee's clause by clause improved the bill. Committee accepted the new legislation with some proposed changes; one motion moved by committee was not concurred with, therefore, that amendment was not made and committee may address this concern during deliberations in Committee of the Whole or at third reading of Bill 68.

Bill 68 does not address the existing challenges of the NWT's early learning and child care sector or fix the damaged relationship between the sector and government. It does, however, put in place necessary basic rules, such as a certification process for educators, and allows the NWT to catch up with the other jurisdictions in this sector.

The Narrow Scope of Bill 68

Committee was disappointed when seeing Bill 68. This bill presents a missed opportunity to renew the NWT's early learning and child care system and provide guidance toward the system that considers the diverse needs of the NWT environment and includes all parties. Bill 68 offers a narrow scope for amendment, with the areas open for change being limited and dispersed throughout the Act. The bill changes small sections here and there in the Act, and committee was not able to propose any whole-scale amendments. Committee finds this narrow approach another missed opportunity.

A Crisis in Trust and Relationship

Committee sees serious issues with the confidence in ECE rolling out this program. Many people think that making day care more affordable is a good thing. But how ECE has done it has created more problems. Committee did review Bill 68. This bill will not fix the damaged relationships.

It appears that the GNWT left child care operators exasperated and feeling cornered after lacking to show the intent to collaborate with child care operators from the beginning and insufficiently communicating the GNWT's larger vision of child care.

Committee finds that the GNWT showed a lack of comprehension regarding the seriousness and comprehensiveness of the issues created by forcing a fast start to the transition of the territories' child care system.

Members heard from child care providers that they have lost trust in the GNWT to responsibly guide the transition, providers sense a misjudgment in the real issues and perceive a bias in looking at provider-client relationships.

Recommendation 1: The Standing Committee on Social Development recommends that the GNWT:

1. Form an advisory group including representation from all parties.
2. Review the 2030 Early Learning and Child Care Strategy on the inclusion of child care operators in goals and vision.
3. Establish and share an NWT vision and mission of early learning and child care sector, including principles and explaining where the federal child care agreements fit, requiring five-year reviews to check if NWT is fulfilling its vision.
4. Conduct an independent review of the roll out of the Early Learning and Child Day Care Agreement.
5. Conduct an independent review of the Child Day Care Act.
6. Address the crisis of confidence by reconciling with the NWT ELCC sector and starting with:

• Improving communication by increasing responsiveness to clients and establishing client service standards; and
• Committing to explaining processes to the public before implementation, providing plain language materials and designating communication channels for operators to access ECE specialists and information.

On Complaints and Appeals

Bill 68 introduces a new section on complaints giving parents the right to file a complaint and enabling the director to investigate the complaint. Committee understands that ECE's policy intent is to allow complaints to protect the rights of families. Committee deliberated on the circumstances where the director may refuse to investigate, and on allowing disclosure of the complainant, termination of a contract, and the right to appeal.

Currently, the director has no guidance on when to refuse to investigate a complaint. Committee thought that it was important to clarify when the director may refuse to investigate.

Committee proposed adding clarity to the complaints process by way of Motion 1, adding a paragraph allowing the director to refuse to investigate a complaint if the complaint is trivial, frivolous, vexatious, or made in bad faith.

Recommendation 2: The Standing Committee on Social Development recommends that ECE improve and provide clarity on how a person may complain about an organization's service to the public by:

1. Providing guidance material for the complaints process to support parents and staff; and,
2. Developing a policy on the complaints process.

Recommendation 3: The Standing Committee on Social Development recommends that the GNWT:

• Provide investigative training to all staff involved in the complaints and appeals processes.
• Make this training obligatory for all staff involved.
• Build competence by ensuring that investigations are not vexatious and are appropriately carried out.

Complaints and Retaliation

Committee heard about cases where the relationships between child care operators and parents progressed to disrepair. In such situations of a bad fit, prolonging such an unproductive relationship would be undesirable. To prohibit that in such case contract termination is interpreted as retaliation, committee found it necessary to clarify that to prohibit retaliation does not prevent contract termination.

Committee proposed Motion 3, expressing that nothing can prevent an operator from terminating a contract under the terms of that contract. Should the operator do that, it would not constitute retaliation for the purposes of the Act. The Minister concurred with the Motion.

Recommendation 4: The Standing Committee on Social Development recommends that the GNWT ensures that administrative decisions are reasonable by considering the outcome of decisions and the process to come to that decisions.

Appeals Process

Committee has reservations about the appeals process as it is designated in the Act, as appeals are currently limited to the licensing processes. Members were generally of the view that the complaints process and the appeal process could use a review, given the expanded scope of the GNWT's role in early child education and as a result of the agreement with Canada. Given that this task is partially outside the scope of Bill 68 and would require significant policy work to see how these issues are handled in other jurisdictions, committee makes the following recommendation:

Recommendation 5: The Standing Committee on Social Development recommends that the GNWT review the appeals process in the Child Day Care Act,

a) in the short term with a view to:

1. Identify and make improvements to make sure that the Act clearly outlines how appeals can be requested and considered;
2. Clarify how complaints and appeal processes are distinguished in the Act; and,
3. Recommend how administrative decisions are made fairly, consistently, and in accordance with the legislation.

b) In the long term with the view to:

1. Fully review the appeals section;
2. Include comparison with other jurisdictions; and,
3. Result in a modernized appeal section.

Considering the Costs of Child Care

While the GNWT does not provide child care services, it is even more critical that policy development considers the supply and cost of child care and addresses the provision of child care to make it sustainable. The committee determined that it would be paramount for the Minister to commit to supporting the sustainability of child care and put forward the obligation for the Minister to consider costs in Motion 4. The Minister of ECE concurred.

Recommendation 6: The Standing Committee on Social Development recommends the GNWT include in its vision of a sustainable child care system information on the following:

• How to support the ELCC sector in its transition.
• How to embrace NWT realities without disadvantaging any of the existing parts of the child care sector.
• Considerations for licensing and supporting that proportion of the child care sector constituted by for-profit day homes.

Understanding the Needs of the Child Care Sector

Repeatedly, committee heard that the funding provided by the GNWT for child care is insufficient. In communication with committee, ECE expressed it is committed to working with licensed programs to support sustainability and growth throughout the system. However, committee sees a pressing need for the GNWT and ECE to act to prevent losing child care spaces in the NWT and makes the following recommendation:

Recommendation 7: The Standing Committee on Social Development recommends the GNWT recognize that the actions started under the federal agreement have initiated systems change in the NWT Early Learning and child care sector and require immediate action by the GNWT to reduce the volatility that may unfold;

And further,

Identify shortfalls in funding targets outside of the federal agreement, focused on NWT needs, including but not limited to:

• Capital and operating funding allocations;
• Incentive loans for new buildings and retrofits;
• Campaign action attracting potential child care educators;
• Bonus for child care certificate completions; and,
• Strategies to support professional development for ELCC workers to allow training without impacting existing work schedules.

Getting Regulations Right

Bill 68 adds many regulations to the existing legislation. Committee wanted to see a duty on the Minister to engage the child care operators in developing the regulations, specifically on fees and wages. Committee welcomed the department's intent to consult and prepared a motion placing an obligation on ECE to consult on all regulations, not just those that the committee had identified as having a financial impact.

Motion 5 obliges the Minister to provide a copy of the proposed regulations to child care operators to ensure reasonable time for feedback and consider the feedback in the regulations. The Minister concurred with this motion.

Committee sees the review requirement of regulations as a solid opportunity for ECE to be inclusive and show flexibility when considering the feedback received.

Recommendation 8: The Standing Committee on Social Development recommends the GNWT view the obligation to consult on regulations as an opportunity for innovation, inclusiveness, flexibility and reconciliation and be open to considering detailed feedback.

Privacy

Committee took the position that it is necessary to create an environment of certainty and clarity and ensure privacy protection for parents and children. The determination was made that ECE should have a privacy impact assessment conducted after drafting the regulations and before the regulations go into the public review phase.

Committee proposed Motion 6, requiring the Minister to ensure compliance with section 42.1 of the Access to Information and Privacy Act before recommending regulations. The Minister concurred with this motion.

Measures Increasing the Number of Child Care Places

All submissions pointed to insufficient child care spaces in the NWT. Presenters spoke about 300 and 400 children being on waitlists in licensed child care centres in Yellowknife. The need for spaces outnumbers licensed space in the regional centres. In the NWT overall, thirteen communities are without licensed child care facilities. Committee finds the situation alarming and urges the GNWT to respond to the need and investigate innovative options for creating child care spots without additional costs.

Recommendation 9: The Standing Committee on Social Development urges the GNWT to be innovative and identify options for increasing child day care spots at no or little costs, including, but not limited to:

• Changing the ratio of educators to children under two years of age by reducing the age of the infant category to children under 18 months of age. This would create additional spaces for children 18 months and older.
• Completing negotiations with NWT Housing to allow licensed child care to operate in public housing.
• Creating subgroups or sublicenses to allow child care centres, school-based child care, and child care offered in homes to offer licensed spaces.
• Create substitute lists or licensing to backfill so that if one educator gets sick, not all six kids must stay home.
• Create additional lists or licensing to enable before- and after- school day care, including evening care, so that educators who have time can take additional hours.

Conclusion

Recommendation 10: The Standing Committee on Social Development recommends that the GNWT provide a response to the recommendations contained in this report within 120 days. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.