Debates of Oct. 29th, 2025

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned in my statement, the Minister made reference to the BC government because we have a BC curriculum. Will the Minister commit to funding screening, training, and support for students with learning disabilities for literacy as is being done in British Columbia? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, we are in the process right now of finalizing a What We Heard report from the inclusive schooling review. That report will be out by the end of this calendar year and by the beginning of next calendar year, we will have a response to the recommendations from the government that I'm very happy to share and want to ensure that it's publicly accessible. And I fully intend from that and from the recommendations that come from that to have funding requests that I will in turn be working with my colleagues on. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of ECE. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.

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They wonder where the education system is under section 7(2). Mr. Speaker, if the schools cannot provide these assessments, can parents do these on their own and seek reimbursement through the department of education? Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Minister of ECE.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, the way that our system is structured today, that funding request would have to go to the education body itself. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I said in my statement, these can cost $3,000, even parents paying up to $6,000 per child for supports to get these actioned. Is the Minister saying that if parents request this through the educational body, the department of education will support these financial requests for these parents? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what I'm saying is currently we have our school funding formula which turns around and funds education bodies. There is not a mechanism that these types of tests are currently supported through the department of education. One of the things that many education bodies do is look at their student body and find ways to support multiple students through the funding that they do have afforded to them. So any type of specialty type test that is done through the education body themselves would have to be done in discussion with the education body. I know that they do fund some specialty tests, but they do keep them to a minimum and do a certain number of them a year based on their funding. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of ECE. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife Centre.

Mr. Speaker, I knew the Minister would just say that the money's within the system. But also there's a section called section 18(3), and it talks about where the Minister may provide funding for tuition fees and costs in their discretion, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate it's not mandatory, but it says may. So if we're not meeting the needs of the students to the best of abilities of the school system, can parents pursue these things, because some of them are waiting years to get help. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think this is critical information that we're going to get back from families in regards to the inclusive schooling review. We had a tremendous amount of families, of educators, of students participate in this review and explain their experience and their needs to the department of education, and I fully intend to use that information to form our next steps. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of ECE. Oral questions. Member from Range Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, day homes are struggling with stagnant subsidy support from the government to provide $10 a day daycare. One of the things they're asking for is for additional services to be charged back to clients. This is something clients are okay with. It's something that already happens in Alberta and other jurisdictions. Will the Minister permit day homes to charge additional services -- charge for additional services they provide? Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Range Lake. Minister of ECE.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, we -- sorry, Alberta calls those voluntary service fees, and we have gone back to our daycare and day home providers and said that they're able to do the same thing that Alberta is doing. I've also expressed this to the NWT Early Childhood Association as well. There are some rules around that in that the fees do need to be voluntary and that they can't hold back other kids within the system if their families are unable to meet the requirements or the asks of the voluntary fee. Thank you.

I am going to take that as a yes, Mr. Speaker. So thank you for that to the Minister, and I hope she communicates that to day homes soon because they're still unaware of that change.

Mr. Speaker, the work of day home providers is different from daycare centre providers. Their wage grid does not take into account longevity of service provided in the North, education, or Indigenous knowledge. Will the Minister update the wage subsidy for day home providers so it reaches parity with daycare centre providers so we're not playing on two different playing fields.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, in regards to the Member's first question about the voluntary fees, a letter did go out to daycare and day home service providers in April of this year explaining how they can go about using that, and I also was able to reiterate that in my recent meeting with the NWT ECA as well.

In regards to the salaries for daycare and day homes, what we were able to do is, with our best data, look at the average salaries across the board that people are collecting and make sure that they were on par, and the work that we did earlier this year was in order to bring up the wage of daycare service providers because it was significantly lower. And so we were able to use the $3.5 million that the Member referenced in order to do that.

It is worth saying, Mr. Speaker, that this program is costing jurisdictions across the country a tremendous amount of money in order to administer. It is not properly funded for us to be able to administer this federal program the way we'd like to do so. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of ECE. Final supplementary. Member from Range Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I still think we should have fair compensation for day home operators that are doing the same work; they're just not getting paid the same amount.

Mr. Speaker, currently the age ratios for younger kids is -- needs to be adjusted -- let's just put it that way -- to 18 months and under. If we did that, we'd get more infants into these spaces. Right now, it's really only about the older kids. Will the Minister change the definition for infants to 18 months and younger so we can get more kids into care, get more people back to the workforce after their parental leave, and start making a difference in the lives of northern families? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, this month I had the opportunity to sit down with the NWT Early Childhood Association. We talked about some different ideas like this to increase flexibility and also make sure that we're working together to best serve residents of the Northwest Territories. I agreed with them that I would work with them on some of these ideas. Age range is one of those ideas, and the department continues to work on that, and I'm happy -- sorry, I'm speaking way too fast because I'm excited about this one. So yes, very happy to work with the Member and continue working with the NWT Early Childhood Association on ways that we can make changes. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, following up on my Member's statement, I have questions for the Minister of ECC.

Mr. Speaker, when is the Minister -- or can I get a commitment from the Minister or an update -- I should say -- from the Minister on the commitments that I outlined in my Member's statement regarding the traditional use cabins? Where are we with that, Mr. Speaker.