Did N.W.T. gov't funding improve childcare in the territory?

The territorial government has spent millions making child care more affordable. But a recent audit found it wasn't verifying its payments or measuring whether the funding was working. And now, child care operators must provide two years of records. Jessica Davy-Quant reports. Reports. The NWT government wanted to make child care more affordable for families, but an audit recently found they weren't doing enough to actually track if the money was working. At this point in time, I would say that we can't say that it has improved the affordability, access and quality. An October audit found the government was relying on data provided by those child care facilities to calculate their payments, but they weren't actually checking if those numbers were accurate. The funding goes to cover staff wages, operating costs and keep fees low for parents. Hayes says he doesn't think operators were actually taking advantage of the system, but he does say the government needs to do more to be accountable. The department has to collect better information and be more transparent to the public about the results of this program. Education officials say they were trying to spare operators more paperwork. But after the audit, that's going to change. Starting this week, operators are going to be asked to provide attendance records, staff hours and other documentation going back two years. We do recognize that it might create a little bit of administrative burden for them. We are working to be as supportive with them as possible. The government says it will begin with attendance records with the review continuing through the spring. Jessica Davy-Quant, CBC News, Yellowknife.