Caroline Cochrane

Thank you, Madam Chair. At this moment, I am not willing to make that commitment because I need some time to think about it. It is too rushed to make that commitment. We have a whole bunch of Indigenous governments that are at the table. Am I going to pick and choose or have one of each? Then when does it become a land claim negotiation versus a joint oversight committee? I am not ready at this minute to make that commitment. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The Minister of ENR would like to take this question.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mandate direction on negotiating tables change quite often. They are based on what we think will happen. Anything that has a change, if it is going to impact finances or land or anything, it has to come through Cabinet. It's not a decision that negotiators can make at the table. I know that a lot of people think that it should be, but the reality is that, if it costs money, it has to come through Cabinet table. They are constantly being updated on a regular basis. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

No, it has been quite a while, actually, since we updated our core principles and objectives. They actually arose from an obligation from the Tlicho agreement, is where they came from. They are actually very simple. They are very simple principles, and our issue is that there has to be some kind of standard of care or principles that go across. It's not as easy as just changing them to meet the whim. We also have to take Canada's legislation, as well. For example, the Canada Health Act has principles that need to be taken into account. The new Canada legislation that is coming out with Child...

During the Member's opening speech, I heard him say -- and I might misquote him, so correct me if I do -- that there are two kinds of workers; one that works for the government, government workers who get a lot of CCs. Now that I'm Premier, I get a lot of CCs, in all honesty. I wish I didn't get as many. Then there's ones who work for the goals of the government.

I came in here four years ago to actually make change, and it shows that I make changes. These wrinkles that I have on my face did not come honestly; they came from hard work at this table. I have already met with Indigenous...

Again, I have not broken the law. There is a clear separation between employment contracts and statutory appointments. The Minister did say in this House and publicly, that there were discussions, and there were discussions. The decision of how that came about, the Minister was not part of; that was mine, but there were discussions. Nothing was done in isolation.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to offer to maybe sit with the Member after and look at the interpretation because my interpretation of the Aurora College Act does not say that the Minister is responsible for hiring and firing. My interpretation of the Aurora College Act says that the Minister is responsible for "appointing" a president, different terminology. It does not say "firing," at all, or "terminating."

As I stated earlier, there are many positions. The employment contract of an associate deputy minister or a deputy minister remain with the Premier. There are many departments...

I need clarification. Was the appropriate notice given to the associate deputy minister? Is that the question?

Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize Miss Nadine Yousif, who is with Maclean's magazine and is up here doing an interview on women in politics. Welcome to the Legislative Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, discussions were had. This wasn't made on my own. It was a decision that I made. I hire. I terminate. That is done on my authority, but there is consultation that happened within that. I must also point out when people are appointed into positions such as boards, presidents, et cetera, that the Minister doesn't hire for but appoints, the Minister also has a time after that. There is usually a 60-day period that you can actually revoke those board appointments or presidents, et cetera. The termination of an employee or board member, et cetera, does not necessarily...