Caroline Cochrane

Thank you for clarifying. I didn't realize that the utilities was actually a mandate commitment, so I will have to look on that. I can say that we need to support people so that they become as self-reliant as possible, recognizing that self-reliance isn't something that will be attainable for everyone.

I understand the reasoning for the Housing Corporation's decision. I used to be the Housing Minister, and my understanding is that within some communities, because people weren't paying their utilities, houses were becoming the public car wash. When people were hot in the winters, instead of...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, currently, we are right in the process now of reviewing our capital standards for all our schools throughout the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Like I said earlier, we haven't really looked at that too much, but it is a bigger thing than that, what I am actually concerned about, and I had spoke on that before in the House, is that income support will be necessary for some people. People with disabilities or seniors, people that have specific challenges in life, they might need support for their whole lives, but we also need to focus on people actually progressing in their life or productive choices.

That is why I had committed earlier to actually working with the non-profits, setting up a table before the end of this calendar year, so...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Educator Certification and Learning Platform, previously, it was very timely and cumbersome actually making sure that people had the proper certification, keeping track of their current learning, et cetera.

This system is about making sure that we are accountable, that we have the infrastructure, the technology, in place so that we can, in a timely manner, make sure that teachers who apply for jobs have the proper certification to provide the services to our students and that their training that is taken throughout is updated on a regular basis. It centralizes it. It...

I want to start by saying that translation services is not as easy as just speaking a second language. It is actually a profession. It is actually formal training to be able to do that. It is an expensive profession, as well, but a very necessary one within the territories.

The training that we are looking for more with our employees to whom we are offering the French languages is more on the active offer. It is being able to notice when somebody needs translation services, be able to say that, hopefully, in their language, and be able to transfer them over. It is more condensed training that...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We don't have a specific deadline at this point, because we are just reviewing the report. Within this projected budget that we are just presenting now, the capital, we are looking at the planning study.

We do need to get that parent feedback. We need to have it defined, this is where we are putting it, recognizing that not everybody is going to be happy, but the public needs to know, because the results of that will implement the planning that needs to go forward, the drafting, et cetera. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I have been assured by my department that, actually, our training is meeting the needs of employees, but I also take heed, and I think that we need to challenge that because the audit is saying that we need to do better with our training.

I am committed to actually looking at the employees that are taking that training and actually doing a survey of them and asking them personally, "Is that training enough? What would you like to see implemented?"

I will take that on, and depending on what the employees say, we will adjust our training. Like I said earlier, we want to provide the best service...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. At this point, we are still in the process of doing the geotechnical report. I believe we have gotten it, but I haven't reviewed it yet. It is in our technical division at this point to look at it.

Once we decide on it, we will be meeting with the school board, YK1. We will be meeting with them first and working with them, and because it is a school that had a bit of contention, we probably will have a public meeting to relay the results to the parents of that school. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would also like to recognize Josee Clermont, who is the executive director of College nordique. It's great that we work together and I am looking forward to further partnerships.

I also want to recognize, if they are still up there, we should have a group of grade six students from William McDonald coming to learn about our consensus government, so I'm excited to have them here as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, the Echo Dene School will be getting a major renovation of six stations to meet the National Building Code of Canada, as well as to enhance the home economics program offered at the school. Proper lighting will need to be planned and installed, which may require a new ceiling. The current soundproofing and insulation are likely insufficient for the redesigned space, so we will need to redo that. In a building of this age, abatement might be an issue, so we are looking at doing electrical and probably a new ceiling. Thank you, Mr. Chair.