Caroline Cochrane

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We are focusing on home economics within this coming fiscal year, so we will be doing the same thing. The home economics room is going to get a complete redesign and renovation, including custom millwork and specialized appliances. The two schools are getting the exact same work. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. It is not an addition; it is a renovation, a redesigning and renovation of the space that we have. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. When I was actually reviewing the report that was done on the Aurora College foundational review, I did realize that most of the infrastructure within the Aurora College, which community learning centres are a part of, needed to be updated; they needed to be reviewed. We need to put a priority as soon as we have the people, the management team, in place. We need to prioritize going through every community learning centre. It's not only the infrastructure, but it's also looking at: what are they providing now, what supports do they need, and what are their potentials? We...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. On my right is Ms. Sylvia Haener, who is deputy minister of Education, Culture and Employment. On my left is Laura Gareau, assistant deputy minister of corporate services, Education, Culture and Employment. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, we are working closely with the YK Dene First Nations to actualize their vision, and I like their vision. It talks about making it a hub, it talks about making a bigger gym, it talks about making it a centre of their community; and so, I'm fully in support of that.

We did have a vacant position that's just getting filled, but that shouldn't impact that. What I need to do, myself, too, is contact the Yellowknife Dene First Nation, and I will commit to doing that as soon as possible, to sit down with them again and make sure that they're still on track, and to see what...

I've said it, and I'll say it again, that we are committed to making this a reality. We will do whatever we can to support the daycare. I'm not even sure what they're called, but the daycare center in Norman Wells. So, if that means working with Infrastructure, if that means helping them to fill out the applications, if that means walking into offices, we will do what we need to do to make this a reality.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I really want to start with saying that I'm really excited about Norman Wells' daycare. One of our mandates is to get daycares in every community, as many as possible. There is lots of research. I could go on and on about the amount of research that says early intervention is the best intervention for children to ensure that they are successful in life. So Norman Wells is one that we've been watching closely. We're working closely with that community. I know that they have submitted their application. There are a little bit of processes: they need to get a fire and a...

I do have to say I really appreciate the questions today because the MLA has actually pointed out a lot of the vision things, a lot of our strengths, a lot of the areas that we need to work with. The reason that I'm really promoting to move into a polytechnic university is because that research money is leaving the Northwest Territories. We have hundreds of universities coming across the world up to Inuvik to study our issues, and we're not tapping into that money because we're still a college.

So moving into a polytechnic university will allow us to not only access that money, but it keeps the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, I would like to clarify that at no time was it my intention to move programs out of Fort Smith. My vision is to actually expand and strengthen programs in all campuses. It is not about one community or another.

I do want to also talk about the idea of ENR and what the Member had talked about. Yes, that is part of our visioning exercise that we need to do, is going throughout the territory and looking at the strengths that we have to offer and getting that from all of the communities, all of the people, so that when people identify one of the strengths, ENR...

As a commitment, I know that there are processes, but, if it makes the MLA feel better, then I can commit to, by the end of this week, we will phone Norman Wells' daycare society and actually help them to give them an answer and tell them what they need to go through. It is a process. They need to apply for the health and safety, they need to apply to the fire marshal to get those inspections. It's not as easy as just one department taking this over, but we are willing to work with them as much as possible to make this a reality.