Jackson Lafferty

Masi, Mr. Speaker. Those 42 individuals who are homeless, obviously they don't want to hear about the paper trail, the process that needs to take place. They want to know what this government is doing to support them, to house them. Mr. Speaker, my final question is: what is the Minister doing to wake the Housing Corporation up to the human emergency that homelessness represents to the Legislative Assembly, our communities, and to all the people of the Northwest Territories, especially those who are homeless?

Obviously, Members sitting on this side do not want to lose the hope of the federal funding that is available to us, should be available to us, but if we are talking about proposals, I am afraid we are going to miss out on the opportunity.

The Yellowknife Women's Society is a highly respected, extremely well-run non-profit agency that has been helping disadvantaged northern families for upwards of 30 years. It has extensive experience in transitional and emergency housing. If the Housing Corporation had problems or issues with the Arnica Inn project as the Minister alluded to earlier, why didn...

Masi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this Valentine's Day, when many people were receiving chocolates and flowers from their sweethearts, the Yellowknife Women's Society received a very bitter present indeed. The women's society was told by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation that they would not receive funding for a social housing conversion project dear to the hearts of many Yellowknifers and dear, also, to the hearts of the people in my riding of Monfwi. The Arnica Inn project would have provided small, self-contained apartments for 42 of the 338 disadvantaged people, Mr. Speaker, who...

I would still like to know the process of what happened. The public needs to be aware how the decision was made. All I am asking for is: what was the decision based on? If that can be provided to me so at least I have some information in front of me that I can share with the public, as well.

Masi, Mr. Speaker. I certainly hope that is the plan, 2022, not 2023 or 2024, when our term is up, here. My final question is regarding the polytechnic transition period. I'm just curious to know, because I haven't seen any of these areas, if we have any Aboriginal or Indigenous persons or resource people who are involved as part of the management team during this transition period. Masi, Mr. Speaker.

Obviously, we're looking forward to the statement. As the government has stated, we need to be open and transparent, and, if we have nothing to hide, let's lay it on the table. It's going to be almost five years, in 2022, without a board of governors. During the polytechnic university transition period, we need that expertise, which we don't have today; until 2022, 2024, 2025, whatever the case is. Why does the Minister believe a duly appointed, arm's-length board, as envisioned by the Aurora College Act, is incapable of transitioning the college to a polytechnic university? This is a very...

Masi, Mr. Speaker. [Translation] I want to make a statement on the Aurora College Act. It is stated that the Aurora Board of Governors make a decision. It is written that we say, the Aurora College Act, it's a big act for us. If we were to take a look at that act, we need to all work together in order to go forward. [Translation ends.]

The Aurora College Act gives the governance of Aurora College to our board of governors to guide the college's overall direction and supervise the college president in the exercise of his or her duties. Mr. Speaker, that act is based on a very important...

Masi, Madam Chair. [Translation] This mandate that is in front of us today, it's a big document. We have 22 mandates listed. When we first started, we had a lot more issues than this which is not on this list, but we've been on this job for four or five months, now. We still have another three-and-a-half years, when another election will happen. This mandate is here only for three-and-a-half years, so I think we want to tackle the mandate as soon as possible. Sometimes when we talk about issues, we're always trying to find a solution to resolve our issues. When one of the Members has spoken...

I am not mentioning names here. I am mentioning the president of Aurora College. The document the Minister is referring to is not a signed document yet, today. Other signed documents in the past have occurred based on what decision that was made from the Premier of the day. I would like to know. The public would like to know. Here, we talk about being a transparent, being an accountable government. Please provide that information to me so I can have and I can explain to the public this is what occurred based on the facts, based on the act that was before us.

Mr. Speaker, I am still getting a lot of feedback from the public on this whole Aurora College. I do have possibly one question to the Premier. That is: when the Premier terminated the Aurora College president -- I am not referring to an associate deputy minister. I am referring to the president -- what did she base her decision on, what in the Aurora College Act, or was it the Public Service Act or other areas of acts that I am not familiar with? Can she please provide me and also the Members a copy or a section of such act that she based her decision on to terminate the Aurora College...