Kevin O'Reilly

Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.

A couple of weeks ago I tabled redacted meeting summaries from the GNWTChamber of Mines COVID19 Working Group meetings. From the April 28th meeting, ITI states "allowing money from philanthropic organizations from the south is something we will be watching so it doesn't influence land use planning with more protected areas."

Can the Minister tell us which philanthropic organizations are being watched and what kind of monitoring or surveillance is being conducted? Merci, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I give notice that on Thursday, December 9th, 2021, I'll move the following motion:

Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River North, that the following Members be pointed as alternate members of the board of management: Mr. Rocky Simpson, the Member for Hay River South; and Mrs. Caroline Cochrane, the Member for Range Lake;

And further, that the following Members be appointed to the Standing Committee on Government Operations: Mrs. Lesa Semmler, the Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes; Ms. Caitlin Cleveland, the Member for Kam Lake; Mrs...

Merci, Madam la Presidente. Thanks to the Minister for that. I just worry that the window of opportunity's closing.

So can the Minister tell us what specific work is being done to encourage, promote the NWT to the federal government as a good place to invest in postsecondary education? Merci, Madam Speaker.

Merci, Madam la Presidente. My questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. I would like to explore why the Yukon seems to be doing much better than us when it comes to federal investment in their postsecondary education system.

Can the Minister tell us what the specific ask was from our government that resulted in the federal announcement of $8 million in their last budget? Merci, Madam Speaker.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I move that the chair rise and report progress.

Merci, Madam la Presidente. Lastly, I think part of the reason we're not attracting federal investment postsecondary education is that our federal engagement is not clear enough, and it's still focused on big infrastructure that has little prospect of actually proceeding or benefitting NWT residents.

Can the Minister tell us what he's doing to convince his Cabinet colleagues that investment in postsecondary education is a very high priority, even higher than big infrastructure? Merci, Madam Speaker.

Merci, Madame la Presidente. Thanks to the Minister for that. I guess I'm just a little bit greedy, and I would like some more.

I think that part of the reason why we're not attracting federal investment is we don't have a budget or a business case together yet for the transformation and, as I understand it, that won't be finished until July 2022.

Can the Minister tell us what he is going to do to speed up the development of that budget and a case for investing in the transformation and facilities for a polytechnic university. Merci, Madam Speaker.

Merci, Madam la Presidente. I participated in a Standing Communicate on Social Development and public technical briefing on Aurora College's transformation on October 27th, 2021. It appears that the work is largely on track. As the Minister knows, and I have publicly stated, I support further development of, and investment in, our education system as a whole, including postsecondary education. I support a polytechnic university as way to focus development of our knowledge economy; ensure our investment in student financial assistance is maximized; and, to give to our students more options.

One...

Merci, Madam la Presidente. A hot pursuit question for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. What I didn't hear in her response, though, to my honourable colleague from Yellowknife North was the Building Standards Act. Is that something like, I think this is what's at the root of the problem, Madam Speaker, is the lack of a Building Standards Act here. Is that something this Minister and her Cabinet colleagues are prepared to look at, is a Building Standards Act for the Northwest Territories? We're the only jurisdiction in Canada that doesn't have one. Merci, Madam Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. While I'm on a role, I got two, I'm going to keep going. So while the pre and postaudit requirements are a problem, the other one is a lack of certified auditors to carry out the audits, the energy audits, and the cost of training monitors. What steps is the Minister taking to help increase the number of energy auditors, and is any additional funding being provided to Arctic Energy Alliance to help fix this problem? Merci, Mr. Speaker.