Kevin O'Reilly

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Is there any prospect that this money can be recovered from the federal government? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I want to thank the Minister for those remarks. I participated in one of the events that she held here in Yellowknife, so I will vouch for what she says. The Minister has probably by now had a chance to review the City of Yellowknife's University Feasibility and Benefits Study. Can the Minister say how this report will be taken into account in future work toward the establishment of a polytechnic university for the Northwest Territories?

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I would like to start with questions about the allocation in here for land use planning in the Wekweeti management area. There is $647,000 in the Department of Lands and another $79,000 in Department of Infrastructure. Can the Minister tell us what this money is actually for? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. A lot has taken place on the renewal of post-secondary education since last year. Following the May 2018 release of the Aurora College Foundational Review, the Minister released her response to the report in October. That response endorsed the review's recommendation to transform Aurora College into a polytechnic university.

The City of Yellowknife was also quick to pursue the opportunities from the creation of a polytechnic university. A University/Post-Secondary Advisory Committee was created. Many prominent Yellowknifers volunteered to serve on this committee...

Okay. Thanks, Mr. Chair. Can I get a commitment out of the Minister, then, to provide an update? I am looking at, I think, it's schedule 3 in the business plan, which does not seem to be correct anymore. This is from the Department of Finance website. Can I get a commitment out of the Minister, then, to provide a corrected version of this, where the reductions are shown and the proper categories, according to the reorganization of the department? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. So where are these 69 people actually going to be housed, which building? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

I want to thank the Premier for that information. All MLAs received a copy of the submission from Alternatives North on the latest draft of the Arctic and Northern Policy Framework. Can the Premier confirm what other submissions have been received and how he intends to share them with MLAs and the general public while incorporating that input into the final speaker?

Thanks, Mr. Chair. That was my understanding, that there haven't actually been any signed during the life of the 18th Assembly. You can see it even on page 85 of the main estimates, where water partnerships and agreements has a $200,000 reduction between 2018-2019 and those proposed for 2019-2020. Even if you go back further in time, the budget was higher. Are these progressive cuts over time affecting our capability and capacity in terms of negotiating and signing these arrangements and implementing them? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. If I recall correctly, the last time there was a discussion about this, it was about changing the regulations that defined how the money in the Heritage Fund can be invested to make it so that the fund might actually start to earn money instead of losing money by having some perhaps more liberal investment policies around it. That is what we were told. Now, all of a sudden, I find out that the management is going to get contracted out. How do we go from changing regulations about the investment of the fund to contracting out its management without a Regular MLA, standing...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Well, I don't want to get into a debate with the Minister about the capability of his staff. I believe we have already settled that, that we agree that they work hard, they do good work. The problem is that they don't have the resources that are necessary to deliver on the mandate, and part of that mandate is to provide sound evidence for evidence-based decision making. If you cut contracted services, and that means outside expertise to help you deliver good technical advice to boards, it's not going to happen. In any event, I have one other question here. There is another...