Kevin O'Reilly

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I am just looking at schedule 3 of the business plans, the public version from the website, and I see that there is going to be a reduction to local housing, LHO funding contributions of $217,000. Can someone explain what that is all about? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I'd like to thank the Minister for that response. Yes, we really need to get that legislation before the end of our term. Last fall in the House we changed our mandate for the 18th Assembly and we included a new section around the knowledge economy. I'd like to know what the Minister can tell us about his department. What specific work are they doing on developing a knowledge economy? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

I'd like to thank the Minister for that. Hopefully the report will come out earlier in the 2018-2019 academic year. I'll look forward to seeing that. The Minister has been on record as saying that the future of the social work and Teacher Education Program is tied to the Aurora College foundational review. There's actually money in the 2018-2019 budget for these programs. Can the Minister tell us whether this is still the case about the programs' future being determined by the foundational review and whether either of these programs will be offered again at Aurora College in the fall of this...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. It is found on page 15. I see that there is a $50,000 contribution to the Capital Area Development Fund. I see that there are a number of other partners involved, including the City of Yellowknife, RCMP, Department of National Defence, and so on. Are the other partners contributing towards the fund, and if so, what is the total of the fund? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I, too, would like to recognize Mayor Heyck. I had the pleasure of serving with him on city council and I want to thank him for all the work that he's done on behalf of our community. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, those are great examples of the Housing Corporation getting creative and accessing federal infrastructure programs. I'm really pleased to see that, but are there any concrete plans by the corporation to access the $570 million in infrastructure funding that was announced just outside in the Great Hall here earlier today? Is the Housing Corporation looking at getting any of that money to carry out the Towards Level Ground that's required, or are we just going to use it all to build roads? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I guess this is the point where I could ask questions about revenues for the Housing Corporation. The Minister's colleague made a statement in the House earlier today about federal infrastructure funding. There is $570 million coming to the GNWT from the federal government. It's going to be, I guess that's 75 per cent federal dollars that we have to match with 25 per cent of our own funds. I'm just wondering how much of that funding is going to be used towards housing.

Of course, I'm looking at the report that the Minister tabled in the House called, "Towards Level Ground"...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the response from the Minister. I would tend to agree that you don't want large surpluses built up over a number of years, but if they have capital needs or something, that might be a good reason to do it. Can the Minister commit to share the policy with standing committee? I just checked with my colleague, the chair of the standing committee, and the committee hasn't seen that policy and the chair is interested in seeing it. I'm interested in seeing it. Can the Minister commit to share the policy with standing committee? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I guess I remain to be convinced. Is this simply to just cut $478,000 out of the Department of Justice budget? That is one thing, but I haven't heard any evidence that the Minister of the department can cite that this is not going to adversely impact access to justice. If there is some kind of evidence from other jurisdictions, if they intend to track this and report on it, that would be helpful. I haven't seen any evidence. Is there any evidence that this is not going to adversely impact access to justice? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. If they are not legal aid funded, it might be more of a barrier. Has the department done any analysis of whether this is going to present a barrier with regard to access to justice, and, if so, could that be shared? Thanks, Mr. Chair.