Kevin O'Reilly

Thanks to the Minister for that. I understood that there was going to be some kind of a consultant hired to look at potential for shared services amongst the district education authorities. Can the Minister tell us the status of that work and whether the district education authorities are onboard for this reduction of $200,000? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

It's good to hear, at least one of our other postsecondary institutions is getting an increase in their funding. Can the Minister tell us what that increase is for Dechinta and what the contribution, say, for 20182019 is going to be, then? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. So, are there extra events that are happening between 2016-2017 and 2018-2019, or are these cyclical conferences or something? I am just trying to understand why there is a doubling of the travel budget between those years. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Yes, the Minister over there was sort of like a deer caught in the headlights all of a sudden. He had to pay attention. It's a "heads up". When it comes to his turn, I will be asking those questions. Look, if we're going to spend time and money trying to encourage apprenticeships, surely to goodness we can find ways for them to work on our capital projects to get their certification and all of that kind of stuff. Anyways, the Minister is listening to me now. I am sure he is going to get ready when I ask him those sorts of questions, but I want to move on to some questions about postsecondary...

Merci, Monsieur le President. I appreciate the commitment from the Minister to ensure that it is going to be a broader approach than the Pan-Territorial Vision for Sustainable Development that he developed. I think, all of us in this House, we can recognize and congratulate Dene Nahjo for their hard work on "We Are One Mind" that the Premier tabled last week in the House. That document is going to be a valuable contribution to the development of a Northwest Territories chapter of the Arctic Policy Framework. Can the Premier tell this House how he intends to engage Dene Nahjo in the development...

Thanks, Mr. Chair, and I appreciate that commitment from the Minister. I am sure he will be happy to work with the Standing Committee on Social Development to look at that issue. I want to thank him for the commitment. It took us a while to get there, but that is what I was hoping to hear. Thanks, Mr. Chair. That is all I have.

I am happy to take the promotion from the Premier inviting me over to that side of the House any day. What I would like to ask the Premier next, then, is if he could tell us whether GNWT prepared a written submission for the Ministerial Special Representative on Arctic Leadership, and if so, can he table it in the House?

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that sometimes those triggers might be external. You know, I guess another example is for those people who work, the Minister does appoint a minimum wage committee that gives him some advice. There seems to be a regular cycle for that. Why don't we have some sort of regular cycle for review of income assistance rates and payments? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. It was very disappointing to hear the Premier reject the report and findings of the Ministerial Special Representative on Arctic Leadership, Mary Simon, in this House on February 13th.

Ms. Simon held 65 engagement meetings involving 170 people, including the Premier, and received 34 written submissions to help her prepare her report. That's a lot more than the zero public engagement that the three northern Premiers undertook in putting together the Pan-Territorial Vision for resource development. Whoops. Sustainable Development.

Ms. Simon's excellent report made a...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I am looking at the operations expenditure summary, the compensation and benefits line. There is this decreasing trend from 20162017 where it was $8.1 million down to $6.9 million anticipated for 20182019, but when I look at the next page, which is the active positions, we see that there is actually a three-person increase in this activity area for the department. Can someone explain to me how we are adding staff, but the money for compensation and benefits is actually going down over time? Thanks, Mr. Chair.