Kevin O'Reilly

Thanks, Mr. Chair. That's a very helpful explanation, and I can see it now.

I also note that the NWT Arts Council in 2014, they developed a strategic plan. Are there any plans by the department to increase our support for arts and performers? Thanks, Mr. Chair. Sorry, and the reason why I say that, Mr. Chair, is this is an area of our economy that has tremendous paybacks; it can help diversify our economy, showcase our culture. Is this something that the department is looking at increasing, say, funding to the NWT Arts Council and/or Support to Northern Performers? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the explanation from the Minister. I don't agree with the process the department has gone about with this. Let's just get a little bit more detail about when was Aurora College told that they were going to get their contribution cut? Just a ballpark figure. Middle of September? When did that happen? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Sorry, I thought we were going through this page-by-page, so I did have one question about -- it's on page 35 and it's about Support to Northern Performers. Back in 2015-16 there was $185,000 in that budget for it; now it's down to $101,000. Can someone from the department explain what happened? Thank you.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Great to hear that the accountability framework is mentioned in the mandate letters, but can someone explain just a little bit more about this? Presumably, it's some sort of a system to evaluate the effectiveness of their programs and what they're doing and whether targets are being met and so on. Is that what this accountability framework is all about? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I am glad that the Minister recognizes that this corridor will go through the range, the habitat of the Bathurst caribou, but he didn't actually answer my question about critical habitat, like water crossings, calving grounds, and so on, so maybe I will try a different angle here. The Grays Bay Road and Port Project, that the Minister mentioned in his statement here, would link up with our road, and it is all part of one big project now apparently. Is the Minister aware of whether the Grays Bay Road and Port Project would actually go through any critical habitat for the Bathurst caribou herd?

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that response; it helps clarify it for me.

Earlier in the House I had asked whether the Minister was prepared to give Regular Members the terms of reference for the strategic planning exercise that the college is going through; we still don't have that, and I think that's, like, over a week ago now; and one of my colleagues asked for copies of the mandate letters from the board of directors to be tabled in the House as well.

Does the Minister have any timeline for providing this information to the Regular MLAs on this side? The reason why I raise this is that is...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I have some questions for the Minister of Transportation on his statement that he gave earlier today. I was really pleased to see that caribou got an honourable mention in his statement on the Slave Geological Province access corridor. That wasn't there last time. In his statement, he says that the corridor has been identified: "It will provide greatest economic benefit to the region in the Northwest Territories." Can the Minister tell me whether this corridor will benefit caribou, specifically the Bathurst caribou herd? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. So I just want to confirm what the actual amount of the Aurora College contribution cut actually is, because in the main estimates if you look at page 45, college contribution, it's less than $2 million, $1.8 or something, but if you look at the business plan it's actually $3.851 million, and that's found on Schedule 4, page 7 of 12. Beside that it says TBD, presumably to be determined.

So can someone from the department indicate what the actual cut is in contribution funding to Aurora College? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I appreciate the answer from the Minister. These agreements have been in place now for about a year and a half with Alberta and BC, and I really look forward to getting that information, and hope that the work has actually started. We actually have a more environmentally friendly regime in Alberta right now, and I would have thought we could make very good progress towards full implementation of that agreement. Are the bilateral management committees under the Alberta and B.C. agreements actually set up, and are they meeting?

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I am just trying to understand what would happen here if all of our TEP and social work students have to go south because Aurora College is winding down their program. If Student Financial Assistance was actually maxed out under the 2017 Main Estimates, what would happen? Would students be denied financial assistance? Thanks, Mr. Chair.