Kevin O'Reilly

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Again, it is a question of consistency in spending in the first quarter. I am just wondering if the witnesses can tell me what is happening with ambulatory care services and what portion we are looking at spending in the first quarter of 2016-2017. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. That is helpful. I guess now we are getting somewhere. We are talking about maybe 20 per cent of the income security envelope being spent in the first quarter. Earlier, in the Minister's statement, he mentioned that we are looking at about 31 per cent on average. Why are we at 20 per cent for income security as opposed to 31 per cent throughout the rest of the departments on average? Thank you.

Mahsi, and I want to thank the Minister again for his answer. Earlier today, though, I just spoke about how there are other post-secondary institutions here in the Northwest Territories, including Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning and College nordique francophone. Can the Minister tell this House whether he's prepared to enable these other institutions, Dechinta and College nordique in particular, to grant degrees, and when does he believe such authority will be in place? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

I appreciate the answer from the Minister. We have a number of post-secondary institutions in the Northwest Territories, including Aurora College, Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning and the College nordique francophone. What role does the Minister see for each of these post-secondary institutions in the future?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. [English translation not provided] I too would like to recognize Josee Clermont. She is the [English translation not provided].

I thank the Minister for his answer and we all understand that the Education Act allows for the granting of post-secondary education degrees, but can the Minister tell us which institutions in the Northwest Territories have such authority and for what types of degrees?

[English translation not provided] Earlier today, we had an interesting public presentation from Dechinta today at the Standing Committee on Social Development. Then last week, as an Assembly, we adopted the Mandate of the Government of the Northwest Territories, 2016-2019. One point in that document states that we should be refocusing support for post-secondary institutions in the Northwest Territories. Can the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment tell this House what is meant by “refocusing support for post-secondary institutions in the Northwest Territories?” Merci.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to salute the tremendous public service performed by the Northern Journal over many years. It may seem odd that a Yellowknife MLA is making a statement on the publication based in Fort Smith, but I have no hesitation whatsoever in saluting this newspaper as a standard of excellence in the Northwest Territories, setting an example for all other media to follow. The Northern Journal was founded in 1977 by Don Jaque as the Slave River Journal. It has been a family affair with his wife Sandra and has spawned some of the best journalists we have had, including...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I do appreciate the answers from the Minister. Once again, though, I am very concerned that this happened under our watch, part of it, and my objective in asking these questions here today is to show the importance of that division, the work that they do, and I know that they have started this work to get some sort of guidelines, policy framework, in place. They even changed legislation so that there are mandatory requirements for financial security, looking at the forms of the security, and even mandatory requirements for closure plans.

As a smaller government, we just can't...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Everyone in this House, especially me, will be relieved to know that my questions are in English.

---Laughter

In my Member’s statement earlier today I talked about the court-mandated expansion of Ecole Allain St-Cyr. Can the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment confirm whether he has begun discussions with the Commission scolaire francophone Territoires du Nord-Ouest and the [English translation not provided] for the expansion of the school?