Daniel McNeely

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Norman Wells oil field resource revenues. Mr. Speaker, the Norman Wells oil field celebrated its century anniversary in 2021. Mr. Speaker, this legacy oil field is unique in many ways within the industry. The resource is of high quality, sweet, light crude, with low viscosity and low refining costs.

Mr. Speaker, another unique view or perspective is the ownership structure. The federal government retains or owns subsurface rights and, with a joint operating agreement with Imperial Oil, retains two-thirds.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to the NWT Land and Resource Devolution...

Mahsi, I'm glad to hear that. I'm looking at -- and being mindful, I'm being mindful of the Restoring Balance, and looking at the programs our government, through this department, is offering, and is it a practice of the department to do a mid-year surplus review? I'll give you an example.

After six months, doing a review if this program is really not being accessed or delivered, it seems to go on a priority 2 or 3. Is it a practice of the department to take the surplus and move it over to a more important accessible oversubscribed program? Thank you.

Thank you, colleagues. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to acknowledge my cousin Wilbert Cook's son, Tyrell Cook-Gargan, as the page for the Assembly. Welcome to the Assembly. Good to see the young people participating into the hearings.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thanks to the Minister for that information here. That all goes towards what supports are behind this plan.

Can the Minister in consultation with Cabinet colleagues for the federal engagement ask or rely on whether there's a joint initiative that can be supported by this government for the federal ownership of accessing and redirecting resource revenues from the Norman Wells oil field towards NORTRAN. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today my question is a follow-up on the options available for approaching funding to challenge trades and the demands in our workforce. My question is to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Can the Minister agree to the publication of NORTRAN as I referenced in previous correspondence and in my statement? Thank you.

Yeah, this is more of a comment, Madam Chair. Yes, I understand the challenges of our government providing health care, particularly to the smaller remote communities, but I'm just curious on the financial practices of surplus reviews from programs. I particularly look at this one here on page 206. Let's see what it is. A healthy family program, actuals came in at 292 and our mains are expected 292. So if it's remaining the same, it tells me is anybody accessing that program? If not, can we move it to -- move the funds to a more oversubscribed program? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I'm glad that job search is underway to assist the individuals. My second question there, Mr. Speaker, is what is the Department of ECE's position on the current learning centres' facilities or the buildings; what are the future plans of those assets? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Closure of community learning centres: Mr. Speaker, the Sahtu region, like other regions of the Northwest Territories, heard loud and clear the closures of 19 community learning centres. Mr. Speaker, the Sahtu Secretariat Incorporated shares this frustration.

Mr. Speaker, of this, the Sahtu region will see nine job losses. This action has created a number of issues, barriers on capacity, at a time that is critically important on workforce readiness. Mr. Speaker, I highlight two major projects on our horizon: Number 1, the Norman Wells oil field closure; Number 2, the...

Thank you to the Minister for that reply. I'm glad efforts are taken to make use of these facilities. I've been in a number of them, and they're ideal buildings for other uses.

So my last question: Will the Minister support a joint meeting between each Sahtu community leadership and the department so we can share the information updated and what the future plans are? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today my questions are to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. What is the Department of ECE's preparations to retain the nine positions lost in the Sahtu because of the community learning centres' closures? Thank you.