Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I know it's already been discussed in this review, but I just wanted to follow up on one of the Minister's points on the Transitional Rent Supplement Program. The Minister indicated that she would like to see these resources reallocated towards a rent supplement program. Is that a direction the department will be taking, or is that just an aspirational statement the Minister wants to give us as food for thought? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Finally, the Minister, in my honourable friend's questions, the Member for the Sahtu, she did make a commitment to a certain amount of shelters by the end of the year. Can she make a commitment to me today, Mr. Speaker, that we will double the number of housing cooperatives in the Northwest Territories by next year? Thank you.

Thank you to the Minister. Ask and you shall receive. Just a few more points on this: the Minister spoke to her own personal experience in one of these particular housing cooperatives. The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation did a study of the Borealis Housing Cooperative, and they found that over 2,500 hours of voluntary labour are produced by the housing cooperative every year, which results in considerable savings for the community. These projects, they also found that to get a new project like this, it requires the goodwill of the community. So if the Housing Corporation could commit...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, 10 years ago two high school students, David Shepherd and Travis Price, bought 50 pink T-shirts in support of a boy in their class, or at the school, who was bullied, and today we celebrate that as Pink Shirt Day. Those values, Mr. Speaker, today seem more relevant than ever. I honestly thought bullying was a thing of the past, left in the schoolyard, becoming a relic of childhood, and because adults, as we all know, should know better, be better, and act as role models for their communities, and especially for their kids. Mr. Speaker, this year I have been...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am not sure if this is the place for it, but I have a question: in light of the amalgamation, does an establishment policy exist for this new Department of Infrastructure? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the response from Mr. Neudorf. Can the department provide us with any detail on the economic benefits that have come from the impact of the grant funding so far? I will just start with that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have three letters I would like to table. One is from Ms. Karen Lapine-McFeeters, a third-year Teacher Education Program student. One from Her Worship Lynn Napier-Buckley, the Mayor of Fort Smith, and a member of the Board of Governors of Aurora College; and a letter from Chris Westwell, an actively engaged and concerned citizen. They are all in reference to the cuts at Aurora College. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased that the Minister has made it clear that our government is driving the strategic plan for Aurora College. I do think that is problematic. I think that we need to decide if it is going to be a thirdparty organization that can decide its own priorities or if we are going to decide its priorities for them. So, I am going to ask the Minister, just clearly: is he willing to put a hold on cutting funding to Aurora College so they can preserve these two existing programs until such time as the strategic plan has been completed and has been considered by this House...

Perhaps, maybe, that is the point. Are we too involved with the daytoday operations of this college and providing strategic direction to them? As my honourable friend, the Member from Hay River North, pointed out in his statement earlier, issues with the success of the college are not new, and instead of helping them, we seem to have been turning away from that and are now offering them guidance on how to cut programs, not how to improve programs.

My question, Mr. Speaker, is: given that 66 per cent of the revenues of Aurora College are provided for by government and, in our neighbouring...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I am sure he is used to it every time he appears, but I would also like to recognize Mr. Tony Whitford, former Member for Kam Lake. Thank you.