R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So if a senior owns their home and there's no mortgage on that home, they don't need to add their name to the public housing waitlist. If they have a mortgage, income assistance can support them with some mortgage payments. However, income assistance doesn't generally pay down debts. So, yeah, I just want to make clear if you own your own home free and clear with no mortgage, you do not need to have your name on the public housing waitlist. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So as part of the work to transform Aurora College into a polytechnic university, we are undertaking a facilities plan which is going to look at the existing facilities across the territory of the college as well as the needs for the three campuses as well as each community four community learning centres. That work will begin shortly. The final product will be a short meeting and longterm plan for the infrastructure and that residence has clearly been identified as one we need a new one of. You know, and I'm not breaking any news here. I've stated this before that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As what the Member was asking about teaching life schools in school, and I don't have specific information about a life skills initiative but I can talk a bit about what is done in schools in a broad sense, understanding that what happens in the school is highly dependant on the DEA, the community, and the teachers at that time. And there could be a lot of variation and there could be heavy focus on life stills depending on those influences. So in schools of course we have the courses like career/life management that people are familiar with.

We also have courses like...

Thank you. I will let the Minister of Finance find her notes on there, because I still have to find mine as well. So perhaps if the committee can just give us a minute, we can get an answer for you. Thanks.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that Bill 30, An Act to amend the Aurora College Act be read for the second time. This bill amends the Aurora College Act to create a new approach to governance based on the introduction of a competencybased board. The bill also reallocates power from the Minister to the board to allow Aurora College to operate at arm's length from the Minister and limits the role of the Minister in the operations of Aurora College while legislating the role of the Minister and approving the mandate of Aurora College. The bill...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think that's the plan. That's the reality. There are intergenerational housing arrangements right now, and as a government we need to ensure that we're serving the people in those arrangements. Again, there's working groups. I work with my Cabinet colleagues on a higher level, and this is the work we want to do. This is the work we have to do. We have to look at the realities on the ground and then design our policy and programs to meet those realities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That's a very specific question. I believe it's she's quoting page 76 of the policy manual, if my memory serves me correctly. But the Member makes some good points, and I'm endeavoring to find out why exactly that requirement is there. Perhaps there are other laws or fire code issues related to it. So I want to find that out, and then I can get back to the Member. Because if there are some easy wins, I'm always happy to do those. But I want to note that we are also working on a seniors specific income assistance stream, recognizing that there are differences between...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We'd love 100 percent federal funding. We do have to pay for this somehow. You know, that's the big question obviously. We want a new residence. We understand that it's not suitable for what we want to do with the polytechnic. And so how we're going to pay for it is the question yet to be determined. So I can stand here and I can say we need a new one. I can't say that I have it in the budget yet, but we have already begun approaching the federal government and we will continue to do so aggressively until we get something on the ground. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As was identified in that foundational review, it is problematic, and the future plan is to hopefully build a new residence. Officials have raised this issue with the Government of Canada, I raised this issue with Minister Vandal directly. As part of the transformation of Aurora College, we need a suitable residence and that's not a suitable residence for the worldclass institution that we are creating. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.