Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, there is a beautiful campus for Aurora College located in Inuvik. There is also a beautiful campus for Aurora College located in Fort Smith. So what we were talking about here is the campus for North Slave.
Mr. Chair, I can assure you that those conversations are quite live and are moving forward, but it is not -- we are not in a situation where Aurora College can rely solely on the Government of the Northwest Territories. And part of our mandate agreement is to also ensure that we're working collaboratively together but also with third party funders as well. And that is an agreement and a commitment to one another that I myself have made, along with the board of Aurora College. And so it's not just about us working together to fund this; it's also about looking for creative opportunities to build and to manifest a North Slave campus. And I can assure the Member that those conversations are live and continue to move forward but not in time for what is before us today. Thank you.
Okay, thank you. I'll go back to the Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I don't need to emphasize the importance of this to the Minister; we have chats about it often. So I'll leave it at that. Those are all my questions for this page. Thank you.
Thank you. Next on my list I've got is the Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The roofing or roof repair projects for Yellowknife schools. Can the Minister be specific about which roofs will be repaired? Thank you.
Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, with YK1, the roof we are referring to is Mildred Hall's gym. And the roof project that was raised to us by Yellowknife Catholic Schools was the Weledeh St. Pat's gym. Thank you.
Thank you. I'll go to the Member from Range Lake.
Thank you. In the previous exchange of questions, there was a comment about funding mechanisms to pay for some of these renovations, and surpluses were identified. So my concern with that is that's what surpluses are for, of course, and Yellowknife schools, which is relevant to my riding and my work as an MLA, are also funded by taxpayers in the city.
The new education assistant program, that $14 million program that the department has rolled out, has a caveat that surpluses have to be emptied essentially before that -- or in conjunction with receiving that money. The concern that I have heard -- and not just from Yellowknife schools but from all schools -- is that will make things like renovations of infrastructure and facilities all but impossible. And in one of these school districts, the YK1 district, it's about 79 educational assistant positions. So we're not talking about one or two; we're talking about a significant expenditure to maintain these programs. So given that the surpluses will be drawn down to support these if they, in fact, apply, is the department willing to be flexible on other sources of funding for infrastructure programs and repairs based on needs? Thank you.
Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, I want to be very clear that with the expectation that school boards use their surplus to pay for the support assistants initiative, that we were very clear with school boards that we would honour any previous commitments that they had. So if a surplus was intended to be used for investment in a capital project and they, you know, were in the process of getting quotes for that, for example, a roof and were pursuing that, that we would certainly honour that commitment and also have given school boards the opportunity to resubmit their operating plans as well as their intended uses of their surpluses. So flexibility is absolutely built in and the understanding that sometimes plans change.
In addition, Mr. Chair, I wanted to also add that Cabinet recognizes that the cost of maintaining infrastructure is high and continues to go up and also that our funding that is allotted to Yellowknife schools -- because Yellowknife Educational District No. 1, as well as Yellowknife Catholic Schools, maintain their own infrastructure and in acknowledging that those costs have gone up, Cabinet has approved for the -- to be brought forward in our budgeting process in the main estimates in the new year an increase to the operations and maintenance of the Yellowknife YK1 School Board and the Yellowknife YCS School Board as well. So that will continue forward through our normal budgeting processes. And if approved by the House, those dollars will be afforded to those school boards as well. Thank you.
Okay, thank you. I'll go to the Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. For the water system remediations in schools that have identified elevated lead, will the Minister commit that any remediation of infrastructure will be paid for by the GNWT? Thank you.
Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, there are expectations -- It's hard for me to say a yes or no answer to this one because it really depends on what is required at the end of the day. The school assets of Yellowknife Catholic Schools as well as YK1, except for Sir John, are owned by the Yellowknife school boards themselves, and so it's their responsibility to maintain those pieces of infrastructure. That said, we work together on the bigger costs of the capital investments and major repairs to schools so it really would depend on what type of remediation and what type of renovation work is required. And so it's hard for me to say a blanket yes or a blanket no without knowing what is needed at the end of the day and what bucket of renovation versus remediation those plans would fall into. Thank you.
Okay, thank you. I'll go back to the Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Well, on page 24, you can see Range Lake North School rear entrance ramp and accessibility improvements, and that is classified as an infrastructure contribution. So it's doable, and that's what I would expect if it was a renovation that was needed and if it was a retrofit or replacement, obviously there would be a broader discussion. So I will give the Minister that one that we don't know until we know.
But moving to that larger issue, I understand that N.J. Macpherson School is in the top five of infrastructure needs and is in basically dire need of replacement, and its health and safety issues there as well and -- related to the building foundation. And William McDonald School is obviously one of those with elevated lead in the water and is on the top three of needs and missed its 40-year midlife retrofit.
So turning to -- let's go to Willie McDonald first. That is obviously a significant health and safety issue with the water and the lead exposure that's been identified in the past, and it's been on the list for quite some time and, again, missed its midlife retrofit. So is it time to do a technical assessment on that school and begin preparations for replacement? Thank you.
Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, right off the hop, I can say that William McDonald School did just complete an assessment so that we have an idea of where that school is at, that before it was expected that Yellowknife schools -- Yellowknife school boards did their own assessments of their own infrastructure and it was agreed to, in recent years, that we would work together because certainly it's important that both the GNWT and the school boards together understand where the school infrastructure is at and what is required. I think this is an excellent opportunity, and I want to thank the Member for giving me a door into this conversation.
I am concerned about our school infrastructure in the Northwest Territories. We have a tremendous amount of need. A lot of our schools were either built or renovated at the same time in the Northwest Territories, and a lot of them are coming due with a lot of infrastructure needs. I think it is worthwhile for me to point out that every year we solicit school boards and education bodies across this territory to find out what they want to add in, for example, to large infrastructure asks or small infrastructure asks. And of all of the asks that were identified for 2026-2027, 57 small capital projects were not included in this budget. And this budget represents about 30 percent of the total funding asks from the territory for small capital funding projects. And so I do think that we need to take stock of the needs of our schools across this territory and really figure out how we're going to catch up and how we're going to fund these projects. Thank you.
Thank you. I'll go back to the Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. And, certainly, these schools are not alone. There are many, many schools in the Northwest Territories that are in high need. And taking stock of those assets is important; however, in the context of, again, the riding I represent and the district that my children attend, these schools are important to me, and it is very concerning that this one school in particular missed its retrofit, has water that is -- you know, you can't consume, that exposed staff in a very troubling way. The Minister's well aware of that. It seems like those reasons alone -- like the lead in the water, it should be enough to expedite this forward. So can the Minister give some indication if a technical assessment or some sort of work is going to be done to prioritize this school? And, you know, I've been here before as a Member, the same thing was going on with Itlo when it was J.H. Sissons and there was a lot of holdback of should we replace it, should we replace it. And, finally, under a lot of advocacy, there was -- the decision was made. So I don't want to see that happen to this school as well, especially when there's so many health and safety concerns. So will the Minister commit to a serious look at a replacement within the life of this government? Thank you.
Okay, thank you. I'll go back to the Minister.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, conversations around this particular school and school infrastructure within YK1 are certainly happening specifically with the school board, and I intend to very purposely continue those conversations about the future of school infrastructure for Yellowknife, for YK1. And any kind of commitment would have to come with approvals of this House. There are two schools in here for -- that will be put into the planning phases through the approval of this capital budget. And certainly until we get to a point of finalizing those conversations with the school board, I won't be able to bring something forward until that point, but it's certainly a focus of mine. It is, you know -- of the schools that have very, you know, concerning technical ratings in the Northwest Territories, many of them are located here in Yellowknife, and we need to make sure that we are pursuing evidence-based decision-making when it comes to putting forward school builds in the immediate future. Thank you.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from the Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My first question to the Minister is on page 22, the staff housing improvements for the Colville Lake community. Can the Minister explain a little bit about what the repair program is detailed to become? Thank you.
Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, there is a teacher staff housing unit in Colville Lake that is maintained by education, culture and employment, and the current state of this housing unit requires improvements because its condition has deteriorated and we need to ensure that we extend its service life as well. This will be a single-year capital project, and work is expected to be completed in 2026. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'll go back to the Member from the Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thanks to the Minister for the reply and the information there. So if it's going to be completed in 2026, can the Minister explain is the program underway, the construction repair underway? Thank you.
Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, we wouldn't be able to start this project until this item is approved under the approval of the capital budget. Thank you.
Okay. Thank you. I'll go back to the Member from the Sahtu.
Yes, thanks to the Minister for that reply. So I take it there once the capital is approved there, we can look forward -- or the community could look forward to mobilization or repair materials there over this winter road season? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'll go back to the Minister.
Yes, the answer is yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'll go back to the Member from the Sahtu.
Thank you to the Minister for confirming that. My other question is related to the Deline Ehtseo Ayha School. During my recent visit to the community, the principal renovated a portion of the building for an industrial repair shop for students, and he was asking if we can check into opening up a door wide enough with a ramp so that snow machines could be brought in and repairs and maintenance could be taught to the children as part of their academic program. So will the Minister look into that? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, the process that we follow is when we're getting ready to put forward the asks for the capital budget is we go back out to all of the education bodies and ask them to work with their staff on any kind of school improvements that they would like to see, and then go through the list from there. And so a lot of the -- not a lot of, most of what you see on this list is really focused on safety and accessibility, and that's how we've prioritized the improvements to the school and how we've prioritized our limited small capital funding. Traditionally, the small capital funding that ECE receives was $1.09 million per year. And huge thank you to the staff of ECE and thank you for the support of Cabinet, we have managed to increase that now to $5.17 million a year for small capital funding, which is a significant growth, but we still can't fit everything into that budget. Thank you.
Okay, thank you. I'll go back to the Member from the Sahtu.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Thanks to the Minister for that follow-up. I'll follow up with the Minister to see if we can get that process underway for that small capital addition to the school.
And I did hear the Minister make reference to requesting schools for improvements. Is that part of the spring afterschool part of the year on looking forward to the schools placing forward their summer needs, the repairs, and bringing that forward to develop this capital plan? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, information is requested from education bodies between now and January. So it's quite a bit in advance so that there's time for planning and budgeting of what that looks like and then comes forward, for example, to Cabinet in the summertime for us to be going through approval. So it's quite a detailed process. And our ask is that people express what it is that they're looking for. And as I indicated in my response to the Member for Range Lake, there's a significant amount of requests that come in every year, and this funding represents about 30 percent of the total requests that ECE receives. Thank you.
Thank you. I'll go back to the Member from the Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thanks to the Minister for that clarification there. I feel comfortable that we do have an infrastructure maintenance checklist in place here, and this is a cycle, so I'm glad to hear that. If that is brought up in my community visits by concerned parents for example, I'll certainly relay that message on that the school is a part of an annual audit for repairs and maintenance and upgrades and so on. Mahsi.
Okay. So thank you. I'm taking that's just a comment, and I'm continuing on. I am going to go to the Member from Monfwi.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Okay, looking at the education project listing for the schools, I don't see Whati school on here on this project. There are other schools in Tlicho region that are on there with some repair. But Whati school was built to accommodate elementary students in the early '80s. Now it's accommodating high school students. Because of that, classes are -- classroom space are limited. And I know that they need more classroom space for young family, once -- for young families that are moving back with the young kids. Because now it's even -- I think we need to focus on doing renovation and/or school extensions because with the mine closure, I have been hearing lots from community members that they want to move back because they cannot afford to live in Yellowknife and pay rent. It's not just in Yellowknife. It's from other places as well where the mine workers living in different -- in other province, they are inquiring about moving back too as well because they cannot afford the rent. So I know there's -- it's going to be an influx of our people coming -- you know, moving back. So I just want to ask the Minister if they are engaging or working with the community government or, you know, community chief or other organizations regarding school expansion or renovating or their needs on renovating the school or extensions. I know technical assessment needs to be done, so if there was anything like that done so I just want to ask the Minister if -- so what are they doing now to accommodate Whati, community of Whati regarding their school expansion. Thank you.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister.
Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the information that I have in front of me here is that the current utilization rate for the Whati school is about 78 percent capacity is filled, and the school that we're currently focusing on in the Monfwi riding is Chief Jimmy Bruneau School which is currently above 90 percent utilization rate. And so we are currently working closely with Tlicho government on their plans for how they would like to see Chief Jimmy Bruneau School renovation done in the future and have worked with Tlicho government, not just locally here but also through advocating with the federal government as well. Thank you.
Thank you. I'll go back to the Member for Monfwi.
