Julian Morse

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the Member for Great Slave, that pursuant to Rule 9.4(5)(a), the Government of the Northwest Territories table a comprehensive response to this report, including all recommendations, within 120 days or at the earliest opportunity subsequent to the passage of 120 days. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I appreciate those answers from the department. Certainly, it is encouraging to hear that they are on top of it and look forward to seeing any budget ask come forward if need be.

Mr. Chair, I want to turn to another subject. I note that the GNWT's own polytechnic university facilities master plan, which was published in 2022, identifies a number of capital needs for Aurora College across all its campuses; however, there does not appear to be any budget allocated for any of Aurora College capital needs in this capital budget. I have a few questions about this.

My first...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would just ask if the Minister could be a bit more specific about the other mechanisms. Are we talking about potentially bringing a supp, or how is -- I just -- for me, what matters is is that the issues are being addressed and that we're gonna find money to address them. But if the Minister can be specific, that would be appreciated. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And the reason I bring it up, Mr. Speaker, is because I'm suggesting that for some of the projects that they're advocating for to move forward, we need more capacity in our regulatory system. So what I'm asking the Premier is not just have you considered it, but would you consider bringing this forward as a change to the way we're doing engagement to help our system move forward so that the projects we're trying to advance can actually advance through the system. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what is being done by staff who are developing -- I'm going to keep referring to it as a strategy -- the new strategy response to the concerns raised by the 2025 environmental audit about effectiveness of previous strategies? I won't go into the audit here.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.

Mr. Speaker, what is the status of development of an economic vision and investment strategy by the department?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Does the Minister see the lack of capital requests coming forward as signaling a shift away from our territorial campuses and in-person educational delivery for Aurora College? I guess I'm mostly just asking why are we not seeing asks come forward considering a couple of years ago we had a master plan that laid out a number of needs, pretty significant ones. So what's happening or what isn't happening, I guess. The Question can go either way.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'll turn to a slightly different but related issue. I just want to note that the current capital estimates do not include references to any renovations and retrofits that may be required in schools where elevated levels of lead were found in the drinking water. I won't list the schools; the Minister's aware of them. Is the department budgeting for these planning studies and their associated capital costs? I know that there's going to be renovations needed. I know there's some mitigations that have already been put in place. Just asking as we haven't seen it in the budget...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I note the first thing I wanted to take note of was an absence, Mr. Speaker -- or Mr. Chair, sorry.

Both school boards in Yellowknife have indicated that they have needs for urgent repairs. I don't see those in this budget. Can the Minister describe how she's been engaging with these school boards on the issues that they're facing with infrastructure and how does she propose that they would be addressed? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Premier. Mr. Speaker, recommendations 14, 15, and 16 of the Standing Committee on Economic Development's Regulatory Framework Report all speak to the need for more federal support to help build the capacity of our regulatory system. Has the Premier considered packaging these needs into a cohesive request to the federal government as part of our federal engagement strategy? Thank you.