Julian Morse

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, Bill 7, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2024, received second reading in the Legislative Assembly on June 12th, 2024, and was referred to the Standing Committee on Government Operations for review. Bill 7 introduces amendments across a range of existing legislation in the Northwest Territories. These changes are administrative and technical, aimed at improving the clarity, consistency, and accuracy of both English and French language versions of the legislation. The clause-by-clause review of Bill 7 was held on October 2nd, 2024, with the Minister of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, does the Minister feel that that process is sufficiently effective at taking a strategic, high level approach to priority implementation in terms of determining what the best course of action is, you know, for a given -- I guess what I mean by the question is, you know, are we taking a strategic process or are we simply having each department kind of look at the priorities and what that department can do as opposed to kind of thinking holistically what's the best way to attack the problem regardless of what departments we have. So just thinking more...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Finance. In developing the capital plan, what criteria are used by departments to review, rank, and prioritize projects? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate the Minister pointing out appendix B. Certainly that is the question -- the answer to the question I was looking for in question one. And I would just gently point out that -- or perhaps pointedly point out consideration of the priorities is not considered in that process.

Mr. Speaker, will the Minister commit to drafting a proposal for a new process for capital budget development which helps to better align it with the priorities of the Assembly? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do appreciate that commitment from the Minister.

So Mr. Speaker, can the Minister describe the process that Cabinet goes through to assess the implications of the Assembly's priorities have for our capital budgeting and how we might need to shift resources to achieve them? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, have a look through past Hansard transcripts and year after year, you'll find speeches by MLAs complaining that the capital budget has failed to adequately allocate resources to the Assembly's priorities. I argue that the underlying reason for this pattern is that our capital budget setting process is disconnected from priorities by design, and we need to change that process if we want to see a change in budgeting.

Currently, departments are using a set of criteria for identifying capital projects none of which include priority consideration first. In most...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And while I appreciate the answer, the Minister's also responsible for mandate and direction, so it's not just dollars.

Mr. Speaker, I've heard things such as the college has been approached by entities offering to build housing, offering to provide a campus even, and the board has been rejecting these offers. What is going on, Mr. Speaker? How could a board committed to transitioning to a polytechnic possibly want to turn away from such opportunities for this kind of collaboration? Again, Mr. Speaker, I want to speak to accountability. What is the Minister's...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, considering the board does have that responsibility, Mr. Speaker, what measures is the Minister taking or considering in holding the board accountable for results for the funding they receive from the government for transition, for operation of the college, all of it? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, just to be clear, is the Minister committed to transitioning Aurora College to a polytechnic university and supporting the college in proceeding with the facility's master plan?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yesterday I spoke about change management, and today I want to continue that thread and speak to the state of the Aurora College transition. Despite reassurance from the board and president that they are committed to the transition, every indication and metric I see is clearly communicating that the transition has ground to a halt and, if anything, is in the process of being openly reversed. Responsibility for this lies on both the Ministers and the board's shoulders, but there were a number of critical change management elements missed along the way when...