Kieron Testart

Okay, does the Premier believe that this fund promotes volunteerism? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Noting the clock, it is the latter; but I'll allow the Minister to answer. I want to make one more comment that, on this business of the honour of the Crown, the honour of the Crown, you need to be a Minister of the Crown to make a promise on behalf of the Crown, not a public servant. I don't think the Minister grasps that fully, but a Minister of the Crown can hold the honour of the Crown. That is how that happens. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Making best use of limited financial resources, in the words of our august Finance Minister, I wonder if we can prioritize this as a mandate commitment. It is a requirement of our funding formula. MACA itself, the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs has done this analysis. When will this government meet its own requirements that it has established for itself to support our communities? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would hazard to guess that, if I asked the same question about promoting our mineral sector, the Minister could find those facts and fingers at his fingertips, so can the Minister develop the same approach to promoting investment in working with his colleagues in the mineral sector for the global remote sensing sector? If we want to grow it, we need investment, so is this work something he can do?

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am not sure what the issue is. I am talking about the Aurora College line item, $32,421,000, and there is a difference between the 20172018 revised estimates and what is currently being proposed in the 20182019 estimates. Can the Minister or the department answer why there is a decrease from $32,655,000 to the current appropriation that is being proposed, of $32,421,000? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I also would like to express the concerns raised by my honourable friend from Yellowknife North regarding the length of time it takes to approve and issue a remote sensing licence under the current Remote Sensing Satellite Systems Act.

As it stands today, while other jurisdictions have updated their regulatory regimes to accommodate a remote sensing licence in as little as 30 days, Canada still requires two years. The space industry is evolving, and the remote sensing sector is growing all over Canada, including here in the Northwest Territories.

This is a...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. For clarity, this is page 51, the contribution to Aurora College, $32,421,000, and the reason I asked the question on the detail of how we are spending that money is this essentially accounts for the vast majority of our postsecondary education money. It is a significant investment, and we need to make sure it is being spent right. I appreciate that, many of these comments, the Minister will say have to wait until the completion of the foundational review, but, again, we are seeing the same appropriation being proposed for Aurora College for this budget.

It does not appear...

Thank you. So, as a publicly funded independent institution, why is the Minister able to make management decisions on behalf of the college about programs that are being offered at the college? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Can the Minister confirm what the status organizationally of Aurora College is? What I mean by that is does this department consider it a public agency, consider it a department of government, a Crown corporation? What is its position functionally to the government? Thank you.

Thank you. Can I get a sense of some examples of what we are contracting out with this money to support these programs? Thank you.