Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I want to talk more about this funding gap. Out of this $27 million contribution to infrastructure, what is missing? What does the gap represent for, I believe it is called, CPI? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. On the information technology projects side, I'm just wondering where the infrastructure support comes for the Legislative Assembly's role in communicating with citizens. Is it through this budget or is it through the technological service centre, which would be a later issue to discuss infrastructure? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is pretty clear it is question period, not answer period, because again, the Minister is not providing answers. My final question: I am going to ask if the Minister could take responsibility for these delays personally and back off the approach he took last week of blaming the standing committee for holding up the process. Will the Minister personally take responsibility for these delays and acknowledge that this work has been delayed since day one? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We are trying to work with the Minister on this process. Everyone on this side of the House, when we get surprises like eliminating the Aurora College board, with delaying a mandate commitment that has been a mandate commitment from day one, there is a bit of consternation on this side of the House. The mandate makes a commitment, again from day one, to have a renewed strategic plan, some sort of plan for Aurora College. Will that work be done by the end of this term?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize Ms. Krista Schauerte, Ms. Lindsay Paul, and Ms. Samantha Brissette. They are all Aurora College nursing and social work students. I would also like to recognize Ms. Prudence Kalnay- Watson, who is only four but is joining us today in the gallery. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just to comment on that approach, it is a prudent solution. However, there may be other infrastructure projects that local communities are focusing on, and, by the department encouraging them to prioritize certain things, it may take away from other stuff that is being planned. If there is any way we could provide the funding directly to them for this specific purpose, I think that would be a more equitable solution than potentially forcing communities to give up on other infrastructure projects that they have been planning for some time, but I will leave that with the...

Thank you. I just want to follow up on some of the line of questioning that my honourable friend from Yellowknife Centre made. The Minister made a comment that some of these emergency service needs, such as fire prevention, are going to be addressed by federal infrastructure programs. My understanding is that Infrastructure Canada does not have funding for emergency services infrastructure. Can the Minister address how that is being addressed if it is not through the federal funding programs? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. If there is a requirement for new telecommunications equipment or new hardware that goes into broadcasting technology, the microphones that we're using today, am I correct that that is therefore all handled by the O and M budget? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Some of my comments will be similar to my colleague's, the honourable Member from Frame Lake.

On the issue of the Power Corporation, the Power Corporation is now a de facto government entity, and I am not sure why. We have been told before, when this question has been probed, that the committee can make special arrangements to have the Northwest Territories Power Corporation appear and present its capital estimates and speak to any specific projects.

I think this is additional work, given that this is not an arm's-length entity anymore. The board is now made up of deputy...

I think the students expect more than just a plan. They want these programs to be retained, and also our own Skills 4 Success document wants these programs to be retained and effective. We need change now, Mr. Speaker. I want to ask if this contractor the Minister has hired has any experience with transforming educational institutions towards vocational skills, like taking a community college and turning it into a polytechnic or an institution of higher learning. Does this contractor have any experience with that, or are we just looking at an accounting review?