Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one of the mandate commitments is this government will take steps to close the skills gaps using the Skills 4 Success strategic framework, by working with Aurora College, a renewed strategic plan refocusing support for post-secondary institutions in the NWT, improving outcomes from our community learning centres, strengthening the apprenticeship program, and improving our career development services. I want to take a look at this specific mandate commitment, Mr. Speaker, and ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment how the government is...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If there are some dollars that are required by the strategy, is the Minister able to indicate whether the government will have fiscal flexibility to invest in apprenticeships in the Northwest Territories as per our mandate commitment? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Certainly, the Minister is correct that this is an area that needs a lot of work. I spoke to a business owner in my riding of Kam Lake who said he is ready to hire if only there are people for the jobs. I think it is imperative we get Northerners going. Can the Minister provide some more specifics on where this plan is? Have we started it? Are we going to see it early this year? Late this year? It doesn't sound like we have a very firm timeline for the development of this. I would like to get a little bit more detail if he could.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On Sunday, January 29th, six people were brutally murdered at the Sainte-Foy Islamic Cultural Centre in Quebec City, gunned down in a cowardly attack motivated by fear and hatred. This attack has shaken our country and I join the voices of millions of Canadians who categorically condemn this act of terror. Canada must be a place that is safe for anyone to practice their own religion.

Mamadou Tanou Barry, Abdelkrim Hassane, Khalid Belkacemi, Aboubaker Thabti, Azzeddine Soufiane and lbrahima Barry. These are the names of those who tragically lost their lives. I state their...

As this strategic plan is going to be coming into effect with the coming budget as well, is there money in the budget to help implement the strategy and support the apprenticeship program?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Minister for obliging. I raise these questions because members of the public do have concerns about these P3s. So is there a way we could make P3s more transparent? I was really encouraged by the Minister of Public Engagement and Transparency's statement today. Is the Department of Finance working on a way to bring more of this information to light and allow the public to have a better sense of why we use P3s and why it's an effective tool for this government, and that they are being held accountable for the millions of dollars we're investing in...

One of the challenges of being a territorial government versus a provincial or the federal government is we have a debt limit that's controlled by Ottawa and is capped. How do P3s interact with our debt limit? Can we find more flexibility through P3 financing through our own borrowing?

Mr. Speaker, it is almost to the day that I and all honourable Members of this House were elected to the 18th Assembly, and I simply cannot put into words the honour felt when the confidence of Kam Lakers was bestowed upon me on November 23, 2015, to represent them here as a Member. I imagine that the feeling is shared by all my colleagues in the 18th Assembly, for politics is the art of the possible, and those who are fortunate enough to be in public service must always remember why we decided to stand up and run for office: to assist in the continuance making of our society better.

When I...

Has the City of Yellowknife, who was previously told work plans are being developed, they would be full partners in this work, have they been informed the plan has changed or are they still expecting the department to come back and work with the City on these amendments?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to make full use of question period today on our last day. I have some questions for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. A letter was tabled by the honourable Member for Frame Lake from the City of Yellowknife that indicated that the department is now working with the City of Yellowknife on forming a work plan for making the necessary legislative amendments to various pieces of legislation. Can the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs update honourable Members on the progress made to date and when that working group or that work plan will be...