Kieron Testart

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...

Thank you. Just for clarification, was the Minister referring to the third quarter or the third year of the Legislative Assembly?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to ask the Minister responsible for Human Resources what the intention is for providing whistleblower protection for our public servants. Previously, the department has committed to both standalone legislation and to updating the Public Service Act to contain this provision. So what is the intention? Are we going forward with a standalone Whistleblower Protection Act, or are we simply making changes to the Public Service Act? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you to the Minister for that answer. It seems that we do need to explore other options to suit our unique circumstances as a territory. If we're going to invest in infrastructure today, we need to look up those options so we can free up more time for investment. So it sounds like the Minister is doing that, and that's great, but how are we ensuring adequate oversight of P3 projects? Can the Minister provide honourable Members with some examples?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we've seen a number of proposals for some infrastructure projects that are going as P3s. These partnerships have often been criticized. Notably, in 2014 there was a report from the Ontario Office of the Auditor General that indicated there could be an awful lot of savings if government handled the projects themselves. As we're looking towards P3s, I'd like to ask the Minister of Finance why we are pursuing a P3 options, what the advantages are over government capital projects. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I appreciate the Minister's answer, and that's exactly why we need to do more with Aurora College. We have a real labour market shortage and a shortage in education; however, I think Aurora College now is focused on a wide variety of issues. Recently, the government moved it from education to labour market development, and we've seen in the recent capital budget a new heavy operator training facility. So we are making some decisions about the future of Aurora College.

I guess my question then, Mr. Speaker, is: are we going to continue to make these decisions as they meet our needs and as...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yesterday I spoke about the importance of building a knowledge economy in the North and the idea of transforming Aurora College into a polytechnic. I know that the Minister is engaged in a strategic review process working with the Aurora College leadership. I am interested to know when honourable Members, here in this House, will be able to see that strategic plan. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.