Kieron Testart

Thank you. To that point, one of the issues is the referral process that gets kids from the school to the health system. This is going to take someone to streamline that process and make it easier for that to happen. I suggest the Minister's in a good position to figure out who that person is if it's not herself. So would the Minister commit to working with school boards and health authority to streamline the referral process for students to get them the care they need? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in continuing with my -- with questions to support schools, working families, students, teachers, I'd like to ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment how the department is working to support schools. And, of course, this requires coordination across multiple departments because there are a lot of requirements so we might jump around a bit, but I'm confident the Minister can answer it.

First off, there's a youth mental health crisis in the Northwest Territories, and our schools are on the frontline. So what are we doing to support them and now...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister consider putting some accountability measures behind the dollars that we're giving to Aurora College? Change the funding program so they are tied to outcomes and if those outcomes aren't met, they don't get their funding and they have to seek performance elsewhere. That way we can ensure that they're performing. Because if they fail in the outcomes that the government designs that the Minister is accountable for, then they don't get funded. And they're not going to exist very long if they can't get funded. So will the Minister do that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, they've been given time. They've been given years to get this done, and they're still struggling. So clearly something isn't working. How much more time is the Minister going to give Aurora College to fail? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate the Minister's going to make herself available, but I'm going to keep asking these questions and I hope it's more than availability. We need some answers, we need some solutions, we need to move forward.

Mr. Speaker, another issue is there's no -- currently, the quality of school infrastructure is up to the school -- most school boards to care for in Yellowknife themselves. The GNWT owns those buildings in other communities and for other school districts. But there's no dedicated funding for technical assessments. Since the pandemic, many of those...

Mr. Speaker, our rules permit the House to discuss a matter of urgent public importance requiring immediate consideration subject to the following conditions:

The Member proposing the motion shall give written notice to the matter proposed to be discussed to the Speaker at least one hour before the sitting of the house;

No more than one matter shall be discussed on the same motion;

The motion must not raise a matter of privilege; and,

The motion must not raise any matter which can be debated upon a motion with notice.

Mr. Speaker, you can be assured that the conditions pursuant to our rules have...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's true that you don't need to replace every book but we're talking about software licenses, professional development, and the costs that have been communicated with me and with other Members of this House are clear, there is a cost to this. It is not being able to be dealt with by coordinators in the schools, and when we download the costs on to parents, on to teachers, it means more improvement days, more professional development days, and less instructional time. So will the Minister work with school boards to provide additional funding -- maybe it's...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, how much money has the department put aside to help transition schools over this five-year period? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to recognize a page from Range Lake, Tika Ristau. Thank you very much for your work today. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of my colleague from the Sahtu. The people of the Sahtu are hard hit right now, specifically in Norman Wells.

I find the Member for Sahtu words quite chilling, it could be your community next. And I think -- and that's, of course, not disparaging against my honourable friend but I think the point is very well felt. After, you know, an unprecedented season of wildfires where 70 percent or more of the territory was evacuated, I think we all have that shared sense of anxiety that we are -- our lifestyles in the Northwest Territories are...