R.J. Simpson

The SNAP program, people participating in the SNAP program are already able to benefit from the wage subsidy program, so no change is needed. It's already happening. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I like how the Member thinks. I think we need to be offering more programs than we are, increasing the number of programs that lead to careers and lead to employment soon after high school. However, this is a program that is offered by Aurora College, and I can't tell the college what to do. I will bring this information back to them. I know that they have been working with Health and Social Services and the territorial health authority to expand delivery of the program outside of Yellowknife, and so it is being offered online, as well. It is being expanded, but it's not being offered in the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Chrome Books the Member is referencing were purchased with the allocation of funds that was announced a few weeks ago. It was a joint effort between the Department of Finance and the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. Those Chrome Books were intended for students who could not access full-time, in-person learning. In small communities, the students have been lucky enough to have access to full-time, in-person learning.

There is also a contingent of those Chrome Books that are for a worst-case scenario. If a school was to shut down because of a COVID-19...

I think it would be an odd choice, given everything, if I made the recommendation to uproot 40-some people and move them to Yellowknife and move the administrative offices of Aurora College to a different community. To the Member's question, does it make sense to keep the people employed where they live in the building that they are currently working in? Of course, it does.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Since February, I've been talking about an implementation plan that I'm going to be releasing that will lay out the path forward to a final transformation to a polytechnic university, and I will be releasing that in the coming weeks. That is going to have some key dates in there, and it talks about things like the facilities plan. The college is going to go out and do an assessment of all the different facilities and see what's in place, and that can inform things like programming and things like the Member is talking about. I can say, and I've said before, I've never...

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that, on Wednesday, October 28, 2020, I will move that Bill 13, An Act to Amend the Interpretation Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following three documents: "Annual Report on the Activities of the Rental Officer - April 1, 2019, to March 31, 2020;" "Legal Aid Commission of the Northwest Territories Annual Report 2019-2020;" and "Northwest Territories Coroner Services 2019 Annual Report." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I don't think we can discriminate in the territory based on age and so to say that someone is under a certain age so they make less because we're calling it a training age. I had jobs when I was younger. I wasn't training. I was training people sometimes. I was working with people older than me, and I was training them. I don't want to get in trouble with any sort of human rights legislation, but again, I'm open to anything. I can't wait to see that report, and as soon as I receive it, I'll make sure that it's shared with the Standing Committee on Social Development. I'll be happy to have a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Depending on how long I'm here, I'm sure, at some point I might. The way that this works is that there is a minimum wage committee. It's made up of non-governmental organizations, industries, and there are representatives from the GNWT, as well. This group of people look at economic climate in the territory, they look at employment statistics, and they produce a report. That report should have been on my desk already, but the recent report from Finance regarding the effects of COVID-19 was deemed important enough that the committee got back together. They are...

Another good idea from the Member, but again, I don't do the programming at the college. Nonetheless, I do appreciate what the Member is saying. The college is moving towards a laddered approach, where you can get your certificate and then move into a diploma, degree, and so on. That is not currently possible with this personal support worker program. There is nothing beyond that. The credits do not transfer, and it would take some rejigging of the program in order to make that happen, especially considering that nursing is nationally accredited and that there are stringent requirements...