R.J. Simpson

Mr. Speaker, the transformation of Aurora College into a world-class polytechnic university is well under way. As the Legislative Assembly is aware, the transformation will happen in three phases. We are currently in Phase One, which is what I want to talk about today. Phase One is focused on strengthening the foundation of the existing college, ensuring we understand the detailed steps ahead of us, and determining what we, as a territory, want the polytechnic university to be.

The first step in Phase One was the development of a vision for postsecondary education. This vision was developed...

The Member is correct, there has been a lot of discussion. There are a lot of recommendations, and we're working on it. Not everything has happened, but things are happening, and I can get a more detailed report for the Member and provide updates whenever the Member would like. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are 320 registered apprentices in the Northwest Territories. Of that 320, 15 are women. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I have spoken about this at length in the House. Right now, there are repayment plans if you receive an overpayment. However, the Member is correct. If someone starts working, their benefits are cut off because they are over the threshold, and then, if they lose their job, that could create immediate financial hardship or the cut-off could result in them having to pay thousands of dollars in rent and utilities and fuel, if it's in the middle of winter, and they might not be able to afford that, so I have committed to looking into the possibility of phasing benefits out. That is a long-term...

As part of the mandate commitment, as well, we're working on the Early Learning and Childcare 2030 Strategy, and so there is some work that has been going into that. I don't have the specifics of that, but I can find out and share that with the Member. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I hate to stop the fun, here, but the answer for that one is “no,” unfortunately. The contract, or the engineering and design contract, was awarded in June 2019 and that work has already commenced. At this point, it's too late to include childcare space in that plan. However, in the future, if we have room available in the school, that could be used for childcare space, but dedicated space is not in the plan right now and it's too late to add that.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, I want to focus on one of the successes that has come from the education renewal and innovation framework. The Northern Distance Learning program, otherwise known as NDL, is a way to offer higher-level academic courses to high school students in small communities, to help prepare them for post-secondary. By the upcoming 2020-2021 school year, this program will be available to students in up to 20 small communities across the territory.

The Northern Distance Learning program began at East Three School in Inuvik, under the leadership of the Beaufort-Delta Divisional...

Right now, we're open to anything. This is very early in this Assembly, and this mandate item, I think, spring 2021 is when we look to have a plan formed on what this would look like. Of course, we're open to partnerships. I mean, that's sort of been the mantra of this government. Every community is different, and so we have to look at the specific communities. Perhaps the GNWT is the only game in town and we could provide that service, but that is all yet to be determined. Right now, I won't say no to anything going forward in terms of what we're going to consider.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, part of our mandate is to better utilize GNWT infrastructure for early childhood programs, so that’s a definite consideration. Right now, our capital standards don’t say anything about childcare spaces in schools, so we’re not mandated to build them, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we’re prohibited from building it, either, so it’s a discussion that we’re currently having. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. That, it seems like it would be a simple fix, but for some of the details on this, with your indulgence, I would like to hand it over to Mr. MacDonald.