Alfred Moses

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, I'd just like to commend the Member's community of Fort Providence and the youth for all the work that they are doing in the community that he mentioned in his opening comments.

On April 1, 2017, with the enhancements that were implemented with the Small Community Employment Support program, we did look at expanding eligibility, increasing benefit levels, and adding flexibility for communities and employers as well as organizations.

We are also looking at communities that were previously ineligible to allow them to apply for funding, and the communities of...

Yes, initial discussions between some of the YK Dene chief, the SAO, and some of our department have begun in March of 2017. We will continue those discussions this fall and see where we go from there. We will keep the Member updated on how that progresses. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

After we did the technical status evaluation, there were some other little things that needed to be addressed right away, such as in the areas of space and other technical issues. We needed to get that done. It has just gone off by a year, and we will get that planning study under way in 20182019.

There are various criteria that we do look at, Mr. Speaker, such as safety, stage in the asset life cycle, environmental concerns, program needs, and preparation for further future business plans. As I mentioned, when the Department of Infrastructure looked at it, they said it was in good condition and extended the life cycle by 20 years; that is part of the criteria that we do look at. We base that on other infrastructure projects not only within our department but also right across the board of government. Those are some of the areas, but I can get more detailed information for the Member...

I do not have the exact date at this time. I am willing to get that information and get it to the Member so he knows at what time the department accepted the review and recommendations from the Department of Infrastructure.

As the Member mentioned yesterday in her statement, we just signed a contract. Right now currently we're working on a work plan with the contractor and our department is working really hard to get that work plan developed. Once I have that work plan I will share it with Members and committee and get their input, as well as Cabinet to get their input into how we move forward. We're just waiting on that work plan, and I can't commit to anything until both the contractor and our department staff have worked on completing it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Member also kind of answered this. The NWTspecific data and the labour market information report that we have now will help guide us and Aurora College into the programs and services that meet the needs and educational needs of NWT residents and Northerners. It is going to help us make evidencebased decisions once we see the results. Just moving forward, that information is definitely going to help us. We are also going to be looking at administration, operations, governance, and legislation with this foundational review.

Since the beginning of this fiscal year, we're about halfway in now, and there is a significant increase to the Small Community Employment Support program. I have asked the department what significant investments and changes have been made and seen in terms of getting those contributions out to the small communities. I will get that information, and I can share it with the Members for their respective regions and communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

When the discussions of the foundational review had taken place in the May/June sitting, we looked at some direction that has come through, and one of those discussions and directions that were brought forth from some Members was that we look at the governance and we look at the structure of the college. There was a recommendation from the 2013 document moving forward. We took that decision, made that decision, and we are going to be looking at governance as we do this foundational review moving forward, and we look forward to the results.

Because we put the program in April 1st, 2017, we've been trying to get that funding out to more communities so that it's being utilized at a better rate. We are also looking at some of our other initiatives. With Skills 4 Success, working with some of the small communities on projects where we've seen successes, and I think the Member had mentioned some in his Member's statement. We are going to continue to review those and see how we can look at other policy changes that need to be developed, but we're going to have a look at this.

As the Member knows, and as Members of the Assembly know, the...