Caroline Cochrane

My understanding, again, and I am sure I will be corrected if I am not right, is that there are certain areas that we report on. There are other areas that we don't report on so in-depth because of confidentiality, such as line items. The commitment is that, the first couple of years, we will be developing an implementation plan to move us into a polytechnic university, and during that work, there will be financial targets that will be identified in that work, and then also looking at partners, not only us, but other partners also to find those resources. That will be part of the...

I do know that we give approximately $32 million to the Aurora College at this point. They provide a plan for how they are using that money. I don't, at this time, have the exact figure that is for the associate deputy minister's office, including travel, et cetera. Again, I can get that for the Member.

These are accumulated surpluses. They add up over the years. Like I said, the last one that was tabled here was 2017-2018. It was over $13 million. That money will be used for the polytechnic university to assist with the implementation plan, although, Mr. Speaker, I must qualify that that is one pot of funding. If there is additional funding that is drawn up that is expected through the implementation plan, then I, as the Minister, or whichever Minister is in this position at that time, I am hoping, will be bringing forward that figure to the government to ask for additional funding. We will...

No. This associate deputy minister is responsible for overseeing the operations of the Aurora College, just like the president's duties. However, this is an associate deputy minister position. The main priority is actually bringing forward the framework, and then, of course, when that work is done, then that position will dissolve and then a president position will be reinstated for our post-secondary polytechnic university.

I should clarify: my understanding of the question before was if we would do a comprehensive review on the whole education system. That isn't something that I could probably do in the next few months. However, we are constantly doing reviews of our education programming through our education renewal program. That is ongoing, that we are always looking at our programs, our education services, and they are always being reviewed on a constant basis. I just want to clarify that it is not like we are not doing it. We do it regularly. If you are looking at a full, comprehensive one, that is a little...

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge International Women's Day. International Women's Day is held annually on March 8th to celebrate women's social, cultural, and political achievements throughout history and across nations. International Women's Day also provides an important opportunity to showcase commitments towards women's equality, to raise awareness, and to highlight initiatives towards gender parity.

The theme of this year's International Women's Day is "Better the Balance, Better the World." As the Minister responsible for the Status of Women, I am committed to achieving gender...

Mr. Speaker, I am also pleased to recognize the attendance of the board of the NWT Status of Women Council and their executive director here in the House today: Ms. Violet Camsell-Blondin, our president; Rita Arey, vice president; board members Catherine Mackeinzo-Taylor, Andrea Steed, and Arlene Hache; as well as the executive director, Louise Elder. I would also like to thank them for their ongoing contributions to improving the lives of women in all of our communities and for being here today, along with the other women in the gallery, to help celebrate International Women's Day. Your...

As stated publicly, in this House, behind closed doors, I have constantly said throughout this that it is important that we work with the community governments to make this right. I do want to commend the Member for actually saying that we have made a lot of progress on our polytechnic university. We have been talking about this for 15, 20 years. I am really honoured, as the Minister, to be able to, as one older politician told me, "get 'er done." It is time that we move forward with this, and it is not only time that we move forward in isolation with the Government of the Northwest...

In all honesty, as soon as the City of Yellowknife's University Feasibility and Benefits Study was produced, I wanted it right away. I wanted to see what it said so that I could be defended if I needed to. I was really, actually, quite happy to read it. It backed up a lot of what we had found in the review. Not only did it back it up, it actually expanded on some of the areas in justifying why we need to move into a polytechnic university. Yes, I have looked at the feasibility study. I know that the City of Yellowknife took that initiative. I am not telling other communities what to do, but it...

Mr. Speaker, programs focused on both teacher and student wellness are foundational to education renewal. Mental wellness is essential for everyone involved in teaching and learning, and we have acted to address this need.

In response to the critical need for mental health supports for schools and in communities, the Departments of Education, Culture and Employment and Health and Social Services are partnering with education bodies and health and social services authorities to provide counselling services for children and youth within schools and in the community. We are using a four-year...