Caroline Cochrane

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm just a bit confused with where this is going. The government is in the business of trying to get communities off of diesel, in partnership with the federal government, and in partnership with any governments or any individuals that want to take part in that, so we have been actively seeking partnerships all along. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I agree that there are lots of opportunities. When I was the housing Minister a couple of years ago, I believe we only had 15 apprentices. That is not okay. If we have 33 communities, we can do better than 15 apprentices within housing. I did hear the Member say that there were no qualified journeymen, but I also heard the Member say that he has a housing maintainer, so we do have one person who is actually certified. We just need to convince that one person to take on apprentices. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Once we have done this mandate, and we've tabled the mandate, the next process is to actually come up with a budget to address some of these mandate things. Again, recognizing there's 22 priorities, we're not going to have a lot of money. We're not going to get everything done properly. We can either spread it out really thin or focus. I'm not sure where we're going to go with that yet. It's a debate that Cabinet will be having. Yellowknife's not going to get forgotten.

The Minister of ITI just brought up that they do get $161,000 every year towards the visitor's...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, there is a negotiated policy within the GNWT. However, we also need to make sure that we are abiding by the policy. For example, the negotiated contracts to help Indigenous governments to get their feet on the ground, I think it's five years that will support them in that. At some point, though, it has to be open to competition. It's not good to always have negotiated contracts, and then there is no market for any other business; you will shut down every other business. There is a fine balance to starting up, and we usually use them for Indigenous governments. Yes...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Deputy Minister Goldney would like to respond.

The mentorship program? If you could ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Minister Simpson.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I will pass it to the Minister of ITI. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The one item that is in here, though, is the business case for the Taltson project will be completed by spring 2020. The other ones aren't in here yet, but that one will be completed as per our schedule. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The budget that you see, that was presented by the finance Minister today as the O and M budget. It's the main budget. These mandates will have their own budget, and that is the process that we need to bring forward. We have money that is set aside just for the mandates. It's a matter that we do not have enough money for all of the mandates, so there will be tough decisions to be made. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. On my right is Mr. Martin Goldney. He is the Cabinet Secretary and the deputy minister of Executive and Indigenous Affairs. Thank you, Madam Chair.