Charles Dent

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. There is $27,000 in the budget, as the Member has noted, and it’s based on application. So it isn’t a lot of money. Part of the problem is the cash situation the government finds itself, but that’s available to museums in the North to apply for. It will be assessed as we get the applications as to how we can spend that money.

Thank you, Madam Chair. On my right I have the deputy minister for the department, Mr. Mark Cleveland, and on my left Mr. Devitt, who is director of management services.

Mr. Chairman, the vast majority of that money is remissions, so there will be some money for student loans where the person passes away or goes bankrupt while still owing some money on their loan. In those situations there are write-offs, but most of the money we're talking about here is remission.

Mr. Chairman, I'll make sure that I remind all Ministers of the guidelines and remind them that they should be paying attention to those guidelines.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, to graduate, it means that you typically had to achieve certain marks in the departmental exams, and we use the same exams as Alberta. So if we have people who are graduated they should be at the same level no matter what community they are at. I know that there are concerns about how many programs can be offered in all communities, and the small schools have a real problem with delivering the same level of programming as a larger school does. So not everybody has access equally across the Territories to the same level of program. In general, the...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Beaufort-Delta and the Sahtu appear to have had relatively significant decreases. One of the boards in Yellowknife has decreased while the other has increased. It’s almost an offset there. So there isn’t a significant change and in the other regions there is not significant change. The actual enrolment change in the Northwest Territories has not been growth. The total drop in the school system in this year over last is 352 students. So there are 352 students fewer this year than last. Sorry, it’s not quite that. It works out to just less than 100 in total is what...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The explanation there that is written in the book is pretty much what it is. For instance, under the terms of the agreement if we need to do some consultation, we receive the funding from the federal government in order to undertake that.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The main estimates we bring forward today total nearly $214 million. Overall, this represents an increase of $3.2 million, or 1.5 percent, in the departmental budget over last year's main estimates. It is, however, important to note that increases for schools, based on enrollment changes, have not yet been finalized and, as a result, are not reflected in these numbers.

This modest increase in the department's budget represents a balance of program reductions and reinvestments in key areas.

First, within the education and culture activity of the department, we are...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Member had asked three questions about a program that we have in terms of recognizing international credentials. What we have done is rather than try and develop the expertise in house, is we have actually contracted the service with the Government of Alberta so that it is their people who will evaluate. What has to happen is that the credentials have to be sent to the office in Alberta where they are then checked for authenticity, for consistency, and the institutional status to make sure that they would qualify. What happens then is a general statement of...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Right now the average across Canada for tuition is about $4,000 a year, and our program provides a grant of $3,500. So students' families have to come up with about $500 towards the cost of tuition on average. There will be a number of programs, obviously, that are higher than that and some that are less expensive. But our program provides a maximum of $3,500 towards tuition, and that hasn't changed for quite some time, since the program was redesigned a number of years ago.