Jackson Lafferty

Just going forward with the process itself, if the Premier of the day can overstep the decision of the education Minister, what is stopping her from doing so with other departments, other statutes that are before us? Again, I have to remind this House that we are dealing with the law that we passed in this House with sitting Legislative Assembly Members. This is a very critical issue that we have to be clear for the public. I am still confused with the process because there is a Minister here, and the Premier makes a decision over top of the Minister responsible for Aurora College to deliver...

Masi, Mr. Speaker. I would just like to follow up on the question from the Kam Lake Member. Mr. Speaker, it is troubling that the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment played no role in the recent Aurora College president dismissal and that, in fact, he was not consulted. The Minister admitted publicly. There is a lot of confusion on this side of the House and from the public, and the public wants answers.

Mr. Speaker, this raises concerns regarding the legal propriety of the president's termination. I would like to refer back to the Aurora College Act, which has authority over the...

Masi, Mr. Speaker. [Translation] I, myself, we remember the passing of our friend. We send prayers to the family and also her friends.

Mr. Speaker, living in the North can be very harsh, particularly in the winter months. Just recently, we experienced windchills up to minus 40. The majority of our people should have wood stoves. Almost every single house should have a wood stove, at the very least as a backup heat source. Thinking of a minus-45 cold snap combined with a six-hour power outage, you do not have to imagine it [translation ends] to buy or install a wood stove, but we can ensure that...

Masi, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to return to item number 7 on the orders of the day. Masi.

---Unanimous consent denied

Masi, Mr. Speaker. There might have been a discussion, but the decision to overrule the Minister's authority is in question in this House. Section 19.1, "Minister shall, in consultation with the board, appoint the president of Aurora College." Clearly, it lays out, Mr. Speaker, and here, we have a Premier that came down to say, "I don't like this. We are going to change this." There are other statutes, other committees, other organizations, departments that are in a similar boat. Are we going to go to allow the Premier to call the shots at the end of the day to say if she likes it or not? The...

In my eyes, this is a law that we follow in this House and also out of this House, as government. Section 19.1 of the Aurora College Act: "The Minister shall, in consultation with the board, appoint a president of Aurora College." So, when a former Minister appointed the president, there was no call to the board. Was that legit? But that is another discussion, another topic of the day because we are beyond that. With this act, it clearly states that the Minister responsible shall appoint with consultation for the board. I just want to make the process clear. Why did the Premier overstep her...

Since we do not have an actual treatment centre here in the Northwest Territories, I would like to know the costs over the last 10 years. How many clients have we sent to the southern institutions, and how much did that cost this government?

Masi, Mr. Speaker. [Translation] When I talked earlier, I mentioned about alcohol and addiction, how to do treatment for people. [Translation ends] The first question I have is: what programs are currently in place here in the Northwest Territories to provide addiction treatment and addiction recovery care? How many programs are there in total? Masi, Mr. Speaker.

Masi, Mr. Speaker. Obviously, I would appreciate all the detailed information that the Minister will be providing. My fourth and final question is: the Truth and Reconciliation Commission call to action has 23 calls upon all levels of government, including the territorial government, to increase the number of Aboriginal professionals, retention of Aboriginal professional healthcare, and also training for all those health professionals. Do we currently have in place all these areas of interest that have been highlighted as part of the calls to action in our communities, in our 33 communities...

I was strictly referring to addiction treatment and addiction recovery care. However, I will move on to the second question, on-the-land treatment programs. How many on-the-land treatment programs do we currently have in the Northwest Territories and where are they located?