Rylund Johnson

Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm glad to hear that, and I think, you know, perhaps sometimes, you know, some of these southern universities they come up and they do a bunch of work on the tundra or the ice caps, and we never see them. So I think that both through the university and perhaps the oversimplifying of putting them together, we can capture some of the economic benefits.

My other question, though, I wanted to ask about is programming. I know that the department has released essentially these the higher level areas of which the polytechnic will focus on. But I'm wondering when we...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is another one where I'm looking at modernizing the Education Act and review the education funding framework, and then I see it's in progress. And will we continue beyond the 19th Legislative Assembly is what it says.

Can I just get a you know, I read that and I'm just a little confused as to whether we're going to accomplish this in this Assembly or when we think we'll get the Education Act. Can I get an update of when we expect a new Education Act and a new education funding framework. It seems that it'll clearly be work beyond this life of this Assembly, but do we...

Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. And I think the other big fight with this one is that it there's they're reducing the gap by $5 million was initially interpreted to be reducing $5 million considering the way the formula works in total, so adjusting for inflation or, you know, the increased costs as the formula takes. It seems now Cabinet has switched to not be that target.

My question is, can we get an update on what the actual amount the funding gap will be reduced by. You know, adding $5 million to it if it if inflation went up by $5 million will actually be zero dollars. So we don't seem to...

Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. Also I see here that, you know, some of the work is to identify changes for GNWT policies, and then there's a how we'll demonstrate progress as reporting on program changes provided.

I have yet to see any of that work, or I've yet to see, you know, us change a policy or, you know, change some sort of internal operations of the GNWT and say this is due to UNDRIP. Can I just get the Premier to speak to whether, you know, the federal and BC legislation kind of mandate a work plan that demands departments and agencies to review all internal policies and then make changes...

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate that and, you know, I have had constituents and I know people who've they worked with integrated case management and they are moving towards an integrated service delivery model. I guess my question, though, is, you know, in times of emergency, I believe those CFS workers need their own resources. They need to their access to their own funding that is separate outside of waiting for, you know, our a shared vision of GNWT having all of its services delivered.

I'm wondering if the Minister could speak to whether there is potential to provide specific...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services regarding child and family services.

I heard the Minister say there that they are planning to update our legislation to bring it in line with the federal legislation. And Mr. Speaker, one of the key principles in that federal legislation is section 15 that says no child should be apprehended solely on the basis of his or her socioeconomic status including poverty, lack of adequate housing, or infrastructure, or the state of health in his or her parent or care provider. And Mr. Speaker, I I am concerned that...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I see here that we kind of changed the capital plan to be an overall facilities plan which, you know, is going to be very large looking over multiple years, and then I think the goal is to be able to take that and bring it to the federal government and hopefully they are going to give us just a whole lot of infrastructure money and we can build new campuses and new buildings across the territory.

My question is can the Minister speak to the in this planning that's being done, whether we are considering the need for more housing, both for student and faculty. I believe...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. One of the conversations I had early on about a polytechnic was that in Yellowknife, it doesn't necessarily need to be Aurora College. I think if you took Dechinta, the Mine Training Society, College Nordique, the Centre for Circumpolar Health, and the millions of dollars that Laurier and other universities spend here, and you put them all together, you would have a university without doing anything essentially, just, you know, colocating groups who are already doing extensive research. So I just wonder if the Minister could update any conversations he's had with those...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I guess sometimes there's examples in here where it's unclear what's happening. We supposedly are supposed to put the environmental assessment and the regulatory process for the Mackenzie Valley Highway in for fall 2023, and it says here preliminary desktop fieldwork and community engagement has advanced; there's some planning underway. I'm just wondering whether we believe we are on target for fall of 2023 making a submission for the Mackenzie or the Slave Geologic sorry, I have these well, I guess I want to know both of these.

The Mackenzie Valley Highway is fall 2023...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. One of the goals here is to refine the funding model to ensure continued fairness and transparency. And I know this work is, you know, actually on track, and I'm happy to hear that but I find it a little ridiculous that we're going to ensure transparency when the department refuses to publish how much we actually give specific communities. So there's no way for anyone to know whether their community is overfunded or underfunded. And I know the Minister of MACA has refused to answer that question. So my question is once we are done and we have a new funding formula, will...