Tom Beaulieu

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I was looking for a bit of clarification on an item here on page 206 on the expenditure category on compensation and benefits over the past two fiscal years, gone down slightly from almost $10 million down to $9.6 million down to $8.3 million, but the positions are exactly the same. I was wondering what the difference is? If we are still paying 58 people benefits and compensation, why is there such a big drop in the amount? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think that such a program would be greatly welcomed by people in small businesses trying to hire summer students for the various jobs that they do. I think that I could help the Minister of HR take a look at the vacancy rate if you're looking for money to hire summer students. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm very pleased to hear that. I'd like to ask the Minister: what is the strategy of working with the other departments? I know that it has always been a difficult task to give to one Minister when all Ministers are responsible for their own hiring, or the departments are responsible for their own hiring of summer students. I want to know if the Minister has any coordinated plan with all departments on the hiring of summer students.

Marci cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as Regular Members in the House, we are in the process of asking government to put more money into the anti-poverty movement. Today, the Minister of Health had laid out all of the work this government is doing to combat poverty; however, most of those initiatives had been there for years, and we will have a very high percentage of people in poverty in the Northwest Territories, Mr. Speaker.

I wanted to get up quickly after the speech that the Minister of Health and Social Services made to respond to it quickly because I don’t want people to believe that $438...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I move that the Chair rise and report progress.

Thank you. Mr. Chairman, I think that is clear. What is not clear is why it was cash-flowed over two years, but that is fine. I have no more questions in this area. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Marci cho, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, committee wishes to consider Tabled Document 26118(2), Northwest Territories Main Estimates, 20172018, hopefully completing the Department of Health and Social Services and also considering Industry, Tourism and Investment. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

What was the conclusion of the most recent evaluation on the Teacher Education Program, and what improvements were suggested, if any?

Marci cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have questions for the Minister of Education on the Teacher Education Program. Mr. Speaker, if we eliminate the Teacher Education Program, I predict that fewer Northern students will study to become teachers. The department must have looked into that before proposing the cut. What is the department's forecast in future years for the number of Indigenous students studying to become teachers? Thank you.

Marci cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, [English translation not provided].

Marci cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as we debate the cutbacks proposed for Aurora College, we must ask ourselves as an Assembly: what kind of territory do we want to be?

When the devolution agreement came into force in 2014 we promised our people we would build a territory and shape our future ourselves. Today, three years later, we are talking about shutting down two flagship programs at Aurora College: the teacher education and the social work programs.

If we cut the Teacher Education Program we turn back time nearly 50...