Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm very pleased today to stand in support of this motion, and I'd like to thank the Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures for their very hard work and for providing me, as an alternate member of that committee, to join the committee on the regular discussion around this topic.

Transparency and openness was a long-standing priority of many voters in the last election, and long-standing for many Northerners as well. The consensus government always needs to be evolving, and all systems of government do as well. We made some very bold steps early on. Allowing a...

Well, I'll take the Minister at his word, which was "could," but have the residents in that subdivision, are they aware that there will be potentially cameras observing them, or is that not within the scope of this project? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The perimeter fence and security equipment, this is new fencing, as I understand it, apart from what's already completed, to separate the facility from the residential neighbourhood. Is that correct? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that there is funding that goes to Yellowknife's Dene, and they of course in close proximity, but they still have their own community and it's constituated its community. It's the City of Yellowknife that doesn't receive this funding, and the City of Yellowknife that increasingly has the needs of Northerners pressed upon it.

People come here for the services and there's always a constant and rising demand for services. So is there any way that the Minister can communicate that message to Ottawa for a direct partnership from the City of...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will yield the balance of my time until tomorrow. Thank you.

Thank you to the Minister for providing that update. What is our plan going forward now that there's an awareness that there'll be a shortfall for health funding? Is there a chance we can turn this around before we move into our next budget cycle or is this going to be reflected in the next budget? When will this reduction impact the Northwest Territories?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm interested to know more about the heavy equipment operator facility for Aurora College. We've been told that Aurora College is developing its strategic plan and that, you know, the repurposing of this to a vocational school, which is why it's housed in Labour Development and Standards, is the intended course. But the strategic plan is not yet completed.

So are we developing capital for the college under the old strategic plan, under the old purpose or are we waiting to invest in whatever we want the school to become? It just seems odd to invest major capital into a...

[Translation] Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If the Minister of Education can share those application letters with the francophone community and with the other Members here before January-February. If we can see those applications, that is can everybody here and up there see those applications? [Translation ends].

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think that ground is well trod. I do think that partnership is a really unique opportunity given the role that Heritage Canada can play in this kind of funding, and I encourage the department to continue to collaborate with the francophone community for this, and to perhaps to look towards opportunities for other heritage sites, such as museums or cultural centres or services and infrastructure that could be useful to the francophone community.

My next errata question on this page was around the junior kindergarten upgrades. Are these upgrades tied to the announcement...

[Translation] Given that Heritage Canada could pay up to 50 per cent of costs for shared spaces like a gymnasium, home economics, and given that Heritage Canada can pay up to 100 per cent of community spaces, such as the pre-kindergarten, daycare and offices for organizations, why does the Minister of Education not take advantage of this opportunity and to ask for additional funding right away, so to finally meet the needs of the Francophone community? [Translation ends]