Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This motion makes specific reference to working with the Minister responsible for Public Engagement and Transparency. We know that the Minister is currently engaged in the Open Government Plan, the Comprehensive Review to ATIPP, but I haven't heard if this work towards the public accounts has been included on that list of projects. I'm wondering if the honourable Member for Thebacha could respond to that.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, honourable Members. Cabinet's open houses have also given citizens the opportunity to speak directly on issues that matter to them and should matter to this government. Most importantly, we have put into place a mid-term review that will demonstrate our commitment to the principles of open government and accountability to which we all strive.

Though it won't be easy, and I'm sure there will be bumps along the way, we must continue to endeavour down the path of open government. Most Members of this House are not veteran politicians, and were elected on a change...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I move that this Assembly recommends that the Minister of Finance provide the Standing Committee on Government Operations with the interim public accounts by August 31st, in time for standing committee review of the government's business plans. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. On November 1, 2016, the Standing Committee on Government Operations presented its Report on the Review of the 2014-2015 Public Accounts. The Standing Committee on Government Operations made eight recommendations, including recommendations regarding the provision of information as well as the development of plain language materials. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I move that this Assembly recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories advise the House of its timeline for the completion and introduction of a bill to modernize and update the Human Rights Act. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is nice to know that we do have a ballpark figure for this. I appreciate that there are many needs across the territory. At the same time, if we are going to invest in post-secondary education, we need the right facilities to do it. A new campus facility could be a strategic investment to support local economies in our capital. It can create jobs. It can create new opportunities and allow students to stay within the North to achieve their educational aspirations. Again, can the Minister start working on a feasibility for this and reaching out to partners in the...

Mr. Speaker, apart from the strategic plan that will come out of Aurora College, that facility needs serious work and is inadequate for many of the needs that the other two campuses in Fort Smith and Inuvik enjoy. I spoke to science and research development opportunities. This is simply not there. I am not asking the Minister to pay for it. I am asking the Minister to begin the planning process for it, not to commit to spending on it, but to commit to starting to do the work on it. Sometimes it can take five, 10 years to move these projects along. If we start work on it now, we can be better...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister for providing some clear timelines. My last question is going to be a difficult one to answer because it's about capital, and Aurora College currently does not have a Yellowknife campus. One of the components of Aurora College is the Aurora Research Institute, and currently they have office space, they do not have laboratory equipment, they do not have research equipment at all.

Clearly, there are some necessary upgrades if we're going to expand our research capacity and expand training and education opportunities for Aurora College. That...

The Minister just indicated a list of stakeholders and those sound like a good start. There are a number of examples of community colleges or smaller colleges that have evolved into polytechnics or university colleges. We are seeing that process happening in our neighbouring territory, the Yukon. Will the stakeholder consultation also involve speaking to those experts and seeing how they were able to transform their post-secondary vocational institutes into formal polytechnics and university colleges?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The committee carefully considered this recommendation and, looking at the detail provided on other areas in the report in the public accounts, we felt that this was over and above what others — an example is contaminated sites. There is no inventory of contaminated sites, but there is an inventory of everyone receiving student loan remission. These are not bad debts; these are students in the remission process. So to the honourable Member from Thebacha's point, transparency is important and the amounts owing certainly are, but attaching them to people who are not...