R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Depending on how long I'm here, I'm sure, at some point I might. The way that this works is that there is a minimum wage committee. It's made up of non-governmental organizations, industries, and there are representatives from the GNWT, as well. This group of people look at economic climate in the territory, they look at employment statistics, and they produce a report. That report should have been on my desk already, but the recent report from Finance regarding the effects of COVID-19 was deemed important enough that the committee got back together. They are...

Another good idea from the Member, but again, I don't do the programming at the college. Nonetheless, I do appreciate what the Member is saying. The college is moving towards a laddered approach, where you can get your certificate and then move into a diploma, degree, and so on. That is not currently possible with this personal support worker program. There is nothing beyond that. The credits do not transfer, and it would take some rejigging of the program in order to make that happen, especially considering that nursing is nationally accredited and that there are stringent requirements...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd be happy to grow that program. I can't count how many times, just talking to members of the public, they've said that, "My child didn't know what they wanted to do. They didn't have the courses they needed to graduate. I wish there was someone to help them." I've been able to answer time and time again that we now have that. We have a program that was only accessible to students in about six schools in the territory. Most students did not have that access to career counsellors. This program, we had six counsellors, and we added three more in this current fiscal year...

There are only two ways organizations become successful: strong leadership and dumb luck. I'm not going to bank on dumb luck, so I agree that we do need strong leadership. The current president of Aurora College, I believe he is doing an excellent job. Right now, we need to strengthen the foundation. There needs to be real organizational fortification, and that is moving along very well. I've been very happy with what I've seen. Once there is a board of directors, a board of governors appointed, then they will use their knowledge and their vision, frankly, to find a president who they believe...

I'm not sure under what premise the City of Yellowknife is operating. I'm sure they have a desire to have infrastructure built in the community. I mean, any community leader does. I expect that, but I think there is a lot of maybe confusion about what a university has to be, these days. A lot of people, in their minds, still see a big, single building made of brick with ivy growing up the walls and a big quad where students are sitting out in the sun reading, but that's not the way things are these days. With technology, you can have campuses that are spread out. When I went to university, I...

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that, on Wednesday, October 28, 2020, I will move that Bill 14, An Act to Amend the Securities Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One year ago, Members of this House made the transformation of Aurora College into a polytechnic university a priority of the 19th Legislative Assembly. Today, I would like to provide an update on some of the progress that has been made toward this goal.

Earlier this month, Aurora College released a three-year strategic plan, which sets out the vision, mission, values, and strategic direction that will guide the college's operations for the next three years and helps set the stage for key transformational changes. Two of the four strategic pillars of the new plan are...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that, on Wednesday, October 28, 2020, I will move that Bill 12, An Act to Amend the Apprenticeship, Trades and Occupational Certification Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

That took a turn. The Member was advocating for an increased minimum wage, then said the minimum wage is irrelevant, and now wants a living wage. No, I don't have a path to a living wage. Frankly, I don't have a path to ensuring that everyone makes $25-plus in the territory. I'm really not sure how we would get to that at this point. It would take a rethinking of a lot of small businesses. I know of businesses in Hay River that would go under if they had to pay everyone $25 an hour, so no, I can't commit to that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I'll see what the report recommends. It's a complete waste of all of these people's time if I'm going to stand up here and answer these questions without ever seeing what is recommended. I understand what the Member is saying. I've worked in the industry, as well. I know that you make lower wages because you live off the tips. If that's something that they recommend, then that's something I'd consider. However, you don't get tips everywhere you work. Maybe Yellowknife isn't bad, but I know there are places where the tipping isn't great. We can't paint the NWT with the same brush as the rest of...