R.J. Simpson

SFA is for students who are studying. I don't know if that is an appropriate avenue to provide funds to somebody who is working as an apprentice, but I have been speaking for years about the need to get more apprentices in the territory. We have so many journeypeople who are retiring, who have retired. Like the rest of Canada, we just do not have the people to replace them. I am hopeful and committed to increasing that number during the life of this Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Aurora College offers trades, industrial, and occupational training in the trades mobile training lab. This lab is a state-of-the-art facility. I think it is pretty cool, basically. We are always open to having these discussions with Indigenous governments. In 2019, December, the lab returned to Inuvik from Tuktoyaktuk after offering the Building Trades Helper Program.

There are ongoing discussions about how we can better use this lab in the Beaufort-Delta for things such as trade preparation, entry-level programs for youth to enhance employment skills, and the Building Trades Helper Program...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would also like to recognize Mr. John Stephenson, the former chair of the Yellowknife District No. 1 education authority. I never had a chance to work directly with him, as our terms did not quite overlap, but I have heard nothing but good things, and I look forward to working with him, as he is still a trustee on the board. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yesterday, responding to questions from the Member for Yellowknife North, I committed my support to this project. I think that this is an amazing opportunity. I am privileged to be part of this transformation of Aurora College into a polytechnic university, and I am whole-heartedly behind it.

I have been having conversations as of late that we need to do a better job explaining this to the public, and so, moving forward, I am going to be releasing more information about what we are doing. We have a plan that is nearing completion, an implementation plan, which will lay out the next steps. That...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank my colleague for allowing me to clarify this situation a little bit. I am not going to speak to the reasons for termination. That is the Premier's domain. That position served at the pleasure of the Premier.

I will note that I was aware last week that there was going to be a meeting between Dr. Weegar and the Premier. I didn't know what the ultimate outcome of that would be. I do not know if it was presupposed.

Late last week, I discovered that Dr. Weegar and the GNWT would be parting ways. I wasn't privy to the conversation, so I do not know if the...

The department is aware and looking into this. Unfortunately, I have to report that we do not have a silver bullet for this issue. It is going to take a bit more research, but we are committed to doing that, and I will get back to the Member when we have that information.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In March of 2019, YK1 and YCS raised the issue through a joint letter to ECE. To my knowledge, CSFTNO has not raised the issue through a formal channel like that, but I am sure that it is on their radar. ECE officials have engaged with the Yellowknife DEAs to begin to try to figure out how to solve this issue. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department, in recent years especially, has really been doing quite a bit in this area. Since 2018-2019, ECE has partnered with the University of Alberta's Canadian Indigenous Languages and Literacy Development Institute to deliver Indigenous language programs to community members. Approximately 130 participants have been involved in the NWT-sponsored program. Since 2018, ECE has awarded 29 Indigenous language revitalization scholarships, each worth $5,000, to support NWT students registered in an accredited post-secondary program with a focus on language...

The Member is referring to the academic freedom that universities have. Of course, Aurora College is not yet a university. It doesn't participate in the type of research that necessitates that type of academic freedom, necessarily, but I can assure the Member that the foundational review recommended developing an arm's-length body. The government response agreed that we need to develop an arm's-length body, and I personally can assure the Member that I am not going to preside over the creation of something similar to what we had. I am not going to repeat the mistakes of the past. When we are...

Mr. Speaker, the plans are to continue what we've been doing. I just mentioned a number of different programs that the department is involved with. Also, ECE is currently facilitating partnerships between post-secondary institutions and regional Indigenous governments, with the focus on helping communities build Indigenous language capacity to develop programming that strengthens Indigenous languages and encourages development at the community level. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.