R.J. Simpson

Thank you. And so we have a few pieces of legislation that are fundamental to the education system in the Northwest Territories. We have the Education Act, which is primarily focused on JK to 12, but there is some it does reach out to postsecondary and other areas. We now have the PostSecondary Education Act, which is something we have not had before, and it is the a ct that really regulates postsecondary education in the Northwest Territories. And other jurisdictions have it as well. We are the regulators of that sector. And then we have the Aurora College Act, which we recently amended to...

Thank you. So the Office of the Auditor General, they look at, you know, our financials and they recommended that we make that adjustment. So we are moving that contribution from work performed on behalf of others to operations to more accurately reflect how it is used. So it's an accounting thing to make sure that we're more transparent and more clear. Thank you.

Thank you. And, yes, we do receive significant funds from the federal government, and they provide those funds to all the provinces and territories and I am currently working with the other ministers of the provinces and territories to begin the negotiations of the future agreements. And I can say that we are putting a lot of effort into that. There are meetings coming up this spring or summer, and we are everyone is united in the call for more funding because everyone recognizes the labour shortage, the need for skilled labour, and especially the type of skilled labour we support through...

I'll hand it to Mr. Saturnino. Thank you.

Thank you. And so we do have the $70,000 in here. On the line item, there's another $85,000 the department contributes out of the Labour Market Development Agreement. Perhaps I can hand it to the deputy minister for some more succinct comments on the Member's question. Thank you.

Thank you. We are supporting about 300 apprentices right now. Thank you.

Thank you. So this House did pass the amendments to the Aurora College Act, so that decision has been made. So we're past the before part. But as the Member's aware, we have a facilities master plan that sets out, you know, potential infrastructure investments and the college and the government are well aware of the space limitations, and along with the residents in Fort Smith, addressing those limitations are the top priorities for new infrastructure for the college. Thank you.

Thank you. That represents an influx of cash that we received from the federal government as part of their contribution to the transformation of Aurora College into a polytechnic university, and it was not recorded in this year because we received it last year. Thank you.

Thank you. I just wanted to make some closing comments while we're here.

I appreciate all of the comments from committee. We've made some significant changes in this department and that's because of the support of my Cabinet colleagues and the Regular Members. I do listen when they speak and I have tried to you know, to put forward initiatives that I feel would be supported by all the Members of the House based on the needs in their regions.

I also want to say that I have tasked this department with some monumental initiatives this term. I probably wouldn't have done that had I known how the...

Thank you. Part of the work to transform the college is ensuring that there is a funding formula in place so that these types of programs are costed. Right now that isn't in place although there is a budget for the programs, and it's the same budget that has existed since the programs were in existence. Thank you.