R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Madam Speaker. So first, I'd like to correct a few of the statements that the Member made in her recordsetting five and a half minute Member's statement today.

She stated the Education Act had not changed in 30 years. It was changed last year, unanimously by this House; changes to the Education Act were approved. We changed in 2017, 2014, 2013, 2006, 2005, and so on. And so this is not some unprecedented change that's happening. There are always amendments to the Education Act as are required by operational realities.

She stated that Indigenous governments have been provided no...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. No, the wage topup was primarily driven by the federal government and we are not considering that. We are trying to get people out of poverty through employment programs, through education. And I will say that we do actually have a number of labour programs, some of which provide wage topups. So we are doing a bit of what the Member is talking about but we are not looking at rolling out the large scale program similar to the ones the federal government funded in the last couple years. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. So a living wage reflects what an earner or earners would need to bring home to pay the bills in any given community. The minimum wage is the lowest possible wage that you can pay someone, and its purpose is to protect vulnerable workers. So they're two different things. So our minimum wage, it's similar to minimum wages across Canada. It's on the higher end. And the changes that we are making or that we have made would put us on an even playing field with the rest of Canada. And I will note that given the climate in the Northwest Territories, the employment climate...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. So we're on a path, along with Aurora College, towards a polytechnic university. And it is going to be the college who is going to be making those decisions about access as we progress further. Once we have a board of governors in place, which I hope happens early in the new year, it will be that board of governors that will be fulfilling the mandate of the college and focus one of the focuses from the beginning has been ensuring access to college programs in every community. So it will be the board of governors who will be tasked with ensuring there is access in...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. So there is a regulatory process, and the City of Yellowknife it is their regulatory process. And so officials are meeting with the officials from ECE are meeting with the officials from the City of Yellowknife to get an understanding of what that process is and the timelines involved with that. But it is through that process that the issues of traffic flow and things like that can be dealt with. And the college wants to be a good neighbour to all of the residents in the area. I can assure you of that. And we don't want to create a situation where there is, you know...

Thank you. So as I've stated, we did we have shared the details. The department is now working with education bodies to come up with the specifics, and you know, what the wording might look like, and then that information will be shared. I've already made that commitment. So that will be done.

And in terms of how we're going to ensure that we work together, I answer that already with discussion about the MOU.

I hope we don't lose sight of the fact here that generally what happens with the nonland and resources legislation, as required under devolution, most legislation is not codeveloped with...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. So the changes that are being proposed, which have been shared with Indigenous governments and education bodies, were chosen because of the recommendations of the Office of the Auditor General, internal evaluations that ECE did, and discussions with education bodies. These are many of these are longstanding issues that, you know, we have an opportunity to clean up. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. And we won't be implementing a guaranteed basic income during the life of this Assembly. We do have a number of very expensive initiatives that we are currently working on and will be bringing forward. So we are making investments in this area, making investments to reduce the cost of living. But a guaranteed basic income is not one of those. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I can't commit to that. I know there are organizations who do look at the living wage in different communities, and we're going to let them continue to do that good work. Thank you.

Thank you. And since we've made the changes to the Aurora College Act, I can't speak for the college, but we are working closely together so I can say that the college is open to working with community partners. There is a Makerspace up in Inuvik, and that is part of the college already. And so if there are other opportunities to work with third parties and their synergies, if there's space required and the college has that space, I know that they would be happy to make those connections when it makes sense. We all need to work together and pool our resources. Thank you.