Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I have some questions for the Minister of Transportation on his statement that he gave earlier today. I was really pleased to see that caribou got an honourable mention in his statement on the Slave Geological Province access corridor. That wasn't there last time. In his statement, he says that the corridor has been identified: "It will provide greatest economic benefit to the region in the Northwest Territories." Can the Minister tell me whether this corridor will benefit caribou, specifically the Bathurst caribou herd? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Transportation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is kind of a unique question. We have committed to working with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to get all the information so we can make a fair decision moving forward on this corridor for the residents of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I'm glad to hear that. Is the Minister aware whether this corridor, that has already been planned by his department, actually goes through any critical habitat for the Bathurst caribou herd?
I believe that is already habitat of the Bathurst caribou range and probably other ranges of caribou from the Arctic coast.
I am glad that the Minister recognizes that this corridor will go through the range, the habitat of the Bathurst caribou, but he didn't actually answer my question about critical habitat, like water crossings, calving grounds, and so on, so maybe I will try a different angle here. The Grays Bay Road and Port Project, that the Minister mentioned in his statement here, would link up with our road, and it is all part of one big project now apparently. Is the Minister aware of whether the Grays Bay Road and Port Project would actually go through any critical habitat for the Bathurst caribou herd?
That is a Nunavut project. I am not the Minister of Transportation for Nunavut. I would have to check with the colleagues in Nunavut. As far as I am concerned, that is a Nunavut project, and I don't have any of that information.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I will help the Minister out here a little bit. How I can help him is that there is a map of the Grays Bay project and the road corridor on our side in my latest constituency newsletter. The Grays Bay Port and Road Project would actually go through the Bathurst caribou calving grounds, what is left of them. Our government has had this position where we have traditionally opposed any development in calving grounds, so is it a position of our government now that we would oppose this corridor that goes through the calving grounds of the Bathurst caribou herd? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I have said, that is a Nunavut process. That is their decision to make. We are worried about our territory. I am worried about the Slave Geological Province and how we move it forward. We will continue to work with Environment and Natural Resources to get all the critical information for how we can propose this corridor to move forward.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I was asking some questions of the Education, Culture and Employment Minister. When we talked about the three cuts at the college, they are all lower-entry-level. Did the department or the college actually look at making some cuts at the upper end of the college? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment did work closely with Aurora College to identify reductions. For this upcoming budget, what they identified was the administration area as well as the programs that we have been discussing in the House. To my knowledge, I am not sure if they did look at the upper senior management when they were looking at reductions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Can the Minister commit to coming back to this House to say if the college actually looked at upper management?
Yes, I can get the department to get that information and share it with the Member.
I thank the Minister for his answer. When we look at the college from 1968 to 2008, we had 269 TEP graduates; 78 per cent of them were of Indigenous heritage. The Minister actually talked about 33 students going down South to attend school down in the southern part of Canada. Can the Minister provide a percentage of what Aboriginal students are attending school down South?
I don't have that specific information with me right now, but we can get that information, how many of our students who are Aboriginal attending education programs down south, and share it with the Member.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for his commitment, and I am looking forward to that information. Mr. Speaker, when we looked at the cost analysis of making these cuts to the program and, if we cut this program, we are going to lose potential students out there who do not want to go down South did the department or the college actually do a real cost analysis of the economic effect of eliminating this valuable program to the territories and the Town of Fort Smith? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, we looked at, also, the graduation rates. We are not seeing a big number of graduates coming out of the social work program or the TEP program for the investments that we are making. It was a decision that was made by both the Department of ECE in collaboration with Aurora College to find where these reductions were.
I just want to emphasize again that we are supporting the students who are currently in the program. We want to see success. We want to see better outcomes, and we want the students who are in these two programs right now to become part of the public service here in the GNWT, and we want to support them on their career paths. We continue to support students who go to get postsecondary education outside the territory.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled "Followup Letter to Oral Question 52518(2): Sahtu Regional Health Council." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that Bill 17, An Act to Amend the Income Tax Act, be read for the second time. This bill amends the Income Tax Act by facilitating the provision of additional support to low and modestincome families; incorporating provisions of the Income Tax Act of Canada in respect of withholding of tax refunds; clarifying the definition of consumer price index; applying federal penalty provisions in respect of false statements, omissions, or gross negligence in returns; eliminating the overseas employment tax credit; and retaining the education tax credit. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Motion is on the floor. To the principle of the bill.
Question.
Question has been called.
Carried
Bill 17 has had its second reading and is now referred to the standing committee. Second reading of bills. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Bill 18:
Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lake, that Bill 18, An Act to Amend the Health and Social Services Professions Act, be read for the second time. This bill amends the Health and Social Services Professions Act. This bill imposes a requirement on registered members to comply with continuing competency recording requirements and authorizes inspection of those records; clarifies the nature of the registries maintained respectively by the registrar and the complaints officer, including the scope of public access to those registers and the protection of personal health information included within them; authorizes the Minister to approve various items such as education facilities, programs, and standards of practice; makes consequential amendments to a number of other statutes; and makes nonsubstantive amendments. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Motion is on the floor. To the principle of the bill.
Question.
Question has been called. The motion is carried.
Carried
Bill 18 has had its second reading and is now referred to the standing committee. Second reading of bills. Item 20, consideration in Committee of the Whole of bills and other matters: Bill 7, Bill 13, Committee Report 618(2), Tabled Document 26118(2), with the Member for Mackenzie Delta in the chair.
Thank you, committee. I call Committee of the Whole to order. Mr. Beaulieu, what is the wish of committee?
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, committee wishes to consider Tabled Document 26118(12), Northwest Territories Main Estimates, 20172018, and continue with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment and, time permitting, the Department of Infrastructure. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Committee will continue after a short recess. Do you agree?
Agreed.
SHORT RECESS
Thank you, committee. I will now call Committee of the Whole back to order. We will continue with our consideration of Tabled Document 261-18(2): Northwest Territories Main Estimates 2017-2018. We'll return to the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. Minister Moses, do you wish to bring witnesses into the Chamber?
Yes, I do. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister Moses. Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses into the Chamber. Minister Moses, please introduce your witnesses for the record.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. On my right is Deputy Minister Sylvia Haener, and on my left Assistant Deputy Minister of Corporate Services Mr. Olin Lovely.
Welcome back, Minister Moses, and to your officials as well. Committee, we will now proceed to the next activity, Education, Culture and Employment. Education and culture, the activity description is found on page 33. The activity detail is on page 34 and information items are found on pages 35 to 38. I will remind committee to specify the page on which your items can be found when asking questions. Does committee have any questions or comments? Ms. Green.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I'd like to start by asking about changes in the business plan since we reviewed it in September. I notice, for example, that the reduction to the educational authority is a different number than is in the main estimates, so can the Minister describe the changes in the business plan from the time that it was introduced until its appearance here on the main estimates? Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We did make some reductions within the administration within the authorities, and I believe it's 600 this year and 200 next year. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Moses. Ms. Green.
