I know the amendment application was filed on January 9, 2017; of course, the Sahtu Land Use Planning Board is independent of the Department of Lands so I can't really give a date as to when they will conclude their examination of this matter.
Will the Minister look into it and get back to me, please? If so, when?
Yes, I will look into it, and I think I can provide the Member opposite with some additional information. Of course, I can't directly affect the timing or the decision of the board. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Also, would the Minister, in his review, check into the amendment being referred to with the new amendment as a special management zone? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I am uncertain as to the exact details of the amendment or the type of amendment that was filed on January 9, 2017. I, however, will look into it and attempt to provide such information to the Member opposite that I am able to.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have some questions for the Minister of Education on the funding to Aurora College. When the Minister and his department were involved in discussions with Aurora College about identifying reductions, was a discussion held about how the college could leverage additional funds from other sources, from thirdparty sources, to make up the reductions that our government was asking of them? Thank you.
Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To my knowledge, we didn't ask them to look for thirdparty funding to offset the reductions. When we looked at these two programs, as I have said many times in this House, the department in collaboration with Aurora College did look at efficiencies.
We do give a big investment into these programs. The graduates that we weren't getting out of the program was an indicator. These two programs were both selected and brought forth to this government to have this debate on the program. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Perhaps, maybe, that is the point. Are we too involved with the daytoday operations of this college and providing strategic direction to them? As my honourable friend, the Member from Hay River North, pointed out in his statement earlier, issues with the success of the college are not new, and instead of helping them, we seem to have been turning away from that and are now offering them guidance on how to cut programs, not how to improve programs.
My question, Mr. Speaker, is: given that 66 per cent of the revenues of Aurora College are provided for by government and, in our neighbouring territory, the Yukon government only provides 49 per cent of revenues to their equivalent Yukon College, would the Minister be open to giving direction to Aurora College to establish its own fundraising foundation so it can bring in thirdparty resources to fund its programs and operations?
Yes, we do fund the majority of dollars to Aurora College to run their programs and services. This year alone, we have developed a schedule to have more meetings with the board as well as the president of Aurora College to have that open communication. We have given them mandate letters in terms of the work that we expect to see them do. We are currently working on an accountability framework with Aurora College. Obviously, we want to see how that money is being spent in the contributions that we do give to them.
In terms of thirdparty funding, we do have the Aurora Research Institute, where we do get funding from outside sources to come and do research in the North, but that can be a discussion that we have with the board of governors and the president moving forward. We are looking at new direction that the college is taking, and I think that is something we will have a talk with them about.
I am sure the Minister is well aware that we are all eagerly awaiting the strategic plan and the process that will come forward from this. Can the Minister advise how the college will be used to support the Skills 4 Success strategic plan?
It looks like we are cutting off two programs that have direct relation with that strategy, so are we going to fill our labour gap solely on the backs of southern institutions, or are we going to build some programs here in the North that work to support that plan?
A lot of these things were indicators in terms of reductions within the program. As mentioned in the honourable Member's statement, he was talking about the indemand jobs that we are going to see in the future. For K12 teachers by 2030, it is going to be 1,354 teachers in the K12 system. Currently, Aurora College graduates an average of seven. We continue to support our outofterritory students.
We have 33 right now down south. For degreed social workers, it is 158. Aurora College does not offer a degree program, but we do work with students who want to go and continue their education down south through our Student Financial Assistance Program. For current demand for social community service workers, that is 479. Aurora College currently graduates anywhere from four to five.
The Skills 4 Success document is a driving factor when we are looking at this new direction that Aurora College is doing. They understand that. It is something that we mandated them to look at, and we will continue to work with them on getting that direction so we have programs and services that will meet the needs of our indemand jobs in the North.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased that the Minister has made it clear that our government is driving the strategic plan for Aurora College. I do think that is problematic. I think that we need to decide if it is going to be a thirdparty organization that can decide its own priorities or if we are going to decide its priorities for them. So, I am going to ask the Minister, just clearly: is he willing to put a hold on cutting funding to Aurora College so they can preserve these two existing programs until such time as the strategic plan has been completed and has been considered by this House? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Historically, we have had low graduation rates out of these two programs in particular. The social work program, for the investment that we do put in, we are getting about four graduates that do come out. Then, with the TEP program, for the amount of money that we are putting into that program, we are averaging about seven graduates a year who come out of that program. We feel that investments should be looked at for other programs that will meet other indemand jobs, so we are going to continue with having these two programs in terms of reductions moving forward and working with Aurora College on that strategic plan that can redirect the work that they are doing so we do meet the indemand jobs for northern employers and within the public service, as well.
Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the story of the outmigration of people from the small communities into large centres, it kind of reminded me of an old western movie that I used to watch, where there are abandoned buildings and there are tumbleweeds and there are dust bowls. My questions today is for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. With that image in mind, what is the GNWT doing to help small communities survive as small towns and grow? Mahsi.
Masi. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I will take my colleague's comment and say there are no tumbleweeds in the territory. What is the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs doing to help small community governments? The Department of Municipal and Community Affairs really works with community governments to basically deal with their infrastructure. We provide funding so that they can have clean water, so that they can have waste facilities, so that they can have emergency planning, fire services. We also provide a component so that they can build capital planning and programs that actually support people to deal with sports, because we recognize that sports are key to keeping people engaged and to keeping children healthy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Recently in the work of the Auditor General's report it highlighted this department does indeed work with small communities. My question is: how will MACA's response to the Auditor General's recent recommendations improve the outlook for small communities?
The Auditor General's report actually gave us 13 recommendations. A lot of them were talking about things like waste management, fire safety, and emergency planning. Some of it that pertains, maybe, to the honourable Members' question are around our accountability framework so that we can actually provide questions so that we make sure that community governments are providing the services they need within their communities, and we have some way of verifying them as well.
The other thing that might be applicable is for the designated authorities, of which there are nine within the territories. The recommendations were around working with the federal government, Indigenous and Northern Affairs I believe they are called, to actually work in partnership so we can better support the communities. We take their suggestions very seriously, and we actually have met with Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada in December. We are looking at strengthening that partnership so that the provision of services to designated authorities will be stronger.
The Minister is in very good spirits today in terms of working together. We ask, on this side of the House, if the Minister could help us to work with the Department of ECE in terms of job creation. How is MACA working with other departments on initiatives to improve the opportunities for people living in our small communities such as education, job creation, and programs for youth? Would the Minister work with her colleague from ECE and ensure there is a clear focus in terms of a job creation initiative to save our small communities?
The Government of the Northwest Territories recognizes that we can't work in silos. We have two forms of committees. We have the deputy ministers who meet regularly for various committees, economic development, social causes, etc. We also have Ministers' committees, that we meet for the same economic development, social programs. I see jobs as economic development, but also taking care of people, which is a social program. We are trying to work really closely together across departments to provide the best services for people within the Northwest Territories. and specifically to help not only the bigger centres but the small communities.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I applaud the Minister for taking their leadership initiative and trying to engage other departments and trying to step away from working in silos. Has MACA considered ways it can help make life easier for people living in small communities so that they don't have to move away for jobs and also for educational reasons? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, Municipal and Community Affairs does try to work with smaller communities as much as possible so that we can keep people in their communities. That is why we have a focus on sports and recreation. We also provide a lot of training so that people can operate their own, for example, water treatment centres. We offer training so that people can actually maintain them in their communities.
We do a circuit rider program that will go into the communities and actually provide one-on-one support to those people as well. We are looking at our training mechanism so that we can provide, not only face-to-face, but online training so that people can access more support. We are always open to any suggestions from the Members on how we can better provide support services.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier I spoke about the Small Community Employment Fund. My questions are for the Minister of ECE. Mr. Speaker, while the program's budget has been increased, it sounds like we are spending money on developing a strategy on how to spend the money. Mr. Speaker, my first question to the Minister is: what specific portion of the program's new budget will be used to develop and implement the small community employment strategy? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department is planning to develop a small community employment strategy in 2017. As the Member noted, and as we have heard questions in the House, there have been concerns about how we roll out the program. It is a significant increase from the $1.25 million that we had in the two line items. Moving forward, obviously we are going to have to get feedback from small communities, work with the small communities to see what the challenges are, what barriers are in place, and how we can roll out some of this funding, as well as working with the committee to get their input and feedback. We heard a lot of that over the last couple of weeks.
As you know, of that, $1.2 million that we currently had in the budget was never fully utilized, so we have to do a better job of letting community organizations, Aboriginal groups, employers out there in industry know that we want to use this program. We want our small communities to benefit from that. That is going to be all in the works with that strategy and how that fund is rolled out. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
My second question for the Minister is: what is the department's timeline for developing and implementing this strategy in order for it to be effective in 2017-18?
We have already started beginning that work on that Small Community Employment Program. We have started a review of the guidelines itself. We want to have a goal, moving forward, of ensuring that the program is accessible, flexible, and is best positioned to support businesses and residents who live in small communities. We are hoping that funding will start flowing once this budget is passed, April 1, 2017. We do expect to have a strategy hopefully by the fall of 2017.
I appreciate the response. Mr. Speaker, as I have said, the new fiscal year is rapidly approaching. What specific actions will the department take under this program to ensure it is well promoted, fully subscribed, and creating jobs for our small communities for the duration of 2017-18?
Thank you, Mr. Chair -- Mr. Speaker. I am sorry. It was a long day yesterday in Committee of the Whole. We have already begun looking at and reviewing our guidelines. We are working with the departments on how community projects in other departments are implementing, how we can support that and also have some job creation moving forward. We are trying to find ways we can promote the program to our small communities, our Aboriginal government, industry, as well as our employers.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the response. Mr. Speaker, my final question for the Minister is: will this money be eligible to assist in specific projects related to each of the small communities across the NWT where it may involve more than one or two GNWT departments? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, as I mentioned, we are going to be working with the departments to identify community projects and initiatives as well as working with our Aboriginal governments, municipal governments, organizations in the small communities that might look at developing small project, so we can put this money to use, so we can get our residents the skills that they need to enter the workforce, the labour market, and help develop the skills and the training they need so that they can seek work throughout the Northwest Territories.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in follow-up to my Member's Statement, I made reference to the cuts that are in my region, which is the ferry service during the fall in both the Peel and Mackenzie Rivers. Mr. Speaker, just when the department mastered operating in the fall season, it seems they have decided to cut this service. I would like to ask the Minister: why has the department made the decision to cut the ferry operations for the late fall services both on the Peel and Mackenzie ferry crossings? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Transportation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Upon review of the ferry service in the Member's riding, I have been on record that the costs outweigh the benefits when we have had a serious look at this. That is the reason why we are bringing this forward in this budget. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I do not know who they got to do their survey, or what they are basing this on but, Mr. Speaker, just look at the employment alone. Twenty to 30 people working every fall up there, especially the important time during the year just before Christmas, Mr. Speaker. Also, keeping the cost of living down during these times when the prices rise, which is both the fall and the spring, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to ask the Minister: has the department been working with the community of Inuvik to ensure that they don't run out of LNG, which is one of the other reasons for this operation running the place during the two months of freeze-up?
Yes, this is one of the things that we have looked at with the decision of moving forward. As the Member is well aware, the Dempster is closed 40 per cent of the time during this operation due to weather and unforeseen circumstances. Most of the suppliers have already had a serious look at how they are operating, have made adjustments to have extra storage capacity for propane and LNG in the community. Based around some of those decisions, that is why we are able to bring this forward in this year's budget.
I think the numbers that the Minister is using are from a couple of years back, when they were just learning how to actually operate in this climate, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I actually got some numbers from November alone. We had over 120 tractor trailers hauling freight or B-trains hauling fuel up in that area. I would like to ask the Minister: what is the department's plan if, for some reason, Inuvik is in an emergency situation with a need for LNG during freeze-up time?
