Thank you, Minister. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Earlier today, I raised the issue of only year one and year two of apprenticeships being covered, and I have read somewhere where it said that in years three and four, government expected that these apprentices would basically pay their own way. I can tell you right now that that is not the case. With the economy the way it is, a lot of small employers, if they have apprentices working, they will keep them on if they know they are getting that subsidy; they will keep them on, even if they do not have enough work, and maybe have them do other things. The subsidy is very, very important, and I think you need to know that, and I think it should be expanded to years three and four. I think it might have been like that before. I am not sure, but I would urge your department to look at, at least consider, in year three and possibly year four because it's like anything else. It's like going to university. You go for four years. When you come out, you still don't know anything, and, if you think you know it, then you don't know anything. It's the same in this case, as well. I think it's important that we give the apprentices every opportunity to succeed, and it's important that we also make sure that the employers who are taking a chance on them are provided that same opportunity. I am not sure if there is a question in there, but they can comment. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister, do you want to respond?
Sure. Similar to the comments I made earlier today in the House, I am open to looking at that because I get calls from businesses all the time who are just doing their best to stay open and keep people employed, and sometimes this subsidy or the little bit of help they can get makes the difference between having to lay someone off and helping someone get to that next year, so we will do what we can. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Next on my list, I have the Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I have a few questions. My first is for the apprenticeship and occupational certification line. How many apprenticeships are currently involved in the program? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister.
There are 320. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. On page 51, under "grants," there is "workforce development agreement," and under "contributions," there is also, the bottom line, "workforce development agreement." I am wondering if the Minister can speak to the differences between these two line items and why one is going up and the other is going down? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister.
Thank you. If you don't mind, I would like to let Mr. Saturnino answer that.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Saturnino.
Thank you, Madam Chair. The workforce development agreement is a federal labour market agreement that we signed with Canada, and what you are seeing here are two distinct line items, one that funds individuals who access the program and also employers and the other that funds organizations. Essentially, unlike the territorial budget lines, in this particular area, we can spend in either area, as long as we do not go over the maximum. So, if the demand is for the grants, we can exceed the amount as long as we are not exceeding the total, and so we have that flexibility under our federal labour market agreement. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Saturnino. Member for Kam Lake.
Okay, so, just so that I understand, the difference is whether we are funding an organization or an individual, a specific individual, or an employer, but we can shuffle money between the two as long as they are consistently going for workforce development. Is that correct?
Thank you, Member. Minister.
That is correct.
Thank you, Minister. Member.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. My next question is in regard to Aurora College. I am wondering if the Minister can tell us both the number of graduates from last year and the number of students? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister.
Thank you. If you will just give me a moment, I have to pull up that information. In 2018-2019, we had 486 full-time students and 1,523 part-time students enrolled. I will get you the graduation numbers shortly.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I am going to work my way down to the literacy funding line item. Is that federal grant money, or is that GNWT money, just so that I am reading this right? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. It is territorial.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I have noticed that, over time, this funding between 2018-2019 actuals to the main estimates for this year seems to be going down to the tune of approximately a half million dollars. Is this a trend that we can expect to continue to see over the life of this Assembly? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister.
Thank you. I believe that there hasn't been a change in the budget, necessarily, but there were unbudgeted contributions that are now budgeted for. Those are to Dechinta and College nordique. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. On page 50, the fourth line item up from the bottom says "interest." I am wondering if the Minister can speak to what this line item is. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister.
Thank you. That is quite specific. Perhaps I should pass it over to the assistant deputy minister for corporate services.
Thank you, Minister. Assistant Deputy Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I don't have that information in front of me right now, but we can certainly track that down and get it for the Member. Thank you.
Thank you. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. That was my last question for those pages. I am just curious as to: we don't see too many line items that say "interest" within the budget. I am just wondering what we are paying interest on. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Are there any further questions on this page? Member for Thebacha.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to make a comment and one question on Aurora College. I come, of course, from Fort Smith and the constituency of Thebacha. We are very proud of Aurora College and the campus of Fort Smith. We have a lot of incredible staff there who are very qualified who do have doctorate degrees and have a wide variety of academics who come to that college. It is not filled to capacity. The intake is extremely important to the community of Fort Smith. Aurora College has been there; that is where it started in 1969. I just want to make sure that you consider doing probably a more media and better job at making sure that the intake in those programs are looked at in a more positive way. Maybe it is because of all the talk of the polytech, that is why some of the programs have been lacking. I don't know. I know that as an MLA for Thebacha and supporting the staff and the students of that college, I would like to see more emphasis placed on the intake into the programs and utilize those beautiful facilities that we have in Fort Smith. I want you to consider that. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Minister, would you like to respond?
Thank you. I appreciate the Member's comments. She has been a very passionate supporter of Aurora College, as I hope everyone is. It is an institution that has reached into almost every community in the territory and has the potential to help the territory move forward into a new, prosperous future. The intake has been an issue, obviously. I know the former Member for Thebacha used to teach at that college. He said that, years ago, he'd have 30 students in his class, and he saw it dwindle year after year after year. I know people who had been there 10 years ago. They said the campus was much livelier. It is a beautiful campus. It has great student spaces. We need to get more students through those doors.
One of the things I really want to do and work with the college on is just promoting the college in general. I never knew what the inside of that college looked like. I didn't know the great facilities they had. I didn't know the quality of education you could receive there. I grew up three hours from the college. We need to do a better job getting out there and showing everyone what we have to offer and fill up those classes both in Fort Smith and in Inuvik. There are a lot of issues why we can't do that sometimes. I know I toured the college with MLA Semmler in Inuvik. There were issues about students having the proper prerequisites to get into the course and the supports needed to stay in the course. It is more than just promoting it or getting the word out. It is going to take a government-wide approach, really, a territorial approach. We need everyone to buy into education and everyone to be as passionate about the college as the MLA for Thebacha is. I am working on that. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Any further question on this page, labour development and advanced education? Seeing none, I am going to call the page. Education, Culture and Employment, labour development and advanced education, operations expenditure summary, 2020-2021 Main Estimates, $54,431,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, Members. At this point, we are going to go back to the department summary on page 29. Are there any questions on the department summary? Minister.
Thank you. To answer the Member for Kam Lake's question, there were 112 graduations at the college. There are also completions, which aren't graduations. I will get those numbers for the Member by tomorrow. Thank you.
Thank you for that information. Are there any comments on this page? Are we ready to complete this department? Mr. Norn.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that this committee defer further consideration of the estimates for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment at this time. Mahsi cho, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Norn. The motion is being distributed. The motion is in order. To the motion.
