Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions question or questions today will also go to the Premier who represents the Department of Justice.
Mr. Speaker, I noticed recently, on a visit to the land titles office, they actually charge for a person to access just to look at their own title. And it's representative of a bigger picture of the fact that these are nickel and dime fees, and I suspect that they don't garner a whole lot of money to float this government. That said, my question specifically to the Minister is, is he aware that an individual, as in a singular person, goes to the land titles office and has to pay, I think it's $5 or $4 to see their fee. Is he familiar with that issue? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Mr. Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And so I am familiar with that accessing some of the registries, like the corporate registries and land titles do involve a fee. I've never tried to access my own. I was actually just trying to do that, but I didn't get it in time for the question. But I would assume I would have to pay for my own information just the same way as anyone else. So I am aware. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm not going to quote a fee number, but I think it's $5 and if not, I mean, who cares. It's either $4 or $5; I mean, it's a moot point. The issue is the constant nickeling and diming of Northerners as we go about even just accessing our own personal information, and that kind of seems frustrating when you talk to constituents.
Mr. Speaker, would the Minister go back and look at how many individual citizens are actually paying that over the last two years? Now, I'm not talking about corporations or lawyers who are trying to garner access. I'm trying to find out is the everyday person wanting to find a little bit about their own personal information, would the Minister look into that? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will look into whether or not we even have that information. I'm not sure whether that information is collected or not. But I can look into it and then, if possible, we can put that information together. But I'm not even sure it's possible. Thank you.
Yeah, thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate the I guess I'll call it commitment because, I mean, it's tough to look into something until you know what you're looking into it.
That said, this speaks to the broader issue of the red-tape initiative which then bridges into these little micro costs that annoy the people from the daytoday costs. So that said, if the Premier's able to look into that, or I should say the justice Minister, sorry, is able to look into that, I mean, what else is this government assessing with respect to these micro costs that eat at everybody's daytoday lives? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When somebody needs some information and they want to go forward and get it, in some cases it probably is reasonable that that person pays. It's a user pay system otherwise everybody else pays for that person's access. And so that is something that we need to take into consideration. I understand what the Member is saying. It's some of these small irritants that, you know, impact people the most because they have to engage with those, you know, time and time again. But all the nickels and dimes add up, Mr. Speaker. We're trying to deliver serious services for people. We're trying to deal with climate change and natural disasters. And we want to make sure that we are not that we're putting our money where it's most important. And so am I fully committed to getting rid of fees if people want to look at their own land titles? I can't say that right now, but I at least understand where the Member's coming from. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Premier. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I've already accepted the offer of the Premier to investigate and then sort of take it from there. And speaking to my last question more about the broader sense of the red-tape initiative as we proceed forward, I do agree fully that nickels to dimes, etcetera, etcetera, it all makes a difference, but when we're paying we're barely paying anything for the service, it begs the question it costs more to process the payment than it actually did to do the work.
So I guess my only question, Mr. Speaker, at this point is based on that principle of what is the government going to do to evaluate the red-tape initiative concept in this government whereas in we're spending more in time than we're making in fees and hence it's costing the government money just to process payments. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If we are if it's costing us more to deliver it than the fees, I'm not sure we want to increase the fees to cover the full cost. If we did that for ATIPP, it would be, you know, thousands of dollars everyone would have to provide for requests. But when the Member talks about reducing red-tape and this initiative, this is a conversation that I'm really excited to have with the rest of the Ministers because this is something that is across government. We had initiatives last year, the Minister of Finance has a nice little award sitting on her desk, a pair of golden scissors, because we cut so much red-tape in the last government. And this year, I want to see an even bigger pair of golden scissors on our desks because we made advances. This is you know, this is a serious issue, Mr. Speaker. It's all of these little things that add up and that people have to deal with day after day so I really look forward to working with Ministers from different departments to figure out how we're going to go through policies, programs, legislation, and how we're going to create ways to develop legislation in the future that minimizes red-tape. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Premier. Oral questions. Member from Monfwi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's a continue with my housing question.
Can the Minister of housing prioritize the transfer of housing stock to elderly clients over 60 years of age who live in their family home? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Monfwi. Minister responsible for Housing NWT.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would have to look at the information with Housing NWT and follow up with the Member regarding the question of prioritization. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you. Can the Minister of housing direct new resources to work with elderly clients who are out of the workforce yet accumulating arrears on the housing unit? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What Housing NWT can do is we can look at the cases, again, with elders that are facing arrears and follow up with the Member. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister of housing modify the collection process to support elders to age in place? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Like I mentioned earlier, we are looking at reviewing the forgiveness policy with Housing NWT and that will be brought to FMB and Cabinet and for discussion with the Members. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister for Housing NWT. Oral questions. Member from Tu NedheWiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions will be to the MACA Minister again.
In regards to Fort Resolution, I talked about the fire plan that is needed for that community because it's a hamlet, but in the community of Dettah, N'dilo, and Lutselk'e, can the Minister I'm not sure where they're at maybe help the community to get their fire plan in place? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Tu NedheWiilideh. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As those communities mentioned have established community governments, they would be responsible for their local emergency plan. And if they require any further assistance with their local emergency plan, they could reach out to the Department of MACA for assistance in developing them or updating them. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As you know that we had lost four units in Fort Resolution this weekend, I just wanted to if I could ask the question to the Minister of housing as to
(audio) second set of questions for another Member. So I'll put you back on the list. Oral questions. Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, July 31st of 2023, the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment approved Aurora College's request to become a polytechnic university. And now we're hearing that there's a concern that there's never been appropriate funding for this transition.
So can the Minister today's Minister of Education, Culture and Employment tell us does the department feel that that request there's enough support behind that request that they approved previously last year, and are yeah, let's just start there. Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Range Lake. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it would really be up to the college to let me know what their needs are versus what they're receiving from the department. As I have not received a request for additional funding in any formal capacity at this point, it's hard for me to speak to whether or not they have the resources that they need and what those additional resources might be.
In addition to the $8 million from the federal government, the $1 million a year over the last four years as well from the GNWT, there was also the staffing of the eight positions that did a substantial amount of the work in conjunction with Aurora College staff in a teambased approach to be able to put together a lot of the material needed to go through transformation. So there still is a significant amount of work, though, left to do, and I want to make sure that the college has the ability to get through that. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I guess if the Aurora College has to come to the department to make a request, I would assume there's some evaluation that goes into that request before they sign off on it. But that's not this Minister's responsibility, so I will ask another question.
The new Act that would that will govern Aurora College is scheduled to come into force on March 30th, 2025. Are we still on track is the department still on track to bring that legislation forward and have it in force at that date? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like the opportunity to look at where all the deliverables are in the milestones for Aurora College and come back to the Member on that question so that I can make sure that I'm giving him the most up to date information based on some of the delays that have occurred. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I mean, are we on track to launch the new Aurora College on May 15th, 2025; will that happen? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at this point there have been a few delays in the project, and it's anticipated that there will be a delay in the May 2025 launch date that was originally published. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, is this government committed to ensuring the Aurora College transformation is successful? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm definitely committed because I see the great value in this project. I want to ensure that I am providing the support that I can provide to the board of governors who really is in charge of the operations of the college and the remaining work that remains to be done as far as transformation is concerned. I think it's really important, though, to note that the process of going through transformation is not just about a shiny new campus or anything like that. It also has to do with the programming that's being offered by Aurora College and being able to develop that and being able to make sure that we're offering degree programs at Aurora College and that the college is offering what students are looking for in the Northwest Territories. So it's also about the programming. It's not just about the bricks and mortar of an institution. And I think that those for me are what is really exciting for the evolution and transformation of the college. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from Tu NedheWiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question would be to the Minister of housing.
As you know that we had that fire just over the weekend, and I understand that there's a process in place, and you've probably been having some internal deliberation about where we go from here. My question to you is that the chief in Fort Resolution made it very clear over the years that they really don't want to have any trailers brought into the community because it doesn't provide jobs or economic benefits to the local businesses. So in your deliberation, can you consider looking at stickbuilt homes to replace these units in the community? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Tu NedheWiilideh. Minister responsible for Housing NWT.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I understand where the chief is coming from in terms of local economy and local built homes. The situation is Housing NWT is facing a fiscal crisis where we need more than we have. We don't have the money to stick build homes. Modular units are much more affordable, and they are much more efficient in terms of timing into the communities. So that's the situation we're in at this time, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you, Minister, for your response. Just so you know, that duplex that caught fire in Fort Resolution, it was stickbuilt, and the unit next door to that was a modular home and it caught fire. So there is concerns, that idea of I know the rationale behind it but, again, it's the stickbuilt homes are probably a way to go in the community because, like I said, the economic benefits to the community is important, so I just hope you could consider that in your deliberation. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I understand the community's concerns and the situation that happened on Saturday with the fire in Fort Resolution. Over the next year, housing is looking at a building standards framework and hopefully this can be part of the overall discussion of how we build homes across the North. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Question to the Minister of housing again, is that now that we have displaced families in the communities that were left out in the cold because of the fire, what are your plans to accommodate the families that are displaced right now in the community? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Unfortunately, there is a number of displaced families in the community of Fort Resolution because of the fire on Saturday. Housing NWT is working very diligently to ensure that all families have homes over the next couple of days. And the great thing is Fort Resolution had some vacant units, so they are looking at accommodating those families. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Member from Tu NedheWiilideh. Last final question, oral questions. Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment talked about shiny new campus in Yellowknife. Can she give the House an update on the progress of the Aurora College campus here in the capital? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Range Lake. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
