Julian Morse

Thank you. And, yeah, I think this is one that I want to kind of maybe follow up with the department a bit more sort of outside of the budget deliberations. I just wanted to get some questions on the floor about it. But I am interested in learning more about what the department's doing, how it's capturing the benefits. This one's important to me. But I'll leave my questions on this budget item as that for now. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I was going to do an acknowledgement for Dave Hurley today but being the selfless guy that he is, he asked that I instead highlight the important work Habitat for Humanity is doing in the NWT. So that is what I am speaking about today.

Habitat for Humanity Northwest Territories is a non-profit organization working toward a North where everyone has a safe and decent place to live. Established in 2013, the NWT affiliate is one of the youngest in the country. Their mission is to build strength, stability, and self-reliance through affordable homeownership for...

Okay, thank you. That's interesting, it kind of counters my understanding. I was under the impression that with relation to employment opportunities, ITI was playing a role. I understand there's some kind of coordination committee related to it that ITI is partnering in. So I wanted to ask about that, how it's going, how the department sees itself in that role with relation to the fact that, you know, this department also has a division that's managing economic diversification and maximizing opportunities there. So I was hoping to ask questions about that. So maybe the department can clarify a...

Yeah, thank you. No, I'm not really speaking to the pathfinder program. And maybe I'll give a little bit more detail so the Minister can understand what I'm getting at. So there's been quite a bit of talk in the past little while about the opportunities that mine remediation has for employment in the territory and just ensuring that we are capturing the benefits from this activity, but namely, the Giant Mine remediation project was going to be -- you know, it's upwards of $4 million now that's going to be spent in the territory. And my question is if this is the department to be asking...

I think you mean a different lake, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The next thing I wanted to chat about is just the contributions part, advancing the knowledge economy. So they've got a hundred thousand set for that this year. I note that they've cut it a little bit from the past. And can the Minister kind of describe what the department -- the department's understanding of what advancing knowledge economy means and particularly how it relates to, you know -- yeah, just that comment alone. Thank you.

That's it for me, Mr. Chair. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, on this one I just note that, you know, there's been pretty significant cost overruns on this project, and now here MLAs are being asked to free up another appropriation for it. And I can't help but feel a bit, you know, like, we're kind of beholden to this. We don't really have much of a choice but to deal with it. But to get to the question, you know, does the department have some lessons learned and some changes to the way contracting is managed to prevent cost overruns of this kind of magnitude from happening again? I'd be curious to hear from the Minister...

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I do apologize. I just thought we were going on the pages here, but now on to this line item.

So the Western Arctic Research Centre warehouse replacement, I know that this one was one that Aurora College spent a significant amount of money on as part of the transition funding that they received. I'm just wondering if the Minister or her staff can give any clarification on how this Western Arctic Research Centre warehouse relates to transition to the university. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm very happy to stand in support of this one. I appreciate the Member for Yellowknife Centre bringing it forward. Certainly as a former city councillor, the municipal funding gap is one that's near and dear to my heart. I appreciate the Member taking the time to consider input of various Members, including myself, and just would like to speak to the practicality of this motion, talking about balancing the discrepancy between communities regarding the percentage of formula funding they receive. I think these are things that MACA's been working with NWTAC...