R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the multiyear financial plan is a planning document used in the contract is a forecast of potential upcoming financial implications under the Territorial Police Service Agreement. The document is a highlevel first step to business planning to address the identified priorities. So after the multiyear financial planning process, business cases are prepared by the RCMP for the Department of Justice. Those business cases are reviewed to determine if an FMB submission is substantiated, then, if FMB approves the submission, the Members of this Assembly receive the...

Thank you, and I wouldn't characterize it as solitary confinement in any way. There's often teachers in the facility to instruct students, or the I guess, yeah, they would be students, as if they were in school. There's, you know, guards who I know that they build relationships with. They might sit down and play a game of chess. So it's not like a solitary confinement situation. Perhaps the deputy minister can provide some more of what the Member's really looking for. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. On your left, Madam Chair, we have Karin Taylor, acting assistant deputy minister, attorney general; and Christina Duffy, director, legislation division. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. We have Ms. Charlene Dolittle, deputy minister, and Mr. James Bancroft, director of corporate services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And the fact that it came to this investigation is a symptom of some of the issues we have in the education system. The ambiguity in the Education Act, the massive responsibilities that local DEAs have without the appropriate, I guess, clerical and administrative support to carry out those responsibilities. And so I knew there were these issues coming in to this Assembly and that's why I said, since day one, that this busing issues is one of my priorities and I want to address it before we are done here.

So I am going to take steps to ensure that this doesn't happen...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the Member is speaking about one of the issues we spoke about in the summer when we were in this House, whether or not there would be money for bussing. And at that time, I was of the mind that there would be more than enough money for busing because I knew what was in the bank. And as it turns out, the projected deficit of nearly a million dollars was actually a surplus of nearly a million dollars, so there was more than enough money for busing. And the DEA's share of that is somewhere around $400,000. We do have a surplus retention policy. We do want schools to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I agree with the Member, skilled tradespeople are key to the economic success and prosperity in the Northwest Territories. So I've heard a lot about the need for additional trades programming and giving high school students and younger students even more access to the trades, more opportunities. And so our curriculum review and our Education Act modernization have, through the engagements we've heard a lot about that, and so going forward that will be a focus. I can't commit to offering certain programs in certain schools. Of course the education bodies definitely...

Yes, Mr. Speaker, absolutely, I will commit to that, thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And with all things education, we're governed by the Education Act and I believe it is section 86 that allows for petition to the Minister to make those types of changes. The petition would require either 50 percent of the adult population in a community, or 50 adults in that community, whichever is less. So it's a relatively low bar for somewhere like Hay River. If there's a petition with 50 signatures to make these types of changes, then that can be considered, and I'm sure the clerk's office would help the Member put together a petition in no time. I'm sure that he...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Everything's on the table right now when we're looking at modernizing the Education Act. Any changes we make to the regulations have to be done in consultation with the education bodies. So it's not something that I can just do on my own. That being said, I think it's important to get rid of as many barriers as we can to students getting education. And so ensuring that students can access transportation when they need to is one of my priorities and whether that is an elimination of fees or whether that is a system where income is taken into consideration, I'm looking at...