Shane Thompson

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Standing Committee on Social Development is pleased to report on its review of Bill 48, Post-secondary Education Act. The committee read their substantive report into the House on August 12, 2019. To commence its review of Bill 48, the Standing Committee on Social Development sent letters inviting input from an extensive list of stakeholders, including all municipal and Indigenous governments in the Northwest Territories, and a number of non-governmental organizations.

The committee held eight public hearings on Bill 48 in Fort Smith, Hay River, Fort Providence...

That is good to hear, and I hope the Minister will actually reach out to us MLAs, too, and get that information out to us. Will the Minister's department be working with residents as part of this program to establish an affordable payment program, and how does it have an impact on people who have already entered into a payment program?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister of Finance made a statement on the Property Tax Arrears program earlier today, and I thank the Minister for this statement. This has been a big issue for the community of Fort Liard, and I have spoken with the Minister a number of times on this issue. Can the Minister provide any further details on this program, besides what he has already said in his Minister's statement? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I rise in the House to speak about some amazing accomplishments for some constituents from the Nahendeh region this summer.

Mr. Speaker, in December 2017, Jessie Loutit received a call from Rowing Canada's head coach, officially inviting her to join the national team starting in January 2018. With this official invitation to join the team, she is now a carded athlete with Sport Canada with an ultimate goal of representing Canada at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

On August 8, Jessie and her partner, Larissa Werbicki, took another step towards this ultimate goal by...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will be brief, as I have already done opening comments on the report. First and foremost, I would like to thank the Minister and her department for their willingness to work with us. It was a pleasure working with them. We had quick responses back and forth to get this bill done in a timely manner. Again, I would like to thank her staff for working with the staff from the Legislative Assembly. The staff worked extremely hard. I would like to thank them. I would also like to thank committee for all their hard work moving forward on this. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment develop regulations containing a requirement that the Minister provide reasons, in writing, for his or her decisions under the act. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that the committee recommends that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment consult stakeholders in the development of eligible requirements by which application for status of post-secondary institution will be measured. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At this point in time, I would like to thank the Minister for this information. My final question is: we have been considering the standard interest rate act in this session; how does this legislation relate to this new program?

This is great news moving forward. Can the Minister provide some details on how some residents, especially those who live in Fort Liard, how they can apply for this new program?

So this policy has changed, from my understanding, and maybe the Minister can correct me if I am wrong, but what was the rationale for the department using this new process to up to a maximum of a half a million dollars?