Shauna Morgan

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So can the Minister explain why under apprenticeship and occupational certification, there is a decrease from last year's amounts? Is that that last year's amounts weren't fully expended? Or what's the rationale there? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the ideas and intentions behind this budget really resonate with me. Practical and realistic that certainly is my style of doing things. I agree we need to pay down more of our debt and live more within our means.

We heard from the finance Minister that this budget is about value and efficiency, not just reductions. I do appreciate the thought that has been put into streamlining efforts of departments where there was previously overlap such as merging responsibilities for immigration and arts funding that were previously split between ECE and ITI and...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. All right, well that is somewhat reassuring to hear. The question so on page 46, we look at the budgets for building Skills 4 Success in the NWT, and that has gone from $3.368 million last year to it looks like nothing this year. And so can the Minister explain whether that funding appears somewhere else in the budget? Is it a shifting around of where funds are coming from or going, or what programs are we losing if that program disappears?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just want to be clear that this motion deletes just over $200,000, so it will not allow more on the ground people in communities, in schools, language, educators. This motion just deletes money from the budget, and even though the Member's vision might be to add in programs and services, this motion cannot and does not accomplish that. So I just want us to all be clear that that's what we're talking about here.

I do think there's a place for us working with the department in terms of their business plans and the way they do things to try to encourage more on the ground...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Overall, I definitely appreciate that the department seems to have gone through with a fine tooth comb looking for reductions and efficiencies to be found, and some of them seem to make sense. But what I am struggling to see is a clear vision for what we are trying to achieve besides saving money and being more efficient. And the message that comes out to me is that we're committing to do more with less. You know, we're shaving off here and there, we're making do, we're doing more with less, which could be possible, but my main concern is that we actually know what we're...

Okay. I mean, my next question is what tools does the Minister have to be able to hold the board of governors of Aurora College accountable to actually finish the transition to a polytechnic university by a certain date given that their funding is coming from our budget? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So my questions, again, are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, but this time I want to ask about Aurora College and the transition to a polytechnic university.

So the college has announced that the transition to a polytechnic university will be significantly delayed. And we hear from the college that it's because of inadequate funding from governments. We hear from the ECE Minister that it's up to the board of governors now, they're arm's length. So my question to the Minister is who can we hold accountable for the delay in the polytechnic transition...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So purely just on a financial level, I'm curious whether analysis has been done comparing the administrative costs of doing that month to month administrative checks and all the paperwork that's required versus the amount of money that the system is able to recover from people by doing those month to month checks; has any analysis been done to compare just on a financial basis, you know, which ends up on top? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So we've been speaking about the changes to income assistance for seniors and people with disabilities that mean they would only need to apply for income assistance once per year, and that seems very positive, both in terms of less burden both on clients and the staff and the system. Are there plans to make the same change for all recipients of income assistance beyond seniors and those with disabilities? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, income is the leading factor that determines how healthy someone might be. People who have higher becomes are much likelier to be healthier, and people on lower incomes tend to have worse health. It's easy to see how more money would allow someone to buy healthier food or have more recreation opportunities, but what could actually be more important to someone's health is the toll that poverty takes on mental health and relationships. How incredibly stressful it is to have too little to get by and support your family. The stress of insecurity, not knowing...