Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier this year the Minister of Education said that his department was in the preliminary stages of finding partners and funds for the stand-alone Aurora College campus here in Yellowknife. Often we get inaction confused with incompetence, so the fact is we want to know what is actually happening.
Is anything being done? What progress, to date, could be placed before this House as results to getting a stand-alone college in Yellowknife?
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. This particular stand-alone campus has been in the works since I became Minister of Education back in 2007. It has been in discussion before me as well. What it has come down to is the resources that we have in the capital. The $75 million a year that we have for capital infrastructure can only go so far. We talk about the new hospital, we talk about renovation at the hospital, over to the Aurora College stand-alone campus. Some of those areas that we have been working towards that are critical need as well.
When I presented in the House about the capital infrastructure, I did mention that I’m working closely with the Department of Public Works and Services because they have certain guidelines that we have to follow. We have had meetings in the past with various private sectors, as well, having possibly the option of lease to own. At the same time, it does impact the borrowing limit of the GNWT. There are implications. I still have to work with Public Works and Services to make this a reality. We are continuing to look at exploring options as well.
As the Education Minister says, of a critical need, I would have thought the first thing out of his mouth would have been education is a critical need for Northerners, not excuses why we won’t move forward on this particular project.
What options, really, have been developed in advancing the Aurora College project, and what is he willing to put on the table today that shows us we’re moving forward, as opposed to backwards, under his leadership?
We are moving forward, not backward. We have made progress. The discussion that we’ve been having, we extended our lease agreement this past summer, as well, with Northern United Place up to three years and potentially up to five years, depending on the progress we are making with Public Works and Services identifying the funds and resources and potential if there’s going to be a partnership involved. Those are the areas.
Education is a priority of this government. My department spent over $300 million on education factors. We will continue to pursue that. It’s a great investment into our people.
Well, the results seem to prove otherwise, that education isn’t a priority of this particular Minister. When I asked him back on May 31, 2012, about actually laying a plan before the House, giving us some clear definitions of the partners, et cetera, on timelines, he wrote me a letter back, which I tabled in the House almost two weeks ago, and it shows nothing other than says they’re continuing the lease.
What can this Minister do by demonstrating real progress has been made on this particular file? What can he tell Northerners? What can he table before the House? What can he actually do to prove he’s solved any problem on this particular issue?
What I can do is present this to the committee of the GNWT and put it as part of the priority for my department, but at the end of the day, $75 million is the number we’re working with.
Again, the hospital and other sectors that are out there are in desperate need, the schools and so forth. Those come into play, because we are talking about education factors as well. We talked about early childhood earlier. We need to heavily invest in early childhood too.
It is a pressing issue that we’re faced with. What I can do, again, as the Minister responsible to deliver that as part of the priority for this government, but at the end of the day, we’re dealing with $75 million for the whole Northwest Territories. That will be my initiative to do that.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In scouring the Hansard over the last five years, I found over 30 instances where the Minister keeps saying I’m doing discussion, plans, and it goes on and on and on. The Minister’s defence is we have other priorities. There seemed to be money when they wanted to build an office building downtown immediately. They put an office building over education. This is not a new issue.
I call, once again, for the Minister to answer the question. What is he going to lay before the House to prove that they’ve actually done something on the issue of trying to build a stand-alone college here in Yellowknife, because thus far I’ve seen nothing?
I’m not sure where the Member’s been, but there have been new schools up on the horizon. At the same time, this is an area that we’ve always, always brought forward. But, again, it’s a number figure; $75 million is what we work with on an annual basis. This has been of interest to us as well. Of course I want a stand-alone campus myself, as the Minister responsible, the best resources that we should have, the technology. But at the end of the day, it’s number crunching: $75 million. I will be pursuing that forward as an initiative, as capital infrastructure and then the decision will be made from there the following year. I will continue to push that forward.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.
