Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, a lot of people have commented to me that today will be an interesting day. Spoiler alert: it won't be. The Ministers' statements we heard today are no different from the Ministers' statements we hear during session. The MLAs everyone expects to ask questions will ask questions and the Ministers will answer them in the same manner they've done for two years.

This is essentially just another sitting day, albeit a longer and likely less productive one. For those who have paid any attention to the proceedings in this House, there will likely be nothing new. However, Mr. Chair, what most people do not know is what happens when we're not in this Chamber. Residents generally are not aware of how Ministers handle the constituents' issues that we bring to them, how their offices respond to our requests for information, or about the battles that some Ministers have with their departments and with other Ministers when they attempt to change the status quo for the benefit of the territory. All of this will factor into my decision today.

Mr. Chair, with all that being said I would like to start with a general question addressed to all Ministers. If you receive a vote of non-confidence from the majority of this Assembly today, will you step aside, or will you be defiant and force Members to remove you? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Masi. Minister Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, there are established protocols for how an individual can be removed from this House and from this Chamber. The only way to remove somebody from Executive Council is through an open public vote in this Assembly. Given the protocols that exist, the protocols that have been agreed by this Assembly, I wouldn't resign. I would take the criticism. I would work with Members to make improvements where appropriate and hopefully be able to do a better job moving forward, but I wouldn't resign. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Masi. Minister Cochrane.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The MLA has asked an interesting question, and I have to agree that if we do get a vote of non-confidence it would be hurtful, in all honesty. I believe that I have worked hard over the two years. I believe that I have a lot of work to do. I came with a purpose. I have been working towards fulfilling that purpose, so no. I have to say that if I do get a vote of non-confidence that I would want to see who actually believes that I need to step down. In all honesty, we all take feedback, and we need to be able to take that feedback and improve our work, but to step down is not what I came for. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Masi. Minister Robert C. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, one of the things we have talked about a lot in here is transparency, and if any of us, or if I were to resign, that would go against what we have been talking about for the last two years. I would not resign. I would wait for a motion or revocation, which is far more transparent and is something that we are preaching and we should practice. Thank you.

Minister Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, being a Minister takes a lot of hard work, dedication, and sacrifice. Over the last two years, I've made a lot of investment into increasing relationships with our partners to accomplish a lot of the goals and achievements that we have done. A very interesting question by the Member. No, I would not look at resigning if I received a vote of non-confidence. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Masi. Minister Sebert.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I share the sentiments of my colleagues that you've already heard from. Members may recall that when the rules committee came forward with their plans and suggestions around the whole issue of the midterm review, I did file a minority report. I was particularly concerned about the secretive nature of the vote we are facing today. Therefore, no, I would not resign, and if Members opposite wish to remove us, they can do so in an open vote. Thank you.

Minister Schumann.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. After hearing all my colleagues, I agree with everything that has been said today. When we all ran to be Members of the 18th Legislative Assembly, we know this is a consensus government. We all want to work collectively for residents of the Northwest Territories and do the best things that we can. There is a lot of work to be done in this Chamber, and there continues to be a lot of work done, and I think everyone has done a great job bringing forward the work that's been done so far.

We have one of the largest mandates ever in the history of the Northwest Territories. We are collectively working towards fulfilling that for the residents of the Northwest Territories, and as my colleague said, the Minister of Finance, I would not resign just based on openness and transparency that we talk about continually in this government. I would want to have an open and fair discussion in this Chamber to do that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Questions to Ministers. I have next on my list: Member O'Reilly.

Merci, Monsieur le President. My question is for Minister Abernethy. On December 9, 2015, MLA Abernethy put his name forward to serve as our Premier. In his candidacy speech, Mr. Abernethy said "we have a new energy, new ideas" and "the status quo is no longer acceptable." Can the Minister tell us what he has personally done to change the status quo here at the Legislative Assembly over the last two years, and what further work remains? Mahsi, Mr. Chair.

Minister Abernethy.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I remember intimately what it's like to be a Member of this Assembly and not sit in on the Executive Council side. It can be very frustrating for Members when they don't feel like they are getting information, or there are surprises that occur in the House. I do not support surprises for anybody in this Assembly on either side, so I've worked very hard over the last two years to make sure that Members are informed on issues related to health and social services.

I have gone extra steps to make sure that we are providing them with detailed information when crises are occurring in communities, and providing them updates on a regular basis. I'm trying hard to work with MLAs on a regular basis to make sure that their input is incorporated in things that are actually happening in this Assembly. Outside of this Assembly, we have also tried to do things differently. I believe that there are answers, and good, great ideas in communities on the issues that are facing them, and I think it's really important for us to really engage with stakeholders.

When it comes to things like developing a framework and an action plan for things like disabilities, I have gone to the stakeholders and asked them to be part of the design of frameworks. I have asked them to actually help hold the pen. This is not something that has happened very often in this Assembly. It happened once before on the anti-poverty framework and action plan. These are things that are important to me, and working with Members and working with stakeholders, and giving them opportunities to take their consideration, and listen to what they are saying, and use those ideas to make change is different than things have been done traditionally, and I think it is a good way of doing business. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Questions to Ministers. Next on my list: Member Testart.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, my question is for the Minister of Education, Minister Moses. When he was on this side of the House, he made many statements into the proposed junior kindergarten program at the time. He sought additional funding for educational authorities, going so far as to request an extra supplementary appropriation to "offset these costs and let education authorities out there know we will support what they do, whether they had a surplus or a deficit." Further, he supported a motion to get dollars for the implementation of junior kindergarten and that whole early child education initiative, and even went on to question whether or not Cabinet takes it seriously, what Regular Members were doing. Now, when we embarked on continuing the junior kindergarten initiative, the Minister resorted to the exact same plan, which left a funding gap that took years to resolve. My question for the Minister is: what experience did he gain on this side of the House criticizing that program? Why did he continue on with the same plan? Why didn't he work with his department to make it a better plan that would be supported by the majority of Members, and when Members raised opposition to the plan because it left our school boards out in the cold, why did he continue along with it? Why was it such a battle to get full funding for junior kindergarten? There's still a question to that full funding. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Minister Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate the Member's comments and questions. Yes, when we first looked at implementing junior kindergarten, there was concerns, and my experience is we waited until we got the comprehensive report that was released in the 17th Legislative Assembly. As you heard in my opening comments, I did visit schools as a Regular Member and as a Minister, and looked at the junior kindergarten classes. We heard from education authorities.

We've developed a really strong relationship with education councils, listened to the concerns, but also listened to the concerns of committee, and moving forward, working with my colleagues on this side of the House, working very hard to find a solution and that's where we looked at fully funding junior kindergarten. It is all that experience working with our education councils, with Members on that side, and committee, and finding a solution. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Masi. Questions to Ministers. Next on my list: Member Beaulieu.

Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have a question for the Minister of Education. During the last couple of years, one of the key things that occurred with the Department of Education was the close-down of the Teacher Education Program and the social work program. This upset many students. This upset many people that were hoping to, mature students, especially students that already are married and have children that the best place for them to attend school was in Fort Smith. However, those programs were shut down. Even the community of Fort Smith was upset over it. There was lots of letter writing going back and forth in the community, over to here, and then at the end of the day, the board was dissolved. I'd like to ask the Minister: who, and by who I mean a person not a department. Which person made the decision to close those two important programs down? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Masi. Minister Moses.