Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to point out some comments with respect to the department's budget. As I indicated in standing committee on finance, I was extremely disappointed with the focus that education was taking. I, along with my colleagues, feel that priority for any department of education should be the focus on kindergarten to grade 12. I totally agree with that. However, at the same time, I recognize that the department has placed an Arctic college system into our Territories. I do not believe they are properly developing it by reflecting the needs of the Territories.
Mr. Chairman, first of all, I want to express my extreme disappointment with the Minister on totally dropping -- in comparison to last year's capital budget which this Legislative Assembly approved at that time -- $100,000 to start renovations on J. B. Tyrrell Elementary School and did not even expend the $100,000 that was approved by this Legislative Assembly. I do not know if we can ask the department what happened to these funds that were approved last year in the budget, but it has not yet been spent according to the document presented.
The other comment I want to make, Mr. Chairman, is that in last year's capital budget there was $2.2 million to be considered for future years for renovations to J. B. Tyrrell Elementary School. Last year's plan has all of a sudden dropped right out of the capital plan. I want to indicate to the Members that, as I said last year, J.B.T. Elementary School is a school I believe is 34 years old, one of the first schools built in the Territories. I believe it is structurally sound. However, I do not believe there is proper air exchange in there, and I do not think that my children and other children in the community have to be taught in an unhealthy environment. And particularly, Mr. Chairman, when this department is looking at placing new schools to replace schools that have been built long after our school was built. I think that is totally unfair, but it also reflects the incapability of proper planning by the Department of Education. I cannot express how dismayed I am with the Department of Education for blatantly dropping the renovations to J.B.T. Elementary School without justification.
Strategy For Arctic College
Mr. Chairman, my other comment that I want to make generally is in regard to Arctic College. I think this is the fourth year, or the fifth year, that this government has decided to postpone planning the academic building in Fort Smith, and I believe the community of Fort Smith is used to this postponement as the government's way of addressing capital plans. So we would not be surprised if it is postponed another year, and I am sure that we can live with it. But I do want to tell you that I am extremely concerned with the way that Arctic College is being developed. I do not believe, as I said yesterday, that this government can afford six campuses that they are planning to place all across the Territories. I do not believe we can afford six vice-presidents, and I think they are diluting the services to the people, and they are doing more of a disservice to the people of the Territories than a service.
I believe that a focus and a strategy have to be developed, and they have to be developed quickly, for Arctic College. I believe that when the strategy is developed, it basically has to reflect the reality that we are living in, in the North, in respect to the financial reality. I do not believe the college strategy should be developed with six campuses.
I said yesterday, and I will say it again today, that there should only be two campuses in the Northwest Territories -- the original one that started off in Fort Smith, and one that has been created in Iqaluit. I would not support any other campuses in the Territories. The infrastructure to be able to try to address six campuses -- financially we cannot afford it, and when it gets to the point where we are going to be diluting services to the people, I think we should wake up and come to reality and only allow ourselves to get back to the two campuses that should be addressing the needs of the Territories.
Mr. Chairman, I did want to indicate that I am disappointed at the fact that the Arctic College applied arts building has been postponed another year; however, I do recognize the need for a strategy to be developed and I am willing to make that sacrifice in getting assurance that this Department of Education is going to develop a strategy to address Arctic College which reflects the financial and the fiscal reality that we are in today.
Funding Priorities Questioned
Mr. Chairman, with that I did want to point out a couple of my concerns, particularly with the Department of Education, particularly in respect to the schools. When I get back to the primary grades again, I find it somewhat surprising that all of a sudden, in comparison to last year's budget -- and I keep looking to last year's budget because I just cannot seem to find it -- that there are newly created renovations for a school requirement in Pond Inlet and there was no planning for any school in Pond Inlet according to last year's budget. There was only planning for a student hostel in last year's budget in Pond Inlet, but nothing for a school. But all of a sudden this year in our budget we are asked to propose planning funding for a school in Pond Inlet. This is the reason for passing motions such as long-term capital planning, that they do not only reflect the needs of the Ministers that the departments are run by, and this happens to be the case. Therefore, I would strongly urge the Minister to reconsider what their previous plan was, to follow it through according to need and not according to political wishes of the Minister.
Mr. Chairman, I would appreciate some comments in response to my request, on some of the comments that I made. However, I do have one specific question for the Minister with respect to Arctic College. It appears that last year there was some $700,000, I believe, that was designated for Arctic College for the applied arts building. It is obvious that all of that funding was not expended and we are going to carry it over to this year. I would like to ask the Minister how much he has spent with respect to the applied arts building that his department has been planning for the past six years? According to last year's budget, Mr. Chairman, it was $400,000. In years prior to last year he spent $260,000 on this arts and library building, and this year he spent an additional $135,000. So we have spent $395,000 on this anticipated applied arts and library building, and I would like to know, after expending this amount, according to last year's capital documents and this year's capital documents, why was his plan to defer the applied arts and library building placed in once again, even before the committee pointed out the need to focus on kindergarten to 12? Thank you