Item 6, oral questions. Mr. Patterson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think this is good news. Just to get this clear, I would like to ask the Minister again, is it now the position of the Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs that he is now willing to consider, or at least to discuss, the possibility of giving the Government of the Northwest Territories responsibility for constructing Nunavut infrastructure? Is that what these next discussions in April, or later, will be about? Thank you.

Mr. Pollard.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it should be pointed out that the federal Cabinet decision paper -- and I believe there is a Treasury Board ruling -- indicates that the delivery arm for the client department, being DIAND, would be the federal Department of Public Works. That is clearly on record. Mr. Irwin has said he is willing to sit down with us, listen to our case and discuss with us the possibility of him changing his mind, depending on what we say to him, with regard to us delivering those particular services in the Northwest Territories; primarily in Nunavut, of course. Mr. Speaker, I would point out that it fits in well with the overlap and duplication that Mr. Masse is looking at. I think there is a case to be made with him that in this particular instance, we could probably do the work in a timely fashion and we probably have more experience than the federal DPW. When you take this whole thing, not just the BIP, but if you look at what we can do for Nunavut and our expertise that we have in the communities, we can probably make a convincing case to Mr. Irwin. I believe that Mr. Irwin means well and that he understands exactly what we were discussing. I think he will have an open mind when we have further talks with him after April. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. Item 6, oral questions. Mrs. Marie-Jewell.

Mr. Pollard.

Yes, Mr. Speaker. I will table that information in the House. Thank you.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mrs. Marie-Jewell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In addition to that, the academic building is being constructed through a project management agreement with Clarke Bowler. I would like to ask the Minister if he would provide to this House a copy of that project management agreement, which DPW has with Clarke Bowler. Thank you.

Mr. Pollard.

Mr. Speaker, I am certainly prepared to table that document, but I must look to see if there are any rules or regulations that prevent me, because of confidentiality, from tabling it. If there are none, I will table it in the House.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mrs. Marie-Jewell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In addition to that, I would like to ask the Minister of DPW if he can provide to this House the budget allocation for the academic building in a breakdown, as opposed to the allotted amount that was approved in the capital budget. Thank you.

Mr. Pollard.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Member knows, the budget number flows from the capital estimates that were placed before this House. I will certainly come back with that number and what has been allocated, what has been spent and where it has been spent since the House approved that number. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. Item 6, oral questions. Mr. Patterson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a question for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. The Minister will know that Members of this House are quite interested in the review that is being done of student residences in Baffin, Keewatin and Inuvik regions. I would like to ask the Minister what the status of that review is, which is being conducted by Avery, Cooper and Company? Thank you.

Mr. Nerysoo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The report is not complete. In fact, Mr. Speaker, letters have been sent to a number of Members, so that the consultants can have discussions on their advice on addressing the direction of accommodation services for students. Thank you.

Thank you. Item 6, oral questions. Mr. Patterson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I believe the Minister had committed earlier in this session that no decisions would be made about the future of the residences until this study had been completed and all the various options considered by the Minister. Is that still the case; that no decisions will be made affecting these residences until the study is concluded?

Mr. Nerysoo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No final determinations have been made. There has been a formula identification in our budget, so that we have certainty of the amount of financial resources we are going to allocate to each board. It still requires a number of discussions to take place: First, the completion of the report; secondly, the options of use of the buildings if the decision is made to close them. If they remain open, what are the options, costs and responsibilities of the boards? Based on the direction of this Assembly, the recommendation is that we move to high school programming in the communities. Based on that, we have to make some decisions that respect that direction, but also ensure that we aren't in any way relinquishing or reducing the quality of programming that we are offering to those students who go to community high school programs.