Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’ll defer that program question to Minister Lafferty.

Thank you, Minister Miltenberger. Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. This is something that I need to look into in my department. I don’t have the information in front of me if there has been consultation with the industry. In the past they have initiated various training programs as partnerships. They have simulators as well. I can certainly look into that further and get back to the Member on this specific topic. Mahsi.

Thank you, Minister Lafferty. Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. You know, I’m not an expert in heavy equipment by any stretch of imagination. It’s not like when you look at trucks and vehicles that you drive on the street. Every model year those can change quite a bit as time progresses, but with loaders and graders and dump trucks, I think the mechanical aspects of those vehicles don’t change very much. Again, I stand to be corrected, but if we’ve got a dump truck or grader or loader that’s three or four years old and we paid 30 per cent of the cost that shows up here and it serves the exact same purpose as a new one would, why wouldn’t we look at doing that?

Thank you, Mr.

Ramsay. Minister Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I restrict my reply to the fact that three to four years is fine in the case of the some of the college equipment. Speaking from personal experience, you’re talking probably from decade to decade with some of the old equipment that they have to drive. Once again, I’d have to refer that question to the Minister of Education as to whether they looked at appropriating not quite new equipment as an alternative to brand new. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Miltenberger. Minister Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. Yes, we are dealing with 20 year old equipment or 20 plus, and I do believe there’s been some discussion on the purchasing of new and also used — just the recent ones — but that information I need to get from my department. I don’t have it right before me at this time. Mahsi.

Thank you, Minister Lafferty. Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Again, I think the department should be looking at, you know, whether it’s two, three or four year old equipment, if it’s almost identical to what the new equipment would be at a fraction of the price, I think they should be doing that just as a matter of business. You know, you should be looking at trying to get the most for the dollars that you do have.

The other question that I have — and I ask this every year; I’ve been here for five years, and I ask the same question every year — is: where exactly is the dedicated Aurora College campus in Yellowknife? Where does that fit into the plan, Mr. Minister?

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Minister Miltenberger.

Mr. Chairman, I’ll refer that question to the Minister of Education, Minister Lafferty.

Thank you, Minister Miltenberger. Minister Lafferty.

Mr. Chair, Aurora College does get direct funding from ECE, so they go through our department. Mahsi.

I’ve got one second left to come back and ask the Minister. He didn’t answer the question. I’m not sure if he heard the question, but where exactly is a dedicated stand-alone college campus for Yellowknife, the capital city of the Northwest Territories? Where is that in the government’s plans today? Thank you.

It’s not on the list for the immediate future, so as we look at all these other documents and we look at requirements and priorities and needs, I would suggest that as we go to the next cycle, that would be the time for that discussion.

Thank you, Minister Miltenberger. The next on my list is Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I’d like to ask a few questions of the Minister. I want to ask the Minister: in terms of renovation or replacements or small repairs to the schools in the Sahtu, where does that fall? Does that fall under small capital projects such as the Colville Lake foundation or the Norman Wells school or Délînê? Is there funding there? I don’t see it in the book.

Thank you Mr. Yakeleya. Minister Miltenberger.

Thank you. Mr. Chairman. I’ll refer that question to Mr. Aumond.

Thank you, Minister Miltenberger. Mr. Aumond.

Mr. Chairman, the community of Colville Lake certainly appreciates the portable school that they have and the work that the department is doing. Because it’s fall time now, they want to look at some of the preventative heat loss in terms of having the department supply some skirting around it. Time is of the essence, and they were asking when they can see a certain time frame as to when this project could be implemented in Colville Lake.