It’s very disturbing to know that two communities in my riding have to look for alternative funding for what Tulita, Deline and Fort Good Hope receive base funding for. Two other communities that operate Arctic College programs have to look at alternative funding. Why can’t they receive base funding like any other community that receives base funding? Why the special treatment for the two communities?

Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Chairman. This is an area we should look at with the college. Why some communities aren’t getting base funding, we don’t really have that detailed information with us as to why. I’ll commit to the

Member that we’ll look at this area and get back to him.

I appreciate the Minister committing to look at it. I’m hoping we can go one step further to make Norman Wells and Colville Lake communities that will receive base funding like any other college in my region and establish some base funding for those two centres. I appreciate the Minister’s commitment to poke his head in there and start digging around to find out what’s going on.

Mr. Lafferty, that’s a yes again. Okay. Next I have Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have just a couple of questions here. The first is in regard to programs that the college offers. The Minister will have heard questions and concerns raised by other Members in the House earlier about the nursing programs which the college offers. There’s a concern that federal funding is ending I think in March of 2012. The NP educator program, the masters program, and the Introduction to Advanced Practice I believe are all delivered through the college. I’d like to know from the Minister whether or not these programs are going to be able to continue. Is this federal funding sunsetting as I think I’ve been advised and, if so, what is the Minister doing about it?

Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Chairman. I think there was a commitment in the House to collaborate with health and education departments working together to identify what our options will be at that time.

Thanks to the Minister. I appreciate that there’s going to be some work done. The Minister said at that time, so does that mean that we’re going to wait until 2012 to do something or will there be some work that’s done in the near future and when can Members expect some kind of a report on these programs?

This was addressed in this House. There was ongoing discussion between the two departments. The discussion will continue to find what those options will be. As soon as we find a solution, we’ll definitely get back to the Members. I can’t really give you a specific date as to when, but as soon as we hear, that will be far more in advance than next year’s 2012.

Thanks to the Minister. It’s good to hear that we’re doing things now and not waiting. I have one other question and it relates to the space that the college currently occupies and the lease that they have and that the lease is ending. I think this has been mentioned maybe not this week but certainly over the last year, that the department has known that the lease for the college is going to be ending in a year or so. There were certainly some investigations done as to some potential sites for

the college to move. About a year ago I think there was a possible solution and yet here we are a year later and there hasn’t been any action on any kind of proposal for a stand-alone campus here in Yellowknife. So I need to ask the Minister why it is that we spent a year basically running in place and not taking any action towards replacing the current location for the college with a new one. Thank you.

Since last year, we went through some options and we shared that with the Members and with the various school boards as well. Those options have been pushed forward, but there are other pressing matters that are before us as well within the GNWT. We are not giving up on this. We are also continuing to examine this through our next capital planning process. So this is geared for next year because the lease is expiring next year, so we need to plan. We have been planning this fall for an extension. So we will be exploring those areas for the next capital planning process, Mr. Chair. Mahsi.

Next I have Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have a similar question related to the Aurora College campus here in Yellowknife and a stand-alone campus. Has there been any assessment done on potential savings in the long run for actually having a stand-alone facility as opposed to renting the several buildings in Yellowknife we do to act as a campus? Specifically I’m interested in finding out if we can maximize our dollars by actually having a stand-alone facility over the long term and focus more money in programming rather than excessive rents.

Minister of Education.

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I did highlight that we need to plan for next year’s capital planning process and this will be part of the process. Mahsi.

Okay. For the record, obviously I think a stand-alone campus in Yellowknife is important. I think it will save us money and I look forward to seeing any planning that’s done in the future. It would be nice if we had a little bit more data now. This has certainly been something that’s been on the conversation block for a long time. If there is no answer there, I’ll just go to the next question.

The Social Work Program at Aurora College, it’s a diploma program and we’ve got links to a southern university where people from here can then go down there to complete their degree. Has there been much thought or any thought about changing the program in the Northwest Territories so that it’s a social work degree program, so that we can keep our students in the North for the duration, the completion of their degree?

When I recognized those social work students in the gallery, I did have the opportunity to meet with them out in the foyer as well. This is an area we are all working with the college and with southern institutions that currently deliver diploma programs and also degree programs. Some students, of course, told us that they don’t want to leave the community. They want to finish their degree here in the Northwest Territories. I did share that with the Board of Governors of the college and also the president. Mr. Chair, this is a discussion that we’ve had and we will continue to move that forward. Mahsi.

Thank you for continuing to look at is as you move forward, but I’m curious what, if any, assessment or analysis has been done to date about that program and the suitability of a diploma program in the North as opposed to a degree program. Actually, I don’t even think it’s a diploma, I think it’s a certificate program here in Yellowknife with a tie-in to the South. Has any analysis been done in partnership with Health and Social Services about the value and potential benefits? There is a chance that if we had a degree program, we could also increase our enrolment at the Aurora College program here in Yellowknife. So what kind of analysis has been done to date to test the feasibility or question the feasibility of changing it to a degree program?

Since it was brought to our attention, we shared with the college immediately, because it was the wish of the students and we haven’t conducted a feasibility study as of yet. The program that has been requested, we need to explore further, do our research and work with the southern institutions who can best deliver that program. We do have various partners in southern institutions, so we will be conducting those studies as well. Mahsi.

Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just briefly, since I think our first year of our term I’ve raised the concern that the Early Childhood Development Program produced child care workers that were not meeting federal standards. The Minister is aware of that. I’m just wondering, has anything ever been done to try and beef up that program to meet those standards. Thank you.

Deputy Minister Daniels.