For my final question, and I thank the Minister for his reply, Northern students are supported by the government Student Financial Assistance program. I've mentioned Aurora College that provides an essential service. Other institutions such as Dechinta and College nordique, as the Minister also alluded to, are developing programs with other specialties. Can the Minister please describe how post-secondary institutions receive funding to provide their range of courses in the NWT?

Our main post-secondary institution, Aurora College, does receive the majority of its funding from the GNWT. They also receive third-party funding from the Government of Canada, as well as other education and training partners, and also through student tuition. Other private institutions like College nordique and Dechinta, they're able to get funding from the GNWT through funding proposals. Also, I understand that there is federal funding that some of these private organizations can access funding from.

Mahsi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in follow-up to my Member’s statement, I have a few questions for the Minister of Transportation. I'd like to ask the Minister, can the Minister confirm the number of crushers available in the Northwest Territories through his department at this time?

Mahsi. Minister of Transportation.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I cannot commit to how many crushers we have available for community access. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, it's actually two -- ---Laughter

From what I understand. I'm not sure if it's divided between the north and south, that's what I wanted to ask. How does the department choose which community will use the crushers, and how does it establish the priority?

Mahsi. Member's done his homework. Minister of Transportation.

I don't know how we pick communities, who's on the priority list or anything, but I'm sure there's a schedule, and based on priorities and needs. I can commit to looking into that for the Member.

That’s what I wanted to get at. Will the Minister be willing to work with the community of Aklavik to start the process, as to ship the unit to Aklavik hopefully over the summer, not too late because the water usually drops quite a bit by the second barge, from what I understand, and start preparations for the next year, next budget, so the community could build up the roads, as I mentioned earlier. A lot of challenges with the roads in our community.

I would encourage the community of Aklavik to work with businesses in the Beaufort Delta region to the private sector to fulfill its crushing needs.

Mahsi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the community doesn't have the money that the Department of Transportation has to hire these contractors to do these services for them. The department has these crushers available to communities that need it. The community could do this work with their limited budget of maybe a couple hundred thousand, whereas to hire one of the contractors we're talking millions, at least over $1.5 million for sure. That's why the community is asking the department to work with them.

The community of Aklavik has different access to funding through infrastructure money through MACA and other sources, so I'd encourage the Member to have the community look at those sources of revenue.

Mahsi. Colleagues, I'd like to draw your attention to the visitors in the gallery. We have Yacub Adam, he's a member of the Human Rights Commission that's here with us today, and he's also a close follower of our work in this House. Welcome. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Everyone in this House, especially me, will be relieved to know that my questions are in English. ---Laughter In my Member’s statement earlier today I talked about the court-mandated expansion of Ecole Allain St-Cyr. Can the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment confirm whether he has begun discussions with the Commission scolaire francophone Territoires du Nord-Ouest and the Association des Parents ayants droit de Yellowknife for the expansion of the school?

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the department and the government is committed to meeting its obligations under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Education Act. Steps to implement the NWT Court of Appeal decision are being undertaken. There was a delay in the process, as I believe there was an appeal to the Appeal Court decision. We were just waiting, and then when the Supreme Court had declined to hear the appeal, that's when the department started moving forward and having discussions with Commission scolaire francophone Territoires du Nord-Ouest on the planned expansion of Ecole Allain St-Cyr. We’re just beginning those discussions.

I want to thank the Minister for his response. When Yellowknife MLAs recently met with the commission, the representatives of the commission described the high school program at Ecole Allain St-Cyr as in crisis. Can the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment tell us whether the expansion of the school appears in the capital budget and when construction may actually begin?

I do hear the Member in terms of enrolment. As mentioned earlier in the session, we did give direction to the department on that Ministerial directive to get reviewed, so hopefully we can get more students in the French first language schools. When I mentioned that we're just in the planning stages, the discussions, the budget for the expansion has not yet been voted on in the Legislative Assembly, mainly because we have to get the planning done, and consideration for that planning done and brought forth in this Assembly. As you know, we just completed our mandate yesterday so once that planning study is done, then we can look at bringing something forward for Members to vote on.

For some of the construction of the school, the federal government provided up to 80 per cent of the funding. Has the Minister of Education been in contact with Heritage Canada officials about any potential contributions to fund the expansion of Ecole Allain St-Cyr?

Personally, I haven't been in contact with the heritage federal Minister. The department, however, has been in contact with the federal government on possible contributions to this project. However, no specific commitments have been made. As you know, the budget for the federal government will be coming out next month and we're also in a new government as well, moving forward. Once everything is up to speed we will keep the Members up-to-date on what's going on with this project.

Mahsi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and once again I'd like to thank the Minister for his response. I look forward to working with him on this issue. With new leadership within the francophone community and within the department, I believe we're working hard towards a better working relationship in resolution of a number of these issues, including the expansion of Ecole Allain St-Cyr. Can the Minister of Education commit to regularly reporting progress on the expansion of Ecole Allain St-Cyr at each sitting of this House?