Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Testart.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The other post-secondary institutions that have been mentioned here, College nordique and Dechinta Bush University. Do we provide funding in this section of the budget here or where can I find their funding numbers because I believe earlier yesterday that question was asked and it was deferred to later in the main, so is this where we would find those numbers and where are they located? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Testart. Mr. Minister, further contribution?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I believe it's under our labour and career development allocated funding.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Testart.

Can the Minister provide the totals there and is there something we need to wait for more detail? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Testart. Mr. Minister.

Roughly, it's about $250,000 to $300,000 to both College nordique and also to Dechinta. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Testart, is that satisfactory clarification?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, that is satisfactory. To have the detail, I think we could be doing more to support these institutions. There's a very good business case that's been made by Dechinta in particular for increased funding. Based on their success rates, I think they're still sitting at 100 per cent success rate, granted they only take a few students, but this is a remarkably successful post-secondary education program that's tailored to the deficiencies we have in post-secondary education in the North. I know the Minister's very aware of this based on his work as chair of the standing committee and a previous assembly, so how do we move forward on this? I know we've talked about legislation but the real issue for these institutions is giving them the funding they need to continue to do good work. I think if we take a look at the $33 million we're spending on college contributions, specifically to the post-secondary elements, the degree-granting elements of Aurora College, the numbers are not good. They've been in decline over the years and they don’t seem to be rebounding. We have some other institutions that are doing incredible work and been highly successful, so has the department given any thought to breaking this number down and actually looking at other post-secondary education institutions that are finding success and working with them rather than continuing to support programs that aren't popular for whatever reason? It's a huge amount of money. Basically, all of our post-secondary funding is going into one basket and it's not achieving the results that I think any of us are comfortable with.

That was a whole lot. I'm not sure if I've got a clear question, but I guess, can we look into providing more funding than the very small amounts were giving to these successful programs? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Testart. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Testart.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to the Minister for that. It is hopeful that the department is acknowledging that there are challenges here and that the government is moving to address them. I note as well that this section has been moved to labour and development standards rather than education. Can the department confirm that they are taking more of a vocational training approach to post-secondary education in the North with this change? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Testart. Mr. Minister.

I think we are trying to hit so many different areas by moving it into labour development and standards section. We are trying to make sure throughout the board that we are actually getting the skilled developments, being able to provide other opportunities to some of our partners and stakeholders outside of the Aurora College system. We are trying to reach all areas and having this area definitely helps with that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Testart.

Thank you Mr. Chair. I am making good use of my time if you don't mind. That is good. I appreciate that. I think that we had a lot of conversations about a university of the North. My position has always been that a polytechnic is more appropriate. I think this change is the correct one, to actually take a rural college and make it more of a vocational institution for job training, give Northerners the skills they need for the jobs that we need in the future and today. How much involvement did the department have with that strategic plan? Quite frankly, I think Aurora College needs to have that message loud and clear. They are going to need to become a polytechnic. They need to become a vocational school. That is what they were set up to do in addition to the adult education, and I think it strayed from that course. Now, it is time to get them back on track. I think by putting it into labour development, you are sending a clear message from this government that that is exactly what we are up to. Can the Minister confirm that that we are moving Aurora College towards a polytechnic and we are creating a vocational college, rather than letting Aurora College be all things for all people? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Testart. I am going to allow a reply. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, we want to make sure that the jobs that we are going to have over the next 15 years, that the program services that Aurora College provides will be reflective of those jobs that are going to be needed. We will be at the table. We will be sitting with the Aurora College executive to make sure that we are working to meet the needs of the Northerners.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Questions. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Just a couple of questions to follow up on my colleague from Kam Lake. It is my understanding that Dechinta and College nordique have submitted proposals to the department for core funding to help them get established. I think those proposals have been in with the department for several months now. I am just wondering whether the department has responded to those proposals and what that response might be or when we can expect to get our responses. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As I mentioned earlier, the Skills 4 Success Action Plan that we are going to be rolling out here and hopefully bringing back into the House in the fall is going to be reflective of all our partners, stakeholders, whether they are businesses, Aurora College, moving forward. We want to make sure that action plan gets done and that the business case from all areas is looked at. Hopefully we will have their input into creating this action plan as well, which we did commit to working with all our partners on the development of this action plan.