I appreciate the answer from the Minister. I recognize that NTPC is doing some good work on renewables in communities and that they are going to be playing a critical role in the development of the energy plan. I think part of the issue, though, is that some of the same people that are running the Power Corporation, those deputy ministers, are going to be the same Ministers in charge of helping develop the energy plans. Can the Minister describe for this House what role those deputy ministers will play in the development and implementation of the upcoming Energy Plan?

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I will be very interested to see how this rolls out over the next while. Some in this House have called for the development of large hydro projects that could even flood communities to export power. Earlier, I spoke of another vision for the NTPC where it would basically be doing itself out of a job by building energy self-sufficiency in communities and households across the NWT. Can the Minister explain what is the current vision of NTPC? Will it become an instrument of this government for big hydro for export or build energy self-sufficiency? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister responsible for NWT Power Corporation.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There seem to be a lot of questions in that question. I don't think the Power Corporation is currently contemplating any large hydro developments that will flood communities. If they are, they haven't informed us on this side of the House. The corporation is committed, of course, to providing reliable power to all of our communities. In fact, there are initiatives to encourage people to reduce their power bill. It is, in some ways, difficult for the corporation because, as people conserve power and use less, they receive less revenue. We are committed to providing safe, reliable, and energy-efficient power to all of our communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier, my colleague asked questions about what we are doing to support diversity and specifically LGBTQ issues within our classrooms. My questions today are for the Minister responsible for Education, Culture, and Employment. I am wondering what resources the government has committed to LGBTQ communities outside of the classroom in our general communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Under the Safe and Caring Schools Act, we have also made sure that, in the definition, we are getting community support as well. In terms of supporting, I don't have any financial resources being put forth. That is something we can definitely look at. I did make a commitment to my department to look at the two groups here, the groups here in Yellowknife, and work with them in terms of developing these policies or getting input into the safe and caring schools regulations when the plans come out as well. We will definitely reach out and see what kind of work we can do together. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Minister's department is also responsible for a great deal of heritage funding and certainly LGBTQ history is a large part of our heritage going back to Bud Orange and the Klippert case. We have great festivals here, and this will be fifth year of Pride NWT, proving yet again that the LGBTQ community is very much integrated into our community. Can the Minister speak to if some of those resources can be made available and if they are currently being done so?

Last week we did go through the main estimates. We did approve the education budget. We did mention that there are some funding sources out there in terms of heritage, as well as the arts and cultures. Some of them are contributions that we can get under $15,000, and I encourage NWT Pride or the events that the Member is mentioning submit an application to our department, and we will take it into consideration.

Mr. Speaker, the Minister is also responsible for the status of youth in the Northwest Territories. Has the Minister committed any of his time in his portfolio to promote the diversity of our youth, and in particular LGBTQ youth, while also promoting tolerance and anti-bullying outside of the classroom, not just in the classroom?

In earlier questions about the gay-straight alliances that are happening in Mackenzie Mountain School and St. Pat's, I think that is a great avenue to get attention on this area to the communities. I said they could actually be the leads right throughout the Northwest Territories. I do look forward to meeting the two groups and, be they willing, look at how we can try to develop something territorially. Outside of the school, that is very hard to regulate. We are looking at ways that we can do it on the school grounds. Outside, inside the communities, is always something tough. When we did the consultations on the safe and caring schools, it was mentioned it takes whole community to address these issues. That is something we want to encourage residents of the Northwest Territories to speak up, step up, and to make sure that it is not accepted in our communities.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Minister for his answer. I appreciate his efforts on this. I think as the Minister responsible for Youth, we do need to do a great deal of youth outreach, moving forward, in the territory to combat some of these very high statistics we have in the North for violence, addictions, and also to make vulnerable communities feel safe. Could the Minister commit to spending some of his time as Minister responsible for Youth to address this with a strategy or an action plan or some form of tangible measure? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Moving forward in this area, the government can only do so much with the resources we have. That is why we have developed partnerships. Any action plans, any work that we do, we always make sure our stakeholders, NGOs, businesses, youth centres get involved and give us information that we can take into consideration. With the safe and caring schools area, that is a new act. Like much things, it can always be revised and looked at how we can make it better and improved better. But I encourage that we do put some of those things into the safe school plans moving forward.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, follow-up to my Member's statement, I have a few questions for the Minister of Transportation. Mr. Speaker, as I have said many times in this House, the community of Aklavik is looking forward to possible economic opportunities and tourism once the bridge and road is completed to Willow River. Mr. Speaker, at Willow River, we also have in my riding probably the best quality of material that is next to pretty much the same as Frog Creek. Mr. Speaker, the community is looking forward to completing this project, and as I mentioned, we need the remaining funds. So I would like to ask the Minister, will the Minister ensure that the community of Aklavik receives adequate funds to complete the last stage to install the bridge at Willow River? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Transportation.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Transportation is reviewing the recent proposal from the hamlet of Aklavik, which was done up by some consultants for them, to finish up the bridge span on Willow River to access the granular the Member is talking about. The department is anticipating a large number of applicants for this small amount of money that we have. We anticipate it exceeding by $500,000 again probably this year. We are reviewing the community of Aklavik's proposal, and we will be getting back to the Member as soon as we can. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I realize the Minister is anticipating a large volume of applications. I was told last week we were first in line, Mr. Speaker. So I would like to ask the Minister, when does the Minister expect our proposal for Willow River to be approved? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Laughter

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I have said to the Member and to the House, we will be reviewing it and getting back to the Member shortly. The scope of this project, though, is well-beyond the capacity of the CAP program. This $1 million funding that we have for all the communities in the Northwest Territories is a limited pot of money where a number of communities access for seasonal employment and opportunities for their communities. The Hamlet of Aklavik has asked a significant ask on this program. We will review it and get back to him as soon as we can. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, as the Minister is well aware, this pot of funding, the Community Access Program, is underfunded. Mr. Speaker, we need to increase this as many of the smaller communities depend on this funding to create employment in our small communities, which have less than 35 per cent employment rate. Mr. Speaker, maybe the Minister could work with the Minister of Finance -- Aklavik is the Minister's home community -- to find extra funding for Aklavik. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Laughter