Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister for providing some clear timelines. My last question is going to be a difficult one to answer because it's about capital, and Aurora College currently does not have a Yellowknife campus. One of the components of Aurora College is the Aurora Research Institute, and currently they have office space, they do not have laboratory equipment, they do not have research equipment at all. So, clearly, there some necessary upgrades if we're going to expand our research capacity and expand training and education opportunities for Aurora College. That building is also riddled with maintenance issues, glycol leaks, it's a real mess.

So in this strategic plan is the door open for a new campus facility, a standalone design-built campus facility in Yellowknife? Yes, I know we have limited resources, but this is a priority for our job market shortage. So is the door open to a new campus facility in Yellowknife? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Once the strategic plan is done and ready for review, we'll see what kind of space is needed for the program services that are going to be offered in the next academic year. But we can't make those decisions until we see that strategic plan.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yesterday we heard in this House from the Minister of Justice that A New Day program had 31 candidates, but when we met with the coordinators they informed us they had over 358 men and women take part in this program at the end of September. This is a huge difference in numbers. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister explain why there's a huge difference in these numbers? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes, Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned yesterday, this program is being reviewed. There may have been people that were informed about the program, perhaps that's how they got to that 300 number. I do know, however, that only 31 entered the program and only 16 graduated. So there may have been other types of contacts, but as far as people actually in the program and completing the program, there were very few. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the Minister for his answer. There's a huge difference in numbers. So I'm going to ask this question. Mr. Speaker, it is my understanding that monthly reports were provided to the department. Mr. Speaker, were these reports given to the evaluators and are they part of the evaluation process, and are they using those numbers instead of the 31?

Mr. Speaker, of course I've not yet received the report, but I understand that the report is a comprehensive one. I'm sure they looked at a wide variety of information, I don't know exactly what information they looked at, but I'm almost certain they looked at a wide variety of information. I do not know if they specifically looked at the monthly reports, but their information provided to us, so far, is that there were only 31 clients and only 16 graduates.

I thank the Minister for his answer. I guess we're going to have to agree to disagree on the numbers here. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister advise the House if the pilot project did have an evaluation component in the contribution agreement and, if it did, was this evaluation component used in the evaluation process?

I'm not certain as to whether such an evaluation was in the initial terms of reference, but all pilot projects virtually, the very nature of a pilot project is that it is to be evaluated, and that type of evaluation is being done at this time.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for his answer. Mr. Speaker, the Minister has said this is a three-year project. However, there was a nine-month gap in the service between the Healing Drum and the Tree of Peace Friendship Centre. It is my understanding that the program has been running only for 22 consecutive months at the Tree of Peace. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister please advise this House, does the nine months with the other organization count as part of this three-year pilot project and evaluation process?

Mr. Speaker, this pilot program has been running since 2012, and we do appreciate there was a gap in the service provider. I'm sure the final report, which we are eagerly anticipating, will take that into account in their evaluation of the program.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment in relation to my statement about immigration. The immigration program is jointly run between ITI and ECE. There's a lot of overlap between departments; Education Culture and Employment obviously has employment and ITI has business development. What sort of coordination is happening between the two departments on this front, and has the department considered merging the immigration unit into perhaps one department to streamline? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, our department is the lead on the Nominee Program, though responsibility is shared with the Department of ITI. Under the Nominee Program ECE administers the employer-driven program which is comprised of three streams: critical impact workers; skilled workers; and, the NWT express entry. Right now, we're working with the Department of ITI to develop an immigration framework and action plan, and once that is in place that information will be shared with Members moving forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We always talk about diversifying our economy. Other jurisdictions, like Manitoba, have welcomed farmers and agricultural workers to their province to fill the gaps they have. What is the department doing to align our current economic diversification strategies, like with agricultural, with tourism, hospitality, the fisheries? What are they doing specifically to attract immigrants who can fill those gaps? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Since I've been in the position, I've been to a couple of FTP meetings where the concerns were brought forward of having skilled workers meeting the in-demand jobs, particularly for each jurisdiction. The Northwest Territories is no different, so, when we're looking at our nominee program, we want to make sure that we're bringing people in to meet the needs of the business community when they can't find workers locally or even nationally; that, if we do bring in immigrants to fill these gaps in the jobs, that they are actually skilled workforce to meet those in-demand jobs. It's a concern right across the country, and we're no different in the North, but, once we do the nominee program, we want to make sure that we're getting people coming in that are going to be able to meet those in-demand jobs needs. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Earlier, the Minister, in a different set of questions, talked about Aurora College waiting to make any changes, basing that on Skills 4 Success, and he just mentioned the immigration framework, as well. Is that also going to be based on Skills 4 Success? Is this all going to be integrated, and when can we expect this immigration framework?

As I mentioned, we're just in the preliminary stages working with the Department of ITI to develop that framework, which will lead into an action plan. We're also out doing promotion and awareness of our nominee program in the regions. We've just launched a website on October 13th, I believe, and it's got a lot of really good information and testimonials on there. I encourage all Members to take a look at that website and share it with businesses and share it with your communities that are finding it hard to fill in-demand jobs. But all these programs are going to be working together to help meet the needs of our employers as well as increase the population of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for all his answers. So we've talked about what we're doing in the territory. What is the government doing to reach out to potential immigrants? What sort of advertising, I guess, what sort of outreach, is there?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned, we do have that website that we launched. I know that all departments are working to get this out internationally. We just had some very good success in getting some businesses from out of the country come up to the Northwest Territories and start-up businesses here, in Yellowknife, as well. We're constantly promoting the program, working with businesses to help set up start-up businesses here in the Northwest Territories, and we want to continue that strong relationship with anybody who wants to take on the program as well as our local businesses in the Northwest Territories, to help them fill the job gaps that we see. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.