Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Public Housing Rent Scale was introduced in 2012 to help make monthly rent for public housing units simpler, more predictable, and much more fair. The scale ties rent to a household income and makes sure no one pays less than $70 per month or more than $1,625 per month. It also makes sure rent reflects where people live, recognizing the cost of living is much higher in the rural and remote communities.

In 2015, the rent scale was updated. The corporation announced that, like in calculations for income assistance, payments through the Canada Child Tax Benefit and payments for foster care parents would no longer count as income.

Also, instead of putting the burden of monthly reporting on tenants, the corporation now calculates rent using the household's total income as reported on income tax returns.

These are good changes, Mr. Speaker, but at the same time, this is also where a few problems come into play. Many of my constituents have seasonal positions, working and earning in the summer but then having a hard time making ends meet in the winter.

That means that the income reported on their taxes does not give the full financial picture and rent that could be paid easily during the summer become an obstacle once the summer -- and seasonal work -- ends.

Residents brought this issue forward at my constituency meetings in all of my communities. I expect that when the corporation's housing survey is done, it will come up there, too. In the meantime, people in the Mackenzie Delta and, I am sure, in other communities throughout the Northwest Territories are struggling.

The Housing Corporation has done a lot of work to keep improving the rent scale, and I am confident we could work this out, too. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will have questions for the Minister later today.

Masi. Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery.

Again, just recognizing Ontario interns here with us; masi for being here. Item 6, acknowledgements. Member for Nahendeh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to congratulate three young male soccer players for being accepted to the U16 North American Indigenous Games soccer team. They are Chase Berrault, Jolan Kotchea, and Angus Capot-Blanc. As well, Jordan Nelson was selected as an alternate. On behalf of the community, their parents, and coaches, we are very proud of their accomplishments. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Acknowledgements. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on January 30 of this year, my constituent Jean Piro passed away peacefully, only weeks away from her 94th birthday.

Mrs. Piro came to Yellowknife in 1947, and two years later she married her husband, local businessman Mike Piro. In her 70 years in the NWT, Jean had many jobs and was an active member of many clubs and associations and even brought a bowling alley to Yellowknife.

It is without a doubt that Jean's greatest achievement is the roots she laid down with her four children, Gordon, Brian, Lorie, and Sandra, and her many grandchildren.

Jean was one of the city's longest-standing residents, and her legacy is as one of the community's "Golden Girls." My condolences go out to her family, friends, and all those who had the honour of knowing her, from Yellowknife. Thank you.

Our condolences to the family, as well. Acknowledgements. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to acknowledge the passing of my constituent Albert Bohnet of Avens Manor. He was 100 years old.

Mr. Bohnet came north from Alberta and made Fort Smith his home. He made his living driving heavy equipment and teaching others that skill. He was named Citizen of the Year after he retired for his volunteer work. He was well known for his love of curling and cribbage.

Mr. Bohnet was predeceased by his wife Febula. He is survived by his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and his many friends. I offer the family my deepest sympathy for their loss. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Our condolences also go out to the family, as well. Masi. Acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier today I talked about taking on social challenges. I am very pleased to see that the City of Yellowknife, in support with the GNWT, is doing a lot of good things, in particular in downtown Yellowknife in that regard. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services, and I am wondering if the Minister could kindly provide us an update on the status of the relocation of the day shelter. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.

The Minister just spoke about how there might be consideration of having the day shelter and the sobering centre together. Are there possibilities in finding a quicker solution by having these as two separate entities?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think in the short term, we are not going to have any options but to consider them as two separate entities. I think in the long term, it would be great if we could find a way to co-locate them. At the end of the day, we need both services. If we cannot find a way to roll them into a single building with separate entrances because, once again, they are different programs, we have to absolutely, without question, be open to alternate locations.

Obviously, one of the reasons we are looking at co-locating is to get some economies of scale, and help us reduce and control some costs. As I've indicated, we have made a commitment to move the day shelter. We made a commitment to finding a sobering centre, and implement a sobering centre here in the Northwest Territories. We are still living up to that. We are frustrated by the fact that it is taking a little longer than anticipated. As I said, I am hoping to have some information by this weekend. Hopefully, we will have a chance to meet with committee, and have a conversation, hopefully, maybe as soon as next week.

Thank you to the Minister for his reply. I wonder, also, if the Minister can provide us an update on what we would refer to as the "Wet Centre." There is discussion that we were going to have the possibilities of a facility where those who were in need could go and have portioned amounts of alcohol to help them, and we have, I believe, put some funding towards this. Is there a location, and is there a program that we are going to be following through with, Mr. Speaker?

There has never actually been a budget allocated to a managed alcohol program. It is a commitment we have made, but as I indicated last October, our first priority is to get a sobering centre in place. A sobering centre is probably the most ideal location to have a managed alcohol program.

Since then, it has come to our attention that the City of Yellowknife has put in an application to the federal government for a managed alcohol-type program. We are waiting to see what the results are there, and whether or not they are going to need us to be involved, partnering in providing some technical expertise. We are open to that. When it comes to managed alcohol programs, you have got to make sure that it is well-designed and makes sense.

I had an opportunity to visit a managed alcohol program in Ottawa where we heard a lot about the positive aspects, and the negative aspects, and how important it is to have a thoroughly and properly designed program, focused on the clients who will be utilizing the program.

We are still open to it. We still have made the commitment, but it was never going to be immediate. We wanted to get the sobering centre in first, and move from there. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Marci cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have questions for the Minister of Education on the Teacher Education Program. Mr. Speaker, if we eliminate the Teacher Education Program, I predict that fewer Northern students will study to become teachers. The department must have looked into that before proposing the cut. What is the department's forecast in future years for the number of Indigenous students studying to become teachers? Thank you.

Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On average, we get about 29 students who enroll in Aurora College's TEP program. Over the last three years, we have also averaged seven graduates out of that program. Indigenous, non-Indigenous, we don't have those numbers right now, but we do support all Northerners when they are seeking post-secondary education. We also supported 33 students this academic year studying to become teachers in the South, in southern institutions. We continue to support them, and we are committed to continue to support financially, and support through counselling, and any support that the students in the Aurora College TEP program are currently in. We are committed to supporting them to complete their program by June 30, 2020. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We are committed to training teachers and incorporating Indigenous knowledge in our practise through our pledge to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. How will we meet that obligation if we eliminate the Teacher Education Program at Aurora College?

I had a similar question yesterday when we talked about the social worker program. Our governments, our departments, through the JK-to-12 system, run students through Aboriginal language and culture, basic education. We have On-the-Land programs. You have language programs. We have other programs that we are piloting in certain regions that focus on culture and awareness.

Over the last year and in the last government, we did implement a residential school Northern Studies training. We are working on developing Northern Studies that are going to focus on self-governments, land claims, and any teachers regardless of if they are Northerners or any Southern teachers who want to come up to the Northwest Territories, we do have a New to the North program that has a lot of cultural awareness in that program as well. Plus, we also run a teacher cultural orientation days that focus on residential schools, the history of residential schools in the Northwest Territories so that teachers, regardless of if they are Northern or Southern, have an understanding of how our families have grown up in residential schools, and understand the environments, and the communities, and the school environment that they're getting into. I believe that we are still going to be promoting that cultural awareness in all of our students that come back North for employment.

What was the conclusion of the most recent evaluation on the Teacher Education Program, and what improvements were suggested, if any?

The whole process of looking at reductions was in Aurora College. The department worked with Aurora College to look at their programs and reviews, and as all Members in this House know, our job is to make tough decisions at times; and sometimes, those decisions are not popular. After the reviews on looking at the programs, these two programs were selected and brought forth to this government.