Thanks again to the Minister for his response. Does the Minister, though, actually have a timetable for these steps that he's outlined? Can we expect to see a legislative proposal for the bill, this "what we heard" document, in the current session?

Yes, there is a new timetable. In order for us to appropriately address the feedback received from the engagement consultation, we have had a bit of a process change and therefore a change in the timeline has been required. We are pursuing components of the regulation framework through the Land and Water Board process. As far as the timeline goes, we have an LP that we're working on and we're looking to have an EPA bill, an Environmental Protection Act bill, passed in the fall 2017 Legislative Assembly.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I do appreciate the complete responses from the Minister. I sincerely thank him for that.

I've talked about the importance of sound air quality regulations for the protection of human health and the environment. Given that this is a new regulatory field for our government and one obviously of great public interest, can the Minister commit to bringing forward a draft of the air quality regulations to the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, we'll make an opportunity to have a discussion with committee on the draft regulations. Our intent is to have the regulations come into effect in the spring of 2018, so we'll have some opportunity before then to have some discussions with committee and all interested stakeholders.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Following up on my Member's statement here. Despite the challenges resource developers face today, it is important to understand that the non-renewable resources are the NWT's natural long-term strengths. My question today is for the Minister of Lands: how is this government, through the land-use planning process, working to conclude withdrawal of lands referred to as 41 in the Naats'ihch'oh Park area east-west of Tulita? Thank you.

Masi. Minister of Lands.

The Sahtu Land Use Planning Board is the authority for amendments of Zone 41, and I can advise that there is an application to make an amendment now that the final boundary for the Naats'ihch'oh National Park Reserve is established. So Lands is coordinating a cohesive NWT position to take to the board. Thank you.

I'm glad the department is on that, but looking back, the recommendations by the draft was dated June 2016. The correspondence I received was this past Friday recommending the conclusion of this Lands 41 within the park area. My second question is: will the Minister give us a time frame when this issue can be concluded?

I know the amendment application was filed on January 9, 2017; of course, the Sahtu Land Use Planning Board is independent of the Department of Lands so I can't really give a date as to when they will conclude their examination of this matter.

Will the Minister look into it and get back to me, please? If so, when?

Yes, I will look into it, and I think I can provide the Member opposite with some additional information. Of course, I can't directly affect the timing or the decision of the board. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Also, would the Minister, in his review, check into the amendment being referred to with the new amendment as a special management zone? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I am uncertain as to the exact details of the amendment or the type of amendment that was filed on January 9, 2017. I, however, will look into it and attempt to provide such information to the Member opposite that I am able to.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have some questions for the Minister of Education on the funding to Aurora College. When the Minister and his department were involved in discussions with Aurora College about identifying reductions, was a discussion held about how the college could leverage additional funds from other sources, from third-party sources, to make up the reductions that our government was asking of them? Thank you.

Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To my knowledge, we didn't ask them to look for third-party funding to offset the reductions. When we looked at these two programs, as I have said many times in this House, the department in collaboration with Aurora College did look at efficiencies. We do give a big investment into these programs. The graduates that we weren't getting out of the program was an indicator. These two programs were both selected and brought forth to this government to have this debate on the program. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Perhaps, maybe, that is the point. Are we too involved with the day-to-day operations of this college and providing strategic direction to them? As my honourable friend, the Member from Hay River North, pointed out in his statement earlier, issues with the success of the college are not new, and instead of helping them, we seem to have been turning away from that and are now offering them guidance on how to cut programs, not how to improve programs.

My question, Mr. Speaker, is: given that 66 per cent of the revenues of Aurora College are provided for by government and, in our neighbouring territory, the Yukon government only provides 49 per cent of revenues to their equivalent Yukon College, would the Minister be open to giving direction to Aurora College to establish its own fundraising foundation so it can bring in third-party resources to fund its programs and operations?

Yes, we do fund the majority of dollars to Aurora College to run their programs and services. This year alone, we have developed a schedule to have more meetings with the board as well as the president of Aurora College to have that open communication. We have given them mandate letters in terms of the work that we expect to see them do. We are currently working on an accountability framework with Aurora College. Obviously, we want to see how that money is being spent in the contributions that we do give to them.

In terms of third-party funding, we do have the Aurora Research Institute, where we do get funding from outside sources to come and do research in the North, but that can be a discussion that we have with the board of governors and the president moving forward. We are looking at new direction that the college is taking, and I think that is something we will have a talk with them about.

I am sure the Minister is well aware that we are all eagerly awaiting the strategic plan and the process that will come forward from this. Can the Minister advise how the college will be used to support the Skills 4 Success strategic plan?

It looks like we are cutting off two programs that have direct relation with that strategy, so are we going to fill our labour gap solely on the backs of southern institutions, or are we going to build some programs here in the north that work to support that plan?

A lot of these things were indicators in terms of reductions within the program. As mentioned in the honourable Member's statement, he was talking about the in-demand jobs that we are going to see in the future. For K-12 teachers by 2030, it is going to be 1,354 teachers in the K-12 system. Currently, Aurora College graduates an average of seven. We continue to support our out-of-territory students. We have 33 right now down south. For degreed social workers, it is 158. Aurora College does not offer a degree program, but we do work with students who want to go and continue their education down south through our Student Financial Assistance Program. For current demand for social community service workers, that is 479. Aurora College currently graduates anywhere from four to five.

The Skills 4 Success document is a driving factor when we are looking at this new direction that Aurora College is doing. They understand that. It is something that we mandated them to look at, and we will continue to work with them on getting that direction so we have programs and services that will meet the needs of our in-demand jobs in the north.