Given that Stanton had committed to the development of a territorial Aboriginal wellness centre, how will the Indigenous medicine practices and programs, like the traditional food program be incorporated into the new Stanton Hospital and hospitals across the Northwest Territories?

With the new territorial hospital being built, Stanton and the GNWT have a unique opportunity to collaborate with their P3 partners in developing traditional foods menus. Carillion, which is the organization that will be managing the facility management of the hospital, has been in dialogue with hospital leadership, Stanton's Indigenous Wellness Program, and the Stanton renewable project to explore what a northern and traditional food menu may look like in the hospital. The menu planning discussions have included how foods are harvested, prepared, and how they can be served to patients while they're in care at Stanton.

The goal ultimately, Mr. Speaker, is to have northern and traditional menus be part of the mainstream menus as opposed to an exception. Northern and traditional foods would also be part of the menu for all meals served, not just lunches and dinners. Sample menus and preparation techniques have been provided to Carillion by Stanton Indigenous Wellness Program, and I'd like to add that Stanton's Indigenous Wellness Program provides welcoming, culturally sensitive emotional support to Aboriginal patients during their hospital stay. Access to cleansing ceremonies, traditional healing, and medicine is provided to patients as requested, and the lessons we learned from Stanton, we hope and believe can be applied to other parts of the territory. We understand the value of traditional foods. We are trying to find a way. We are working with our partners.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in follow-up to my Member's statement, I have some questions for the Minister of Infrastructure. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister: can the Minister describe the criteria that the department uses to assess whether or not the Abraham Francis Ferry will operate? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Infrastructure.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Ferry operations are dependent mainly on water levels. Water levels can be too high to make it safe; water levels can be too low to make it safe. That is the main criteria of operating the ferry, to get vehicles and people across it safely. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

This most recent disruption lasted for six days, with many people waiting day to day. How does the department communicate service disruptions or provide advance warning of possible service disruptions to Northerners and visitors?

The Department of Infrastructure uses a few significant ways. We have Facebook. We use Twitter. We do press releases. We have our superintendents in the region who convey those types of messages. That is mostly how we get it out to the public. A lot of these things happen on very short notice, and we try to do our best to get the information out there.

I thank the Minister for his reply, but I think the department does need to do a better job. Will the Minister ensure that, in the future, when this ferry is closed, they will work with the community? They have CBQM, which is well known throughout the territory. They give constant updates, you know, as people go on the radio. During the weekends, nobody is updating the ferry situation. Will the Minister and the department ensure they work with the communities in the future?

Duly noted from the Member's suggestions. We can look into those sorts of things. I think one of the other things that maybe we can start looking into is similar to what we did in Hay River with the crosswalk situation. We had the digital signs posted on the highway, and we tried to relay as much information that way as well before people leave the communities.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, how often is a refresher or professional development training made available to the marine division, who makes the call to operate or to shut down the operations of our ferries? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Infrastructure.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do not have that type of detailed information. I can get it for the Member, but I am pretty sure that the ferry captains have to be certified every year to make sure that their ticket is up to snuff, but I will get that information to the Member.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and with the removal of the board, it brought a focus on the review itself. We are going to be looking at the operations of the Aurora College, as well as the governance of Aurora College, and that is where we are focusing with this foundational review. When we get the results at the end of the review, we will be in a position where we can make the decisions moving forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I see that the Minister is not going to repeat his bafflegab, so I take that as a win. The terms of reference for the foundational review ask the contractor to assess whether the board, as part of the governance structure, is operating effectively. Has that question not been answered by the Minister's decision to dismiss them?

A lot has happened from 2013 to 2017, where we are today. We have more information that we did not have before, NWT-specific information that we can work with our partners with, our non-government organizations, about how we proceed on the operations of Aurora College. At the end of the day, it is all about student success and having the right programs in place to ensure that our students succeed and become part of the workforce, and those areas can be addressed: legislation, administration, governance, as well as operation.

Deflection is not an answer either. The Cleveland report on Aurora College made a number of specific recommendations to strengthen the relationship between the board, the Minister, and the department. For example, in very simple terms he recommended that the Minister meet with the board four times a year and facilitate meetings between the college and the Regular MLAs. Did that ever happen?

Yes, previous to the decisions that I made we did meet with the board on a regular basis, and with the discussions in the May/June sitting we thought it was best to go in the direction in which we are removing it now with the foundational review that is going to look at everything. Prior to that, we did have those meetings with the board on a regular basis.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, could the Minister tell us when the last time was that he met with the full board? Thank you.