Good afternoon, Members. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Deputy Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to offer my condolences and pay tribute to Cece Hodgson-McCauley, who passed away last Sunday at the age of 95.

The Northwest Territories is built on the legacy of those who come before us and paved a way for the next generation, the people who stood tall and were the outspoken voices in the crowds when change was needed most. These people and their legacy are part of what makes the North strong and unique, and Cece Hodgson-McCauley is one of these people.

Born on the shores of Great Bear Lake in 1922, Cece lived her life as a proud Indigenous Northerner. At an early age, Cece attended Sacred Heart Mission School in Fort Providence after the loss of her mother. She always had the best interest of others at heart and was continually encouraging others to stand up for what they believed in and reminding them to always be truthful and do the right thing.

Mr. Speaker, Cece was a pioneer and inspiration for all people, but especially Indigenous women in leadership. She was the first female chief in the NWT and the founding chief of the Inuvik Band. She was also a former president of the Norman Wells Land Corporation. A fierce "Woman Warrior of the Sahtu," Cece worked until the very end writing her outspoken column for News North.

In her column and in life, Cece always spoke her mind and wasn't afraid to be herself. Throughout her life and career, she touched many people and

communities across the North and Canada. She was a supporter, and often a critic, of government and encouraged Northerners to get involved in causes that mattered to them. She is a reminder that sometimes to see change, you need to make your voice heard and showed us this first-hand as a strong voice for the Mackenzie Valley highway. Cece was a leader in all respects. In 2017 she received an Indspire Award for Politics.

Cece recently wrote her final editorial for News North. In it, she acknowledged that she had a wonderful life and felt blessed for her family and the things she was able to do with her time on Earth. We are all grateful to have known Cece and know that even though she may be gone, her memory and impressions she has left on this Territory will forever remain.

Mr. Speaker, the Premier, along with some of his colleagues from this House, are in Norman Wells today to attend Cece's memorial service. On behalf of him and the Government of the Northwest Territories, I would like to pass along our sincere condolences to the family of Cece Hodgson-McCauley. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Our condolences to the family, as well. Ministers' statements. Deputy Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise Members that the Premier and the Minister responsible for the Status of Women will be absent from the House today to attend a funeral in Norman Wells. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Ministers' statements. Item 3, Members' statements. Member for Nahendeh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in May and June of 2017, a series of meetings were held to solidify feedback from age groups in Fort Simpson regarding community wellness. Information was gathered, compiled, and a community wellness plan was completed in July 2017 that addressed some of the concerns of the community Members. They were:

• bullying and cyber bullying;

• not enough activities for youth and families offered;

• unresolved grief and trauma associated with residential schools;

• not enough mental health services and counsellors available in the community, and information about these services were not disseminated effectively; and

• drug and alcohol abuse;

to name a number of them, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, on April 1, 2017, to date, I would like to highlight some of these things that the community has been doing.

• Interagency meetings were reinstated to improve communication between community agencies and service providers between ourselves and the community.

• A 10-day youth-on-the-land camp was held at the Culture Camp from July 31 to August 9, 2017, and another one is planned this year,

• A three-day on-the-land camp. A workshop for adults, Grieving to Self-Healing, was held in July.

• Liidlii Kue in the Village of Fort Simpson hosted the week long regional youth Dene Games in August.

• The Reel Youth anti-bullying and film workshop was undertaken in October. All students from grades 7 through 12 were given the opportunity to participate, and several films were created.

• The Lights On program started in October. Paid supervisors and adult volunteers kept the high school open on Friday and Saturday night from 8:00 to 12:00 midnight for students from grades 7 to 12. Between 25 and 50 youth attended each night.

• An Elders' Appreciation Dinner was held in December where elders were honoured, received gifts, and were served by a group of volunteer high school students.

• LFKN assisted with planning, presentation, and delivering evening programs for the youth mental health conference that was held at the high school February 2018. I will be doing a Member's statement tomorrow on this.

• A group of 10 students and two chaperones travelled to the Wisdom to Action Youth-Led Suicide Prevention Program conference in Vancouver. I will be doing a Member's statement later on this next sitting.

• An elders and youth film making project is beginning in March. Northern studies students will be creating films of their interviews with the community elders.

• LKFN will operate a four-plex unit that will host four people who have been ---

Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thanks, colleagues. As I said, LKFN will be operating a four-plex housing unit that will be housing four people who have been homeless for 180 days in the past year. The program is called Pathways to Housing, and it is a solid beginning to solve our homeless issue. The project will be fully under way by April 1st.

I would like to thank the various departments that help with these projects; Municipal and Community Affairs, Education, Culture and Employment, Health and Social Services, Housing, and Environment and Natural Resources. If I missed any other departments, I thank them for helping this community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have spent a lot of time in the 18th Assembly talking about the importance of a diversified economy. We want to rely less on one big sector, so we are supporting other sectors like tourism, agriculture, and the creative arts. We will continue to nurture and grow these areas so that they become sustainable sources of jobs and wealth.

How do we get there, Mr. Speaker? We need to have more post-secondary choices available here in the North. We also need to make sure that our students who choose to go to school elsewhere are well-equipped to face those challenges. In particular, we need to encourage Indigenous students to pursue post-secondary programs.

A study from the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation finds that there are barriers to post-secondary education for Indigenous students. Those barriers include a lack of financial resources and a lack of academic preparation. Indigenous students feel unwelcome on post-secondary campuses, plus more Indigenous students are already married and raising children, or are single and raising children at the age when they are eligible for post-secondary programs.

Mr. Speaker, the common phrase is that "our young people are our future." If that's true, and we imagine a future full of possibility and growth, we need to remove these barriers to allow our young people to follow their dreams.

Our post-secondary programs that succeed, such as Aurora College and Dechinta Bush University, offer students the chance to achieve the skills needed to build their lives and careers without leaving the North. That is a capacity that we must build and grow, Mr. Speaker, and we can build on it on our terms.

That is also the lesson of the Dechinta Bush University, which takes a unique, northern approach to higher learning. It incorporates the knowledge of Dene elders and knowledge holders. Instead of bringing students inside a classroom, it takes education onto the land. It provides full daycare services focused on Dene language and traditions, so young families don't have to choose between education and the wage economy. Significantly, Dechinta has a dropout rate of zero.

Mr. Speaker, I see unanimous consent to conclude my statement. Thank you.

---Unanimous consent granted.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, colleagues. Mr. Speaker, our students who choose to leave the North to pursue their educational dreams must be well-equipped. Our generous Student Financial Assistance program ensures that financial factors should not be a barrier to their success. Our system must focus on producing students who are well-rounded, confident, and capable as any in the world.

Mr. Speaker, we need to continue to build an education system that reduces barriers to success. Our young people may choose to stay home or to venture beyond our borders. Either way, our system must make sure that they are ready to face those challenges, to build the future that they dream is possible. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Kam Lake.

Merci, Monsieur le President. The Department of Education, Culture and Employment recently released a discussion paper on Governance of Post-Secondary Education in the Northwest Territories, a discussion paper that I've been eagerly awaiting for some time given my commitment to accountable and relevant post-secondary education in the Northwest Territories.

The mandate of our Government states that the GNWT will begin to "expand opportunities for post-secondary education, trades-oriented learning, and northern education institutions." This discussion paper contains some important statements. The discussion paper focuses on the need for quality assurance to ensure that, if students study in the NWT, then their qualifications will stand up anywhere in the world.

What this discussion paper lays out explicitly is that quality assurance is critical to sound fiscal investment in post-secondary education. However, there is currently no quality assurance for Aurora College Programs that are not rented from other jurisdictions. As I understand it, it is the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment who approves these programs.

How is it then fiscally and socially responsible, as suggested by this discussion paper, that Aurora College will not be subject to the rigors of the changes to the Education Act? Further to the discussion paper, Mr. Speaker, how is it that Aurora College, with the vast majority of its programs unaccredited, will remain the only public-funded body that can provide adult-learning in the Northwest Territories?

We need to lead as a jurisdiction to implement evidence-based best practices for all of our financial investments.

Given what little data on success rates and success outcomes are at the college, how can this government continue to support a post-secondary governance position where the future of NWT post-secondary education will be monopolized by a failing arm of Education, Culture and Employment when Indigenous self-governments and student-focused success stories like Dechinta are relegated to private Indigenous institutions that can only be privately funded, with only the possibility of small and uncertain government grants?

The situation of accreditation at the college is even more curious when you consider that a post-secondary institution in the NWT already has a form of quality assurance for its courses without a need for legislative change or a foundational review. That's Dechinta Bush University, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, sound and accountable investment in post-secondary education is the cornerstone of future labour market success. We need to do this now, we need to move on, and we need to make sure we are supporting all of our institutions, not just those that are run by this government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Deh Cho.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. This government's mandate calls for expanded post-secondary education for our students and to act on the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Right in the mandate, it is stated that 83 per cent of our people with post-secondary education have a job.

Despite pressure from standing committees, Regular Members, and the public, we have seen course offerings from Aurora College cut, not expanded, even in areas where future demand will be high.

Neither have we seen expansion of post-secondary opportunities at other institutions. There is still no practical pathway to establish colleges or universities. We are still waiting for this legislation, Mr. Speaker.

Where is the government's vision? There are tremendous opportunities for Indigenous education and research that could benefit our territory for generations.

This summer, for example, students from Dechinta Bush University travelled up to Deh Cho for a semester. Their learning was led by such professors as Sam Gargan, Jim Antione, and Ethel Lamothe, partnered with the Dene Zhati Language program. Students learned Dene place names, family history, and the history of colonization.

Both Dene and non-Indigenous students were immersed in Dene culture and heritage. This is how we build a future, Mr. Speaker. In addition, I am told this program brought more than $600,000 of outside investment to the Deh Cho, Sahtu, and Beaufort Delta regions. This is the knowledge economy in action.

Dechinta has the potential to expand this economy and offer new and exciting opportunities to our students. It is highly regarded, with programs open to all and accredited by three Canadian universities. Half of our population is Indigenous, our traditional knowledge is strong, and we could be leaders in Indigenous education in Canada.

Mr. Speaker, it has taken this government two years to do a discussion paper on the future of post-secondary education, and yet, there is no detail of best practices in Indigenous education, just a mention of private Indigenous institutes. There is no mention of the TRC's calls to action in education.

Indigenous education represents our greatest opportunity, but I am sorry to note that there was a similar lack of vision for other growing post-secondary institutions, including College nordique. I will have questions for the Education Minister. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, about a year ago, the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment announced that the Social Work Program and the Teacher Education Program offered at Aurora College would be phased out. He said that he made the decision on the basis of low graduation rates from both programs. When I questioned him at the time, he was unsure why the rates were so low or what barriers students faced in completing the programs. The lingering question is whether the Minister was willing to invest any effort into improving the programs before axing them.

Mr. Speaker, Aurora College decided to find answers to these questions themselves by launching a review of the Social Work Program under the leadership of the vice president of education and training. The review is to gauge how to improve student retention and success, to document barriers, recommend the best approach to achieve the objectives of the program, and to assess the quality of the program offered. This is the work that should have been done before the Minister made the decision to phase out the program.

Mr. Speaker, the Social Work Program has been around in different forms since 1982, and it has been reviewed and revamped several times, most recently 20 years ago. Students who finish the current program earn a certificate in social work and have the option to continue on to complete a degree.

Mr. Speaker, as of the year 2000, there were over 100 Social Work Diploma graduates in the NWT, so the number today is obviously much greater. Demand for social workers in the NWT is strong. The Department of Education, Culture and Employment estimates the NWT will need an additional 158 social workers between 2015 and 2030. These are good jobs that pay an average of $69,000 a year. These are also jobs that are typically filled by women.

Mr. Speaker, social workers are the primary drivers of community development in the places that they work. They are an indispensable support for community wellness. Having northern social workers driver northern community development is obviously a good idea. Training northern residents to be social workers in the North also makes sense, with a record of success stretching back two decades. The program review under way now will help improve the program, but only if the Minister accepts its recommendations. I will have questions. Mahsi.

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Marci cho, Mr. Speaker. [No English translation provided.]

Mr. Speaker, in recent years, this government has truly begun to prioritize summer students, whether by enhancing our summer student financial assistance or helping them find employment within the graduate internship or summer student employment programs. The success of the GNWT's efforts in this regard is demonstrated by our government consistently winning accolades as one of Canada's Top Employers, specifically as one of Canada's Top Employers for young people in Canada and a Best Diversity Employer.

Mr. Speaker, it is great that our achievements can be recognized, and we should all be proud of that. However, we cannot lose the momentum that we have gained in helping our students. We must continue to work diligently in providing fruitful opportunities for our students because, quite simply, they are our future.

Mr. Speaker, today, I would like to bring forth some new ideas that can help expand opportunities for summer students in the NWT. While I strongly support employing as many students as possible, I believe our government can go beyond only trying to employ students within the GNWT, as there are other ways to widen the job pool for students.

Mr. Speaker, in Alberta, there is a wage subsidy program that provides funding to eligible employees as a way to financially incentivize the hiring of high school and post-secondary students into summer jobs. In essence, the provincial government pays for a part of the student's salary while they work during the summer.

Another idea, Mr. Speaker, is to create a new tax credit that would be conducive for northern employers in helping to offset the costs of hiring summer students. With this idea, businesses would be allowed to claim the cost on their tax returns. Mr. Speaker, our students should have a diverse selection of job opportunities that spans across all economic sectors. I urge our government to consider these investments in the future in order to best serve our future leaders of the territory, our students. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Frame Lake.

Merci, Monsieur le President. The NWT's minimum wage is increasing April 1st from $12.50 to $13.46 per hour. It is good news that more money is going into the pockets of our underemployed workers, but in the end, the minimum wage is a blunt instrument for addressing poverty. We need to stop tinkering and take a more comprehensive approach.

As the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment says, his decision to raise the minimum wage follows recommendations of the Minimum Wage Committee report, which is itself not a very satisfactory or independent process. The committee has two government representatives, one of whom chairs; two employee representatives; two from employers; and one from a social agency. Two other government employees with Finance served as consultants. This is the committee's second report, which is almost verbatim the same as the report produced in 2014.

Both reports presented three options for a minimum wage rate, linking it to the Average Industrial Hourly Wage. This year, the committee recommended three options: no change; or an increase to $13.46 or $14.96 per hour. The report observes raising the minimum wage rate will have "little bearing" on many Northerners living in poverty because fewer than 1,100 of the 21,000 workers in the NWT make less than $15 an hour. The additional fact that the minimum wage isn't even indexed adds to this problem.

The work done on a living wage in Yellowknife highlights the problems with our low minimum wage. Twice now, rigorously researched reports have set a living wage for Yellowknife, according to a nationally recognized calculation of the actual expenses for an extremely basic standard of living. It sets the necessary income for a family of four with a child in school and a child in daycare at almost $9 per hour higher than the minimum wage; and that's Yellowknife, not the much more costly smaller communities.

Recommendations from the living wage report point out that, by readjusting income thresholds for government programs, a lower living wage is possible, if wealth were being progressively redistributed. In the end, a minimum wage is a little more than a statement of political acceptability. If you start with the premise that someone who is working for a minimum wage should be out of poverty, a living wage is what we should be aiming for. I'll have questions for the Minister later today. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

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

Gallery, I would like to turn your attention to visitors in the gallery. We have with us Mr. Sam Gargan, former Speaker, former Member, and also former chief as well, and I'd like to recognize Chief Eddie Sangris, Chief of Detah. Welcome to our Assembly. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Marci cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I, too, would like to recognize Chief Eddie Sangris, Chief of YK Dene First Nations, and also I'd like to recognize Catherine Lafferty, Director of Operations at Dechinta University.

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Nahendeh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to recognize my youngest grandson, Ezra James Whelly, first time in the Legislative Assembly, with his mother Jaqueline Whelly, and her father-in-law, Sean Whelly, who is a Council Member for the Village of Fort Simpson. Welcome to the Legislative Assembly.

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I, too, would like to recognize the representatives from Dechinta, in particular, Catherine Lafferty, who is here as the director of operations. Also Elder Sam Gargan, and I also would like to recognize Chief Eddie Sangris at this time. Welcome to the House. Thank you for being here.

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Deh Cho.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I, too, would like to recognize Chief Eddie Sangris. Also, at the same time, Sam Gargan, a constituent of mine from Fort Providence, and also, I did recognize him as a professor, I recognize him as an elder, of course, a former Speaker from the Assembly, so I'd like to recognize him. And plus, from the Dechinta University, Catherine Lafferty. Marci.

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Inuvik Boot Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to also welcome and recognize Catherine Lafferty, Director of Community Development and Indigenous Education for Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning, as well her little entourage of supporters and people that do the work in the organization. Welcome. Mahsi.

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. If we missed anyone in the gallery, welcome to our Assembly. It's always nice to have an audience as part of our proceedings. Masi. Item 6, acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment about the future of post-secondary in the Northwest Territories. I want to be crystal clear; I appreciate the hard work that happens at Aurora College, and I think if there are any issues that need to be addressed, it needs to be addressed by this government. Aurora college is unique in Canada and perhaps the world in how it is funded, how it is operated, and we see a lot of involvement from this department in the day-to-day operations, program course offerings, all those kinds of things. We need to cut the strings on this, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to ask the Minister if he envisions a future for Aurora College where it will become an independent university or post-secondary institution that is research-driven and has the academic freedom to be accountable to government funding but completely separate from the GNWT? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Currently at this time, no. We do have public funds that fund the Aurora college, and we partner with them to look at their program services that they provide to residents of the Northwest Territories. What I can let the Member know is that we are working currently on an over-arching legislation that will bring other possibilities of post-secondary institutes here to the Northwest Territories as well working with Dechinta Research and Learning Centre, College nordique, that will offer those opportunities. So we are on the right path. Right now, we're going to work with Aurora College. We do fund them through public dollars to do those programs and services for the people of the North, but I think as we move forward, after the foundation review is complete as well the legislation, working on developing that, we'll start to see that this government is moving in that direction. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I'm not advocating that the public funding for the Aurora College be cut; far from it. There are other universities in Canada that receive public funding, but are independent academic institutions. So can the Minister reassure me and others that, for the nearly $30 million we invest in Aurora College's operations, we are delivering the highest-quality programs that can stand up in other jurisdictions, without proper accreditation? Can the Minister confirm that what the students are learning at Aurora College can be used elsewhere in Canada?

Yes, I know one of our best programs that we do have at Aurora College is the Nursing Degree Program, and we're also working on this foundational review that's going to address some of the accreditation quality assurance concerns that Members have brought up on numerous occasions. That foundational review, we should have that to me by the end of this month, and we'll be taking a look at those recommendations that are going to be in that final report moving forward. I hear what the Member is saying, and moving forward, we want to make sure that anyone who takes any programs with any of our post-secondary institutions will be able to have that opportunity to go and practice their career and their training elsewhere throughout Canada.

I heard one program involved. So out of all of the program offerings at Aurora College, can the Minister give me a percentage of how many of those meet accreditation standards outside the Northwest Territories?

I don't have that detail of the percentage of programs that are being currently run throughout any of our three campuses in the Northwest Territories at the moment, but I can look at getting that information for the Member and sharing it with him.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate the Minister's commitment. Mr. Speaker, the other areas that are required for a successful university or post-secondary institution are independence and, of course, an institution driven by research. Aurora College has ARI, the Aurora Research Institute, but what it doesn't have is an independent board. When will the Minister reappoint an independent board so the college can be at arm's length from government and control its own affairs? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As Members of the House know, and I'm sure the public knows, we are currently going through a foundational review. I did mention that that review is going to be given to me by the end of this month, and we will be creating a management response to that review. In that review, governance is a topic of priority to take a look at. So once we get that foundational review, we will develop a management response to some of those recommendations. Should the board be one of the recommendations, we will take a look at it, and once the management response and the review is complete, we will be sharing that with committee members, all Members of the Legislative Assembly, and our stakeholders. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement today, I spoke about some of the things that the community of Fort Simpson has done to address the tragedies that have occurred in the past year. I have some questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services to hopefully clear up some stuff. Can the Minister tell us what the department has been able to do in response to the number of tragedies in the Deh Cho region in 2017? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, our first priority when a tragedy like this happens is to work with the families, to make sure that we have counsellors and other supports meeting with the family to help them address their grief and their loss. That has always the first priority. That is something that we made available in the Deh Cho region.

We also recognize that, given the large number of incidents and crises that were happening in the Deh Cho, there was a significant demand on all the workers in the community and the region who were reaching out to community members and families. We also made counsellors from other communities from across the Northwest Territories available so that they could come in and provide some backfill and some additional supports to the community, given that there were a large number of people who were seeking help and wanted to receive supports during these crises.

We also had individuals from the headquarters come down, as well, and meet with the communities. There was first reach-out to the families. Then there were additional community people, additional supports came in from different communities. Then the departments were able to provide some support in the communities.

We had a number of good conversations with residents in the community about the types of things they need, and we are continuing to work with the community and the region to try to find some additional solutions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the Minister and his department for the work that they were doing. Thanks for that information. As I said in my Member's statement today, there were a lot of departments that have been part of the support network. Can the Minister advise how the department has been working with other departments and organizations to ensure that everybody is aware of each other's services, including the mental health and addiction staff, Child and Family Services staff, Victims Services staff, and Education, Culture and Employment staff?

As a government, this is certainly one area that we can do better in, break down some of our silos and make sure that staff in one department know what is going on in another department. We have been trying to work with our partners to make sure information is shared. We have been able to collaborate on a number of initiatives. We have been able to work with community members in the Deh Cho region. We have participated with them on different events.

For example, on February 7th and 8th, the department staff attended workshops in Fort Simpson that offered mental wellness, suicide prevention, as well as What Will it Take Program and Talk About Mental Illness, which is often referred to as TAMI Program. The speakers travelled with our staff, so we had an opportunity to talk about the types of programs that are available both through Health and Social Services, but also through communities and other agencies. I know that the federal government has supports that they have provided in different situations at different times.

I think we all need to work together to try to get the information that we are all doing. This isn't something that one department, one government can solve. This is something that is going to take everybody working together. We are going to work harder to make sure the information of the programs we are offering is out there. I look forward to working with the Member to help get some of that information out over time.

I appreciate that answer from the Minister. In regard to the plan to support family, staff, and communities who have been impacted by these tragedies, can the Minister advise some of the things the department is able to offer?

First and, I guess, foremost is that we do offer, and we do make our counsellors available to the families who are struggling so that they can continue to work through their grief process and come to terms with the horrible incidents that have occurred. We want to do more than that. We want to support communities, as well.

We strongly encourage residents of communities to attend things like the Mental Health First Aid program as well as the Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training. The more people who can attend these things in the communities, the better. That includes the families, as well. We work with the territorial authority, Health and Social Services Authority, and community leadership to develop a wellness and suicide prevention plan. That work is still under way. We haven't completely reached our resolution on that plan.

The department offers On-The-Land Healing Fund $125,000 a year, which goes to the Dehcho First Nations so that they can facilitate on the land programs that lead towards healing and supporting individuals who are going through crisis.

There is also always the helpline available to residents. Should they need to speak to somebody and speak to somebody now, I would strongly encourage people to use that helpline and engage with the practitioners we have in the community, whether it is community health nurse or a counsellor. In September of next year, the new youth mental health counsellors, we encourage them to reach out and get in touch with the providers that are out there.

Masi. Oral Questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I greatly appreciate the Minister's ability to provide that information here to the House as we can share it with our residents. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister provide a brief summary of some of the things the department has been able to do in regard to the suicide prevention treatment and after-care as part of the mental health and addiction recovery in NWT Strategic Framework 2016-2021? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The framework that the Member is referencing is a foundational document that sets the direction we are going to move forward in a number of different areas. It is going to result in three different action plans. One of the action plans, the Youth Mental Health and Addictions Action Plan, has already been released. The Addictions Recovery Action Plan and the mental health recovery action plan are still in development. They will be developed during the 2018-2019 fiscal year.

Having said that, with respect to the Youth Mental Health and Addictions Action Plan, one of the key items that, I think, residents of the Deh Cho and I think other communities will recognize is the implementation of the youth mental health and addictions counsellors who will be Health and Social Services employees working in the schools, providing supports for our youth.

There is also the Territorial Suicide Prevention and Crisis Response Network, which is something that the Members told us clearly that we needed to put in place to support communities in times of crisis. We are moving forward with that. It was a great recommendation. We have some financial support from the federal government that has allowed us to make this happen. This is about pulling together and developing a culturally-safe, common suicide risk assessment. It is about ensuring there are seamless pathways so that when a community is in crisis, we can get them the support they need, both internally but externally. It is about establishing clear processes to allow these things to happen so that the responses are swift, timely, appropriate, and respectful. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral Questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I said in my Member's statement, there is a review of the social work program under way now at Aurora College. The report is due on April 10th. My question is for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment: why wasn't this review completed prior to making the decision to phase out the social work program? Mahsi.

Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, we made the decision to phase out the social work program based on low enrolment and low graduation rates. It had a history of low rates over the years. The Aurora College decided to an independent, internal review on its own. I do understand that review is going to be completed in April 2018. We will see where that review and what recommendations that review has in terms of moving forward with the long-term strategic plan for the Aurora College. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

When the Minister gets the report, can the Minister request the report? What does he plan to do with it?

We can possibly review that report. Because it is an internal document and an internal review that the Aurora College has taken on, my understanding is that because it is an internal document, that is not planned for release to the public. I can follow up with the Aurora College on that, though. Because it is their own internal review, it is something that will not be released to the public. As I mentioned earlier, that can help position what that program is in terms of looking at a long-term strategic plan for Aurora College, after all of our other work around the foundational review is completed as well.

What I am asking the Minister is: this college is under administration, so he has a direct role in its governance. When he asks for this report and receives it, what is he going to do with the results? I am not asking him to make it public. He has a terrible record of making things public. I am asking what he is going to do with the report.

We are excited to see what this internal review is going to recommend at the end. As I mentioned, we do have a diploma program with the social work students that are coming out of the program, and we continue to support them to go and get their degree, whether it is in a southern institution or going over to Yukon College.

What comes out of that review, we are not too sure what it is going to look like, but we will take it into consideration. When the foundational review is complete and we have that managerial response complete as well, it will help us set a stage for the long-term strategic plan at Aurora College. We will see what recommendations come out of this internal review and how that will impact it as well.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if the foundational review and/or the review of the Social Work Program recommends that the program be continued or expanded into a degree program, is the Minister willing to reverse his decision to phase the program out? Thank you.

We have a lot of things that we are doing right now in post-secondary initiatives. It is a very ambitious agenda. We have the foundational review that is going to help us decide the direction of how Aurora College will be providing its programs and services, but we also have this overarching legislation that is going to help other post-secondary institutions come up, do research, and also possibly look at providing degree-granting programs. We have Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning and College Nordique that will soon be involved in that.

If it looks like we can look at providing a degree-granting program, we will definitely look hard at that, because we want to make sure that we do meet the needs of the labour market here in the Northwest Territories, as well as in all three northern territories and, if possible, other jurisdictions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Earlier, I spoke about the link between post-secondary education and people's ability to get good jobs. We are all aware of the earning disparity between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in the Northwest Territories, yet this government is cutting Aurora College programs and failing to expand support for other growing institutions, such as Dechinta Bush University. Why has the government taken this course? Mahsi.

Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we want to ensure that any programs that we provide to residents of the Northwest Territories have the supports and that they have the skills necessary to be into the labour market within the Northwest Territories. We also want to make sure that, when we are investing dollars into our programs, we are getting a good output of skilled, trained workers to meet the labour market demands.

We also support a lot of our other programs. We support College nordique. We signed a multi-year agreement with Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning, and we also increased funding with Dechinta over the past couple of years.

We are continuing to support our post-secondary institutions, whether it is Aurora College, College nordique, Dechinta, and we are also looking at ways that we can invite and bring other post-secondary institutions up to do research and provide other services to our residents. We are continuing to work on our agenda for post-secondary education, and I think we are doing a great job on that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I clearly understand the Minister supports all of the initiatives that he has outlined. Yet, Mr. Speaker, Ontario has nine Indigenous governed and operated post-secondary institutions. New legislation provides a pathway for them to offer post-secondary degrees, certificates, and diplomas. The province will spend $56 million over the next three years to expand the capacity of Indigenous institutes. Will the Minister look at this model and revise his discussion paper to reflect best practices?

We see the important work that Dechinta is doing, as well as other organizations here in the Northwest Territories that promote culture and language, and we work with those organizations to continue to support it.

Although there is none such as the Member has mentioned here in the Northwest Territories, it is unique, and it is something that we do need to look at it, because we are already doing it in our JK-to-12 system, and that is something we can look at moving forward as we embark on our post-secondary agenda, looking at improving some of the work in that area that the Member has specifically identified.

It may not be possible for institutions like Dechinta and College nordique to grow and prosper without more public funding than they get now. This funding could open the door to much more investment beyond our territory. For example, this summer, Dechinta went on the river. What is the Minister going to do about this and live up to the mandate commitment to expand post-secondary students for our students?

I do know that College nordique as well as Dechinta are looking to expand their roles. I think that was a great program that they did this summer, travelling up and down the Mackenzie River. We continue to support these post-secondary institutions, as well as looking at ways we can help sustain the work that they do. That is one of the reasons that we did enter into that multi-year agreement with Dechinta and increased their funding.

As I have mentioned in this House, over a period of time we are creating this overarching legislation that is going to look at accreditation, quality assurance, and also look at opportunities that will give Dechinta and College nordique more opportunities to expand and have accredited courses.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this time of the year, there might be students out there listening to this debate and discussion, and more than likely, those students are looking for ideas and assurances that when they enter, perhaps, Aurora College for programs this fall, that there will be programs; there will be a classroom; they will have a desk; they will have resources; they will have professors. My question to the Minister is: what kind of hope can he give to students that potentially may enter, say, Aurora College for the Social Work Program this fall? Mahsi.

As we mentioned, we are going through the business planning process, and I did say in this House that this fall we won't be taking any more intakes into the Social Work Program. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement, I talked about the upcoming summer student program. I have questions for the Minister of Finance. I would like to ask the Minister of Finance a question on what happened last year. Last year, the Government of the Northwest Territories set a record for probably the most summer students ever hired in the GNWT. I would like to ask the Minister if he plans to exceed that number this year. Thank you.

Masi. Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member is correct. Last year, we had 349 summer students. We were quite pleased with that number. They were spread across the departments and across the government. I am just going to read off the top three departments, just to let them out there know who would be hiring all the summer students.

Number one was the Department of Infrastructure, but that included Public Works and Transportation, so we are not sure if that really counts. Number two was NWT Health and Social Services authorities. They had 62 summer students last year. Number three was ENR at 51.

We have encouraged our departments to try to bring on more summer students. We would like to see that number increase and we will work very hard to see that number increase. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to thank the Minister for that response. I would like to ask the Minister if the Minister would look at other subsidies. I know that we get around 600 applications for summer students. Hiring 350 is good and 400 is better, but there are other incentives around what I talked about; wage subsidies, what the Government of Alberta is doing. Would the Minister consider looking at something like wage subsidies for employers other than the GNWT who hire summer students?

When I quoted the numbers before, the 349, I have asked a couple times now, and I will follow up on it today on the number of summer students that agencies that we fund also hire. We have 23, I think, local housing authorities, maybe 24 now. I am sure they bring on summer students, as well. If you average out two or three per LHO, that would increase the number.

We have the community governments whom we fund that bring on summer students. They are not included in the 349. I would think that number would be a lot higher. I have been trying to gather that information for a while now. Once I do, I will share that with the Member because I think that will be more of a good news story. As far as the Member's question is concerned, I mean, I am willing to look at any other options we have out there if that means increasing the number of summer students that we hire. We are always willing to look at a number of different options. We will do that.

I have talked to some small business owners here in the city mostly. I don't have a lot of small business owners in my riding. I talked to some of the people here where the majority of the summer students get employment. One of the things I mentioned in my Member's statement was tax credits. I was wondering if the Minister of Finance would look at some sort of tax credit for industry or other small business for hiring of summer students?

As I said in my previous comment, that is another option. It is a very interesting concept. These are options that are worth exploring. I will commit to the Member that we will do that. I mean, there is probably a lot to it. We will see how burdensome it is administratively. I am sure there are ways we can overcome that. To answer the Member's question, we will look at that. We will explore that.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have about a month and a half before the students start arriving from wherever they are going to school, coming back, looking for work. I would like to ask the Minister if he agrees to have his staff, human resources division, work with the other departments as soon as possible to start planning for the hiring of summer students. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Absolutely. On the Department of Finance human resources website, we have a portal there for summer students to put in applications. I am not sure what the status of the number of applications is right now. I will gather that information and I will flip it to the Member. We are always looking. Summer students who are coming back from school know that there are opportunities. They know where they need to apply. Again, I will check on the status of the number of applications we may have received and share the information with the Member. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have questions for the Minister of Infrastructure. This is something I have brought up multiple times. It is something that gets brought up to me a lot. It is dredging in the port of Hay River. This is more important than ever, that government has committed to invest millions of dollars in a new fish plant to revitalize the fishery. It now owns Marine Transportation Services, which requires use of those waterways. We are looking to encourage tourism, so we need a safe harbour. The Minister has stated many times that safety is his number one priority. I would like an update: what progress has been made getting the port of Hay River dredged? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Infrastructure.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are pursuing federal funding through the Ocean Protection Plan. For Members of this House, that is a different pot of money from the bilaterals that we have signed. The federal government has set aside $1.5 billion for the nation for five years moving forward from 2017-2018 on this. Our Department of Infrastructure has been in conversations with different federal agencies because this pot of money has more than one federal minister in charge of it. It has Transport Canada. It has Canadian Coast Guard. I believe the Minister of Environment is also involved in that.

It is funny that the Member asks me this question today, because our staff is actually down in Ottawa today meeting with Canadian Coast Guard and pursuing what kind of opportunities we have through this funding arrangement that is coming forward with the federal government on this project. When I get more information on the exact funding advancements that are possible through this program, I will update the House on that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

That is great information. I realize it is early days for the Minister. Does he have a schedule as to when we might know about the amount of funding and when this work might actually begin?

As I have said, we are in discussions. I believe that the federal government wants to sign off on some of this money moving forward. They have five different programs, I believe, under this with 57 different initiatives for all of Canada.

For the one that they announced in last August for the Northern three territories, I guess that would be us, Nunavut, Nunavik, is the Safety Equipment and Basic Marine Infrastructure program. That is the one we are in discussions with the federal government on this right now. Under this initiative, they want to look at doing something with 30 Northern communities, including all three territories. That is what we are negotiating with them and having discussions on how this is going to move forward.

Once we get something signed up, I will have a better idea of a schedule and the funding opportunities and what that is going to go towards. We have a significant ask around a number of things. The dredging of the port of Hay River is a priority, but it is only one of the things on the list.

Does the Minister have any information about the costs of dredging the port? I know when you are asking for money, you usually have to ask for a specific amount of money. Does the Minister have that information for us?

I don't have that level of detail in front of me. I know that the stuff that we identified under marine priorities comes to about $55 million for our ask. When I said that this pot of money that they are talking about right now for $94 million, I don't know what we are going to get funded. I can get the breakout, what it would be looking to restore the harbour in Hay River for the Member.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I mentioned fishing, marine transportation, tourism. There is also talk of GNWT taking more responsibility from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. We have the new marine training facility, which is a federal facility. There is a lot going on in regards to the port of Hay River. Is the Minister confident that, before the end of this term, given the fact that the feds are more invested now than ever, we will have that port dredged or at least work begun? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

My hope is to have the port of Hay River at least started on the dredging. We have to secure funding. We will have to see what the appetite of the federal government is to help partner with us to do this. We know it is a priority for us now that we own MTS. Federal dollars are invested in some of the marine stuff in Hay River; the Canadian Coast Guard also has an investment in it. We are pursuing these dollars as best we can. Yes, I certainly hope we can be able to say we are going to at least start looking after the restoration of the harbour in Hay River. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Earlier today I spoke a little bit about the barriers and some of the challenges that, in particular, Indigenous people have in accessing post-secondary education. Sometimes I think we need to look at what some of the gaps are between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, and I would just like to start, maybe, by asking the Minister if the department has done any work with regard to identifying those gaps that we have here in the North between Indigenous and non-Indigenous children or students. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think we can start off in terms of how we support our post-secondary students, Indigenous or non, with our Student Financial Assistance program. We have made some improvements and enhancements to those over the years, but really, what it comes down to is starting very young, and we have made some very big investments in early childhood.

We are looking at our educational renewal initiatives from the JK-to-12 system. We are looking at creating new pathways to graduation in the high school system. It takes a combination of all of those investments that will see more success in our Indigenous students and families, right from JK up to grade 12. Then, hopefully, they do graduate, and we can get them into a path that they choose to do, whether it's post-secondary education or getting right into the career workforce.

We want to support our students to succeed right across the Northwest Territories. It is a combination of a lot of investments, Mr. Speaker, and our productive choices with people who are on income assistance as well, but it takes a lot of factors into consideration to ensure that all of our students succeed in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes, I appreciate the Minister's comments, and we are certainly grateful for a lot of the good work that the department does. Student Financial Assistance is something that is in many ways unique to the North, and we benefit greatly as a society for it.

I just want to go back to the gaps again. One thing that we have to identify is that, clearly, we have statistical information that indicates that Indigenous students are behind as it relates to graduation rates, et cetera, moving forward. I just want to, again, ask the Minister: what kind of work have they done to identify those gaps? What kind of measures or statistics are they keeping so that they can be aware of what work still lies ahead to lessen those gaps?

I think a focus for any jurisdiction is how do we identify gaps and challenges and how do we mitigate them so that we have our students succeeding to completion of either their programs or getting the degrees that they need so that they can be part of the working society. Ways that we do that are through counselling; we are also looking at creating better supports within the post-secondary systems, within Aurora College or within our other post-secondary partners that we work with.

It is always a challenge, and we have got to find unique ways to identify those challenges. I know that the Member for Deh Cho had mentioned some around promoting culture and traditions to help succeeding in those areas. We have got to find a way to make sure that we address those barriers so that our students get to succeed in life, really, and like I said, it is a combination of all of the work that we are doing right now, and it starts with early childhood and the work that we are doing around education renewal to set them up for post-secondary.

I also talked about some of the challenges of parents, and sometimes single parents, who are trying to make their way in post-secondary education. Children are obviously the greatest gift that we have, but, of course, they are an expense. Student Financial Assistance is doing good things to help us afford to go to post-secondary education, but can the Minister let us know: are there any additional resources or financial supports that a single parent or parents could apply for to help with childcare while they are working towards getting a post-secondary diploma or degree?

As Members know, we did make some changes when the Canada Child Benefit came into place, as well as changes to our own legislation for the NWT Child Benefit, to help more low-to-moderate-income families on that area. We have been working with the campuses in Fort Smith, Inuvik, and Yellowknife to address those, and we have heard that as a concern that childcare is important for students who are going to school. We are also working on how to create affordable and accessible childcare in the 11 communities that don't have childcare currently. That poses a barrier in itself, and we have to find ways to address those so that single parents or even families have that opportunity to a healthy education.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Minister for identifying what it is that we are trying to accomplish with regard to helping out with childcare here in the North, but can the Minister describe any resources or supports that a young individual who is taking post-secondary in the South might have access to or additional supports that our government might be able to provide to help them with childcare while going to school in the South? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I encourage any of the students who experience any kind of concerns or issues going down to post-secondary education in the South for the first time to possibly call their client service officer at the Student Financial Assistance office. We also have supports through our Indigenous governments and our partnerships, and we work with them on how to identify some of those barriers and challenges.

I also know that a lot of our Indigenous governments take students who are about to graduate on tours of post-secondary institutions down in the South to give them an idea of how it is going to be when they get down there, but anyone who is having trouble, I encourage them to call their client service officers here at the office and get some assistance. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.

Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, who is responsible for the minimum wage. As I pointed out earlier today, the latest report on minimum wage is a rehash of the 2014 report that was produced by a committee that is not at arm's length from government, and it contained no preferred recommendation. Is the Minister willing to revise the terms of reference for the Minimum Wage Committee to make it more independent of government and give direction that a preferred recommendation needs to be put forward? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just a little information for Members and the public: the Minimum Wage Committee was made in 2013, and its sole purpose was to meet and review relevant information, research, and data to determine suitable options for a change to the minimum wage.

Every two years, they review this area of the minimum wage. They bring options to myself, and we make the decisions on what meets the needs of not only the employees, but also the employers. We have to make sure that there is a fine balance and that we don't put extra hardships on our employers when we do look at increases to the minimum wage. The committee is made up of business individuals as well as non-government organizations, and I think it brings a very good, balanced perspective, and at this time, I do not see a need for change in that area. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.