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.

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.