I thank the Minister for that answer. It is a concern, though, with some. I have seen and heard of patients that have been let go and then we have had to bring them back in. It's no fault of the department and that. It's just the process, but it is a concern, so I hope the department will come up with some mandatory time, at least. Mr. Speaker, when releasing a stroke patient, do they need to have a family member or somebody with them to ensure that they are looked after properly after they have been released?

Going back to the previous question, I really cannot say that we will have a set mandatory time before an individual can be released. Like I said before, it really depends on the nature of the condition of the person presenting with. Everyone is different. If we were to set a mandatory time, we might end up keeping people there well beyond when they should. I think what is important is that we have some clinical standards in place that talk about what certain criteria an individual must reach before they can be released as opposed to setting a time. I think that gives us the same result but through a different mechanism. Those are what the clinical standards we are working on will help us determine, is when somebody is suitable for release, recognizing patients can leave if they want to. The physicians, doctors, and nurses will often encourage them not to if it's not appropriate, but, ultimately, as residents, as people, we do have the freedom of choice.

With respect to the last question and whether or not family must be there or should be there, a similar response, Mr. Speaker. It is really dependent on the individual patient and their capacity after their stroke and where they are as far as being stabilized in what they are presenting with and whether or not they are experiencing some level of disability or loss of neurological function that may impair their decisions and their mobility. So it really once again depends on their capacity at the time of release. If the person is still experiencing some mobility, they would be encouraged to have some family support there with them, but we do not require it in all cases because they may be fine to leave without it. Other cases, we would strongly encourage it. It really depends on the situation and the individual.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the answer from the Minister and that clarification. As long as we are doing something to make sure that our patients are looked after properly, whether it is time or whatever process the department has come up with, I think it's great to hear. I am looking forward to sharing this information with the residents in my riding. My final question: does the department have a protocol for aftercare, especially for out-of-town patients? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I know that I sound awfully repetitive here, but it is really dependent on the condition of the patient upon release and whether or not they require more rehabilitation before they return to their communities. In some case, absolutely. A patient may require a longer period of rehabilitation in the hospital as opposed to being discharged for rehabilitation in their community, depending on the nature of the mobility or other neurological function challenges that an individual has.

Rehabilitation services at Stanton Territorial Hospital are involved in working with communities and what is available in the communities. When an individual goes back to their community, it is part of their discharge planning. It really depends on what is available in the community as far as supports, things like homecare or other supports. We work with the patient. We try to determine whether or not they can be released. Do they have the ability to be released? Are they physically mobile, or do they have challenges? Going back to the community, we want to work on a discharge plan that takes into consideration what resources are available in communities, what resources may not be available in communities to help in the discharge planning so that they can be released appropriately. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation. My statement outlined the recommendations of the Privacy Commissioner in the matter of the privacy of income information complaint on behalf of public housing tenants. The ruling called on the Housing Corporation and its LHOs to amend its practices to provide for an alternative to giving the information directly to the CRA. First of all, can the Minister tell us whether she has accepted the findings of the Information and Privacy Commissioner? Mahsi.

Masi. Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, we have implemented the recommendations of the Privacy Commissioner. The recommendation to look at CRA assessments was actually based on good intent, as the Member has stated. I think it is actually a good practice. It took me a little while to get my head around it, as well, when I first took over the position.

Previous to that, people were presenting their incomes to the local housing organizations. That leads to more chances of private information on income actually getting leaked into the public, with staff turnover, et cetera. The Privacy Commissioner found that it was actually better for ensuring that people's private information was less accessible, but she did have a recommendation that people be provided alternatives to providing that information. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I appreciate the Minister's answer. Can the Minister tell us what those alternatives look like? What kinds of things are accepted as an alternative to the linkage to the CRA?

I want to step back for a minute and talk about the process for accessing the information from the Canada Revenue Agency. It is really important to note that this is actually the most private way that people can share their income information. It is important to get income information, as these are tenants who are usually in public housing.

Only 10 people within the corporation have access to this information, including myself. I don't even have access as the Minister. It is really confidential. Although, some people, like I say, weren't comfortable with us doing that, so we provide the alternative that people can bring in their tax assessments on an annual basis. That tax assessment, which does provide their information, will also be utilized for the annual assessing of people's information. Some people, again, are not comfortable with it, only a handful. Not very many have complained about it. In those extreme cases, we are allowing them to still bring in their monthly paperwork to the local housing organization. Again, that has more risk of people's private information being leaked.

What I understand is the alternative to the electronic access to the CRA is to present the paper copy of the tax filing to the local housing authority and they will calculate the rent on that basis. That is my understanding. If the Minister could confirm that and also say that this is an option that could be followed at any LHO in the NWT?

Absolutely. The Member is correct. People can bring their paper copy of their tax assessment into any local housing organization within the Northwest Territories. That will be used to verify their annual income.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, finally, I know that there is a very high rate of tax filing in the NWT, yet not everybody files a tax return. In the case where a tenant hasn't filed a tax return or needs help filing a tax return, how can the LHO respond to them? Thank you.

Again, it is really important that we verify annual income to confirm that people are paying appropriate rent. It is not fair if somebody is not filing their taxes and paying a minimum charge and the neighbour who is paying their taxes is actually paying more. We need to verify that. These are usually public housing units. Market rent, of course, is different. They are paying the market rent.

Within the public housing, we do ask them to file their taxes. There are a number of supports within communities that will help them with that. We stress to them that it is important. A last resort would be to bring in, again, their monthly income. Again, that has to be verified, and it is the most insecure way of providing their income. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.

Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in support of the Government of the Northwest Territories' mandate, the department and Aurora College are embarking on an ambitious path to change that will lead to expanded opportunities right across the Northwest Territories for residents. They gave an update earlier this session on those. I am expecting this foundational review, the final report to be delivered to myself by March 31st.

Further to that, Mr. Speaker, once we do get the final report, we are going to develop a management response that will be prepared to support the implementations or the recommendations. Providing a management response just for all Members and residents to a report of this nature is a standard practice right across Canada. The management response is the government's opportunity to consider the feasibility of each of the recommendations and also compliments the report by making clear and transparent what will be implemented.

This analysis, Mr. Speaker, will take about several weeks to be completed. It will be made public, both the report and the management response once they have been completed, including time for input also from standing committee. We are looking at a time of the 2018-2019 academic year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I'd like to thank the Minister for that. Hopefully the report will come out earlier in the 2018-2019 academic year. I'll look forward to seeing that. The Minister has been on record as saying that the future of the social work and Teacher Education Program is tied to the Aurora College foundational review. There's actually money in the 2018-2019 budget for these programs. Can the Minister tell us whether this is still the case about the programs' future being determined by the foundational review and whether either of these programs will be offered again at Aurora College in the fall of this year?

As Members know, there are no enrolments into both the social work diploma program as well as the Bachelor of Education program. As we're going through this foundational review, we're going to be looking at things such as governance, operations, academic program process, accountability, student recruitment retention. This is not a program review itself, but the recommendations are expected to help guide us for the future of how the college is going to be conducting its business. Following this foundational review itself, Mr. Speaker, and drawing on other supporting documents such as the Skills4Success, the labour market development, the labour market forecast, and needs assessment, we will start working on the strategic plan. It's during that strategic plan that we will determine the future of the program of the Aurora College.

I'd like to thank the Minister for his response. The Minister has been promising a legislative framework for post-secondary education in the Northwest Territories almost since the beginning of our term. I'd like to know what's happening. Can the Minister tell us where the post-secondary legislation is and when we can expect the introduction of a bill?

I just want to update the Member. Once again, I did make a statement on this earlier in the session, but we are looking at possibly getting a draft bill in late 2018 or possibly early 2019. As the Members know, there is a discussion paper and an executive summary on our website currently. Once that bill is drafted and we get input and feedback on the discussion paper, we're going to see other institutions outside Aurora College, such as the Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning and College nordique francophone, are all going to benefit from such a legislation. Those are the timelines. I'm looking forward to getting feedback from residents, organizations, partners, and stakeholders across the Northwest Territories that have an invested interest in our post-secondary future here in the Northwest Territories.