I thank the Premier for that response. It's a surprise to me, given his qualifications as the Premier enunciated them, that he wasn't appointed in the first place. Can the Premier tell us whether this appointment is temporary while a more thorough search takes place for somebody with direct post-secondary leadership qualifications?

I don't know, actually, why he never applied. I do know that, when Dr. Weegar was hired, we did go out and -- the terminology is called "head hunter"; I'm not sure what the proper terminology is. So we sought someone from outside. I don't know if Mr. Bevan actually applied in that process. This is the first I knew about it.

This position is going to be staying. We have made a commitment that, within the next six years, the Aurora College, the polytechnic university, will be independent. At that point, we will be putting it out to competition for a president. Over this next year, though, we are trying to ascertain if this position actually needs to be one position or two positions. At this point, it's the start of a new government. We are looking at that. We are deciding if this is actually the best strategy that we're using going forward, and within the next six months to a year we will have made a decision on whether we'll be splitting those positions or remaining as one.

Thank you, Honourable Premier. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the response from the Premier. It anticipates my next question. There have been reports that have documented the issues of ECE's interference with the college, and I wonder, now that there is a former ADM of ECE as president, how those two functions are going to be kept separate. Thank you.

There is a clear separation. As the associate deputy minister for post-secondary education, he reports to the Minister of Education directly. I am in charge of his performance, of course; and, as the president, he actually reports to the board of governors. There is also an administrator there and, of course, we have vice-presidents there to assist him within that position.

The other thing I should point out, and that was just spoken in the last sitting, is that the current Minister of Education has just appointed his Academic Advisory Council, which is advisory people from across the nation who specialize in polytechnic university. So his position will be over-supported within that framework that we have going. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Honourable Premier. Oral questions. Member for Thebacha.

Question 2-19(2):
Appointments to Northwest Territories Power Corporation Board

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for Minister Thompson, who is responsible for the NWT Power Corporation. On February 4, 2020, notice was given to all Members of the Legislative Assembly regarding recently reappointed members of the NWT Power Corporation Board. Mr. Speaker, why are we still reappointing deputy ministers to run a Crown corporation, rather than appointing members from the private sector or appointing members to the board who are from different regions from across the NWT?

Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. During the last government, the Cabinet made a decision, to save money, that we reduce the board and use our deputy ministers, but they're not deputy ministers on this board. However, when I became Minister, the first thing I talked to the president and the chairperson about was to tell us how this cost-saving matter was brought forward and can we do a governance review, because we need to look at this. It's important to have people from the Northwest Territories, so we're looking at various options right now as we move forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The decision to go with the status quo from the 18^th Assembly is unacceptable, considering the importance of public input on behalf of the Members of this 19^th Assembly. My question is: are the deputy ministers once again going to be dictating the direction of this Crown corporation? When will an arm's length, neutral approach to a Crown corporation take place?

What happened was we had a board, we needed to appoint a number of people so the board could continue, so we did that. In the meantime, deputy ministers, we're using their skill set to run it. They are actually not deputy ministers sitting on the board. They are actually regular people in there working together with the government, with the Power Corporation. The biggest challenge is that we need to look at making a right decision and how we can improve it. Right now, we have to get the board up and running, so we appointed deputy ministers in that role.

As elected officials of this Assembly, we all came here to represent the interests of the people of the NWT, but are we really doing so if we continue to appoint deputy ministers to all of our boards again, as opposed to members of the general public representing all regions of the NWT?

I can't talk about other boards, and that. I can only talk about the NWT Power Corporation. I do not necessarily agree that having dedicated, knowledgeable public servants sitting on the board is the right way. I agree that it's not the best solution right now. However, we need to make sure we look at it and see how we can do the governance, develop the model, so we can improve the system. We're utilizing those six people to be the board right now.

Thank you, Minister. Member for Thebacha.

Mr. Speaker, it is extremely crucial that all boards, including the NWT Power Corporation, are reflective of the interests of the people of the Northwest Territories. Therefore, when will the NWT Power Corporation board be reinstated with members at large, and not just filled by deputy ministers?

This is exactly some of the things we're looking at. We are willing to work with committee. We're trying to understand how we can best serve the people of the Northwest Territories. Right now, I've asked the chair and the board to come up with a governance model to give us some options, and we're willing to work with committee on this as we move forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.

Question 3-19(2):
Legal Aid Services

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Justice. We are going back to my Member's statement. Can the Minister tell me: have the two vacancies at the Legal Aid Commission been filled, and, if not, where is the department currently in filling these positions? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Minister of Justice.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are currently still two open positions in the family law side of Legal Aid. They are not actively filled at the moment, but recruitment at the Legal Aid clinic is essentially a near-constant process, and I will certainly let the Member know as soon as the positions are filled. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Can the Minister tell me: how will the department ensure that the region's needs are met now that these services have been centralized back to Yellowknife and we have vacancies?

When the Legal Aid clinic and the resident lawyer from Inuvik was moved to Yellowknife, that was in part a reflection of overall budget cuts at the time and a recognition that the Legal Aid clinic there was actually being underutilized in comparison to the staff lawyers that were positioned in Yellowknife. In moving that position, it actually increased access to family law services for the residents of the Northwest Territories.

That said, Inuvik does have a court registry, it does have a court worker, and there are ways to improve access to justice using those other services.

Can the Department of Justice let me know how they categorize urgent and non-urgent cases when assigning Legal Aid?

I hesitate to use the word "urgent." I heard the Member's statement earlier that, when someone is undergoing a situation that requires legal support or legal assistance, it will inevitably feel urgent to that individual, no matter how a government might choose to prioritize it. I want to be sensitive. I recognize what the Member is saying.

Legal Aid does prioritize child protection matters, so if there is an apprehension, for example; matters where there is domestic violence, situations where an individual needs to leave the relationship urgently; and also matters where matters are already in court. If one party has filed the matters and brought it to court, then the responding party, if they require legal services through Legal Aid, will be prioritized.

Other matters that are categorized as not being, therefore, within those realms do end up on the wait list for family law matters. That said, as I mentioned in my last response, there are other ways, at times, to access some supports through the outreach clinic, through court workers, and by filing one's papers at the court registry.

Perhaps it is an opportunity to look at whether or not some of those services can be provided to the Members, and that might help improve access to justice in their region.