Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the Aurora College foundational review paper, Breynat Hall is described as an outdated student residence which does not conform to generally accepted student housing standards. The paper also mentions the fact that Breynat Hall is a former residential school which has a discouraging effect on students attending Aurora College Thebacha Campus. Can the Minister tell us if he considers this point to be problematic? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes.

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell us if the fact that Breynat Hall, as a former residential school, is considered in its future planning use for polytechnic university and the Department of Education. If so, how does the department contend with that fact? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As was identified in that foundational review, it is problematic, and the future plan is to hopefully build a new residence. Officials have raised this issue with the Government of Canada, I raised this issue with Minister Vandal directly. As part of the transformation of Aurora College, we need a suitable residence and that's not a suitable residence for the world-class institution that we are creating. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, would the legacy of the Breynat Hall, being a former residential school, would the Minister consider building a new single student residence for the future polytechnic university? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So as part of the work to transform Aurora College into a polytechnic university, we are undertaking a facilities plan which is going to look at the existing facilities across the territory of the college as well as the needs for the three campuses as well as each community four community learning centres. That work will begin shortly. The final product will be a short meeting and long-term plan for the infrastructure and that residence has clearly been identified as one we need a new one of. You know, and I'm not breaking any news here. I've stated this before that there are a few infrastructure requirements for the new polytechnic and a new residence in Fort Smith would be one of those. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Final supplementary. Member for Thebacha.

Mr. Speaker, I don't know if I should ask the next question but I'll do it anyways. Mr. Speaker, considering that Breynat Hall is one of the few residential school buildings still standing in Canada, would the Minister seriously consider replacement of this infrastructure as a priority for technical assessment and evaluation with 100 percent federal funding? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We'd love 100 percent federal funding. We do have to pay for this somehow. You know, that's the big question obviously. We want a new residence. We understand that it's not suitable for what we want to do with the polytechnic. And so how we're going to pay for it is the question yet to be determined. So I can stand here and I can say we need a new one. I can't say that I have it in the budget yet, but we have already begun approaching the federal government and we will continue to do so aggressively until we get something on the ground. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I was hoping to go after my colleague so I could capitalize on the Minister saying yes to everything. So my question is for the Minister of Housing. Will the Minister commit to working with private landlords, such as Northview, to provide 24-hour security in buildings where there are chronic issues with client damage and nuisance; in particular, at Norseman Manor and Simpson House? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Great Slave. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The buildings that the Member is questioning are leased buildings in Yellowknife. We don't own them. They aren't Housing Corporation assets. But it doesn't stop us from having that conversation with the landlords as well in regards to providing security or how are we going to work with the clientele in those buildings and also the tenant damage that the Member had also spoken about in her statement. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm glad to hear the Minister acknowledge that while they're not the owners, there is a responsibility of the Housing Corp. These are our clients that are being put into these buildings that are creating a lot of this damage. It's not fair to expect that Northview and other landlords will pay for it always. Will the Minister commit to facilitating monthly meetings between the Housing Corporation, the local housing authorities, and private landlords in order to work together to address the problems as they arise before they become chronic? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is an encouragement I have throughout the Northwest Territories of the LHOs working with the Housing Corporation as well to try to alleviate the situations that we currently experience. I just also wanted to highlight as well that annually the Housing Corporation does receive $400,000 annually in tenant damage, so this is a way that we can work with the local housing authorities to come up with solutions and working more effectively with our tenants and clients as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm going to mix it up on the Minister a bit and move to my last question so I hope she's listening, because it relies to her response there. I'm glad to hear the Minister say that. Will the Minister commit to the creation of a maintenance or repair unit to help support private landlords in the upkeep, repairs, and damage that's caused by the housing clients in the buildings. Often this service is contracted out by the private landlords and it's costing them a lot of money plus there's often time delays. I'm wondering if perhaps rather than us being charged by the landlords for the damage our tenants do, that perhaps we could actually be proactive and create a unit that gives employment. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Tenant damage is something the Housing Corporation has worked with the tenants as well where we're charging back the damages that were occurred -- that did happen by the client and looking at those recoveries. But this is a time to do things differently. We do have a lease -- an agreement between ourselves and the landlords here in Yellowknife, and I'm opening -- I'm open to having those conversations and to look at how we could further more work with our agreements in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm really glad to hear that. It's my understanding that maintenance units within the private landlords have been cut a lot recently so if there is some way to think outside the box where we can both take on some of that responsibility and work together, that would be great. My last question is will the Minister commit to providing special needs housing clients with suitable accommodations? I have had constituents who cannot walk properly who are in buildings with stairs and no ramps. So I'm asking for the Minister to commit that she start to look at the types of accommodations for our disabled clients and helping them to be in suitable units. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is -- I would like to explore this idea as well to see how many special needs units we may need with tenants that do have limited mobility. I will have the conversation with my department, and I will get back to the Member on the numbers that we may require throughout the territory. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment.