Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to start off by acknowledging that health and social services has a very full legislative, regulatory, and policy creation slate. But I'm wondering if the Minister can provide an update to this House as to what timeline the department is working toward to complete the midwifery regulations? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, work has started on creating midwifery regulations under the Health and social services Professions Act. And that work will produce a modernized framework, including looking at the scope of practice, which I know the Member spoke about in her statement, to align with the scope of practice in other Canadian jurisdictions.

There is now an advisory committee with representatives from the Midwives Association of the Northwest Territories who are meeting with the department to do this work. So drafting instructions are being developed now, and it's anticipated that the regulations will come into force in 2025. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Given that the funding is still required to come from Canada to complete the new North Slave Campus, has the department given any thought to re-engaging with the public on the proposed location of the polytechnic university? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There will be engagement if it's shown that the Tin Can Hill site is viable as an option for the new campus. Right now, they are undertaking a phase 2 environmental assessment. The phase 1 assessment showed there is moderate potential for contaminated soil or groundwater and so that work is happening. I believe that we were expecting it to be done this fall but because we were evacuated, the expectation is for the spring. So once that information is in, that will be provided to the board and to the college. They will look at it and make a determination if they want to pursue that spot or not. So at this point, engagement isn't necessary because we don't even know if that's going to be the location. Once we get that information and the board makes a decision, then the city process kicks in, and there is going to be significant public engagement. I know that the Member raised issues about traffic and things like that, and those are real concerns. And those are the kind of things that will be addressed through that process. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We see this time and again where, you know, stuff is being done behind the scenes or things are advancing before it really is taken out to the public for that engagement. I think a good example of that was the five options presented to us for the airport terminal building at which point committee told the Minister right off the bat two were not viable.

So given that, I'm kind of -- you know, I have to wonder why we had all this kerfuffle if we haven't even picked that as the site yet. However, I would like to know has the department done a comprehensive assessment on areas such as the downtown or the capital site as proposed areas for the new build, has it only been looking at Tin Can Hill, and if so, why not? Thanks.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A number of sites were looked at. There's a number of different options for post-secondary campuses. Some campuses are all located in one area. Some are located in downtowns with buildings located on different blocks of the city. And so the model that was chosen for the for Aurora College North Slave Campus was a model where we wanted to be close to downtown, close to transit, close to places that people can live, but all in one place so that students can live near the school and somewhere near, you know, outdoor areas as well, so that people maybe coming from the smaller communities might feel a bit more at home. And the master plan discusses a number of other locations.

There are reasons why this was the preferential site. There's some locations around the ledge here where the land was not perhaps of the size that would allow for future expansion. Here in the capital site, there's requirements about, you know, sight lines to the ledge and things like that. So there were a number of reasons why that was chosen as a preferential site, but a number of spaces around the city were looked at. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. They may have been looked at, but I don't think they were really considered given that I have not been able to find any information on why Tin Can Hill was selected out of all of these groups.

The Minister speaks to the fact of the lack of area for expansion around the capital site and sight lines and things like that. Well, the sight lines, we can change. We're consensus. We can pass things so that we can look at a building across Frame Lake. I think we'd all be fine with that.

When we talk about the expansion piece, this would actually be an opportunity for once the Akaitcho land claim is settled for the Indigenous people of this territory and area to become the future landlords of the polytechnic. So to say, yes, the capital site is restricted in space and expansion size, yes, in and of itself it is. But we're not getting another building. We're too small. So start there, and then you can expand into the Akaitcho. So with that being in mind, can the Minister speak to whether there has been any conversations with the Akaitcho whose impacts -- it is their land that the North Slave Campus will end up on. Have they shown any interest in the polytechnic university and potentially being the future landlords? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I've met with chiefs from Yellowknife on a number of occasions to discuss the economic opportunities that could arise from the North Slave Campus. It is much too early to nail down what those might be. And it's difficult to plan -- to make a long-term plan when, you know, a part of that plan -- the land that we could potentially use is sort of unknown what the status of it will be. Perhaps, you know, a future Indigenous government doesn't want -- wouldn't want to partner with the college. However, I'm very open to that. I think that would be great. You know, when we do things in the North, if we can create economic opportunities for Indigenous governments, I'm all for that. So as we progress forward with this, those are conversations that will continue to go on. And I've made that commitment to the chiefs as well. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So reading through all that, the answer's no, there was no discussion about them being the landlords of the future facility.

I guess where I kind of struggle with this, we're talking about economic development. We're talking about land claims. We know at some point the land around Frame Lake, because it will be settled and hopefully sooner rather than later, not that I think anything progressed during this Assembly; however, when that land is settled it will be developed. And at that point, there will be buildings, there will be things put on it. I really can't see the ec dev part of the YKDFN not wanting to see buildings near the hospital.

So that being said, can the Minister commit that they will go back and re-engage -- or the department will re-engage on the location of the polytechnic university? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is a lot of engagement to come. So after we get the report back from the phase 2 environmental assessment, that'll determine the next steps. And before there's any shovels in the ground, there will be a significant amount of engagement, hopefully partnerships with Indigenous governments, hopefully economic opportunities that will be realized. So with only, you know, a couple weeks left here, I can't make any commitments to go out and, you know, do more engagement on this. But all of that work will happen. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the finance minister confirm if the government intends to repeal and replace the Affirmative Action Policy before the start of the 20th Assembly, including any actions that may occur during the election period? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Minister responsible for Finance.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there has been a suite of things that have happened in the Department of Finance for the human resources over the last four years, and certainly the Affirmative Action Policy and the work we've done to review it is part of that. Seeing it to its end would certainly be nice towards the end of this Assembly but, Mr. Speaker, the Member's already noted, we only just were able to table the report in terms of what we heard and what we've been recommended to do and, as such, it really would not be appropriate at this point to be making a change at the dying days of this Assembly and before the 20th, so. And certainly not during an election period, Mr. Speaker. So I expect that there will be no changes to the Affirmative Action Policy before the 20th Assembly. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister confirm whether the government's work that has gone into repealing and replacing the Affirmative Action Policy will be lost after the end of this Assembly? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

No, it will certainly not be lost, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the department is very committed to this work. And as I said, this is really -- the work that's gone on is part of what has already been going on and what's already in place under the Indigenous recruitment and retention framework, the Human Resources Strategic Plan, the Diversity and Inclusion Framework. So while this policy is certainly connected to those things and that work is ongoing, as such it is connected. And the work is ongoing, and it will certainly not be lost. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell us if the future Affirmative Action Policy will also include an appeal board, an appeal board process for applicants to consider if they wish. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, right now what we do have is there are staffing appeal regulations that come in under the Public Service Act. There are staffing appeals that are reviewed by staffing officers who are independent from the public service, independent from the Department of Finance. So there is a process in place. That said, I know there's often concerns raised, and it was raised during the review process, about whether or not this is sufficient or adequate to make sure that people are, in fact, benefitting from the processes we have in place. So that was part of the review and that was part of the recommendations, and that will certainly be taken into consideration, again, as work goes -- is ongoing at all times in the department to improve its processes. Thank you.

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

Oh, Mr. Speaker, I can't -- I can't tell you what I think. Or what I think the next Minister can do.

Mr. Speaker, there's been a fulsome review that was conducted. I would commend people to -- if they are interested in this area, to look at what we heard -- the What We Heard report, to look at the recommendations therein. It is the recommendations that are saying to bring in an Indigenous employment policy that would really refocus on an area that we know that the Department of Finance would like to see improvements, that we know it's an area that the public service remains underrepresented. And it does include some recommendations as to how we might change that -- or how we might structure that.

It also speaks to some of the other issues that Member -- this Member has raised, other Members have raised around, you know, other demographics here in the Northwest Territories. So there's a lot of information in there, a lot of suggestions and recommendations in there. I can only commend them to the next government, Mr. Speaker, and perhaps put something in the transition binder about how they might want to go about thinking of this. But, really, beyond that, Mr. Speaker, it's not my place to say. Thank you.