Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm currently working on that mandate letter with the Aurora College board of governors. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, just to be clear, is the Minister committed to transitioning Aurora College to a polytechnic university and supporting the college in proceeding with the facility's master plan?

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have said it in this House before, I've said it to the board of governors before, I am absolutely committed to this transition. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker; we're keeping it short and sweet today. Mr. Speaker, I know that the Minister has a textbook on change management on her desk because I handed it to her myself. Mr. Speaker, has the Minister considered employing change management principles in setting her direction to the board? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member knows the way to my heart is certainly through books, and I appreciate that. My role within the post-secondary system and through the Aurora College Act has definitely changed between the last Assembly and this one. My role is certainly one of oversight over the post-secondary education system whereas the board of governors really has control and oversight over Aurora College's programs as well as their operations. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Frame Lake. Final supplementary.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, considering the board does have that responsibility, Mr. Speaker, what measures is the Minister taking or considering in holding the board accountable for results for the funding they receive from the government for transition, for operation of the college, all of it? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm certainly using all of the tools that I have at my disposal. Currently, at the end of September, I met with the board to actually sit down and hear what their priorities are, what their concerns are, how their year in operation has gone, and to sit down and figure out, okay, where do we align and ensure that we align on the transformation of Aurora College. They have informed me that they are certainly committed to this and that they want to be able to continue to work closely together on this collaborative process and to continue to meet regularly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Similar to my colleague who had just spoke a moment ago, I want to further follow up on the mandate letter specifically. So it appears we're working well together on this type of concern and initiative. My question would be is that if the former mandate letter expired in July, had the department not been working on it previously? Because it doesn't seem as if there was -- there shouldn't be an overlap period of gap within -- in other words saying there's no mandate or no one's doing any mandate or following any mandate. So I'm asking the question, why wasn't there a transition letter for the transition mandate letter included and started and initiated in July; what is the delay? Can maybe the Minister enlighten the House as to that. Thank you.

Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, thank you to the Members for keeping the conversation on Aurora College alive and well in the House. There was no gap, or there is no gap because the previous mandate commitments stand until the new one is stood up, and so the previous one continues to exist until the next one is put in place. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can appreciate it's status quo, you know, as in the -- they're using inertia to move forward, but the fact is that we're concerned about the direction, the firm and clear direction of the mandate letter to give them the direction and plan and commitment to do the transition from a college to a polytech. Can the Minister confirm in the House today that it will be absolutely crystal clear that the transition into a polytech is part of the moving forward mandate letter? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the mandate letter that currently stands, that was the previous one that would have expired, so to say in July but still stands today, does very clearly say establish a polytechnic university. As it is very much the will of both myself as Minister of education, as well as the board of governors, I would fully expect for that to be a clear priority laid out in the mandate letter going forward. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I would appreciate in the context of transparency if the Minister would share that letter with Members because I don't believe we have it and if we do have it, it's the old government kind of context because I certainly don't have a copy of it. So we're going on what we understand.

Mr. Speaker, the next part of the mandate letter is will it be funded for a transition to a polytech? Because currently, if we're following the old methodology, they're using money left over from the education diploma -- or sorry, education program as well as the social work diploma program. So they're using leftover surplus money to fund something that should have a dedicated line item. So in other words, will it be funded specifically with the target line item that does that needed work? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. To the Member's first question in regards to sharing the existing mandate document, it is available online, and I would be happy to send the link and share it with my colleagues on the other side of the House.

In regards to the question around funding, I can share with Members that at the meeting between myself and the board of governors at the end of September, concerns were raised about the funding that they do receive for the transformation, and those conversations are ongoing. I need to know from the college what it is that they're looking for. Because any type of additional funding would certainly require me to go and plead that case to the financial management board, and given our fiscal context, we would need to make sure that those asks are weighed against the additional asks of the people of the Northwest Territories and Ministers. Thank you.

Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member of Yellowknife Centre for final supplementary.

Thank you. Mr. Speaker, I'm not -- I'm familiar with the mandate online but I'm more referring to the mandate letter specifically, just to be clear. So in my view, they're two things but if they're the same thing at the end of the day, then I'll let the Minister clarify.

My last question, just very quickly, Mr. Speaker, is will the Minister be willing to table her mandate letter to the college before the House for transparency and table it in a method that it can be consumed by the public for everyone to fully appreciate what direction and support they're getting from the Department of education. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would be happy to both table and share publicly and online the next mandate agreement between myself and the college. Thank you.

Thank you. Next on my list here I have is the Member from the Sahtu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have legislation at our disposal. My follow-up first question to my statement is addressed to the Minister of MACA. Will the Minister of MACA accept the humanitarian state of an emergency issued by the town of Norman Wells? Mahsi.

Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister of MACA.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department has received the local state of emergency that the town of Norman Wells has declared. To say that we have a documented support of that local state of emergency, we don't, but we are supporting -- as a government, we're doing everything we can to support the region. We have our staff on the ground working with the town of Norman Wells, regional superintendent. We have all our departments -- I can't speak for anybody else, but I will speak for myself to say that our staff have been very engaged in this in trying to help the situation there in Norman Wells. So thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thanks to the Minister for those comforting words. The residents of the Sahtu very much appreciate the words of support and acknowledgement in receipt of that state of an emergency declaration.

The unique opportunity is here. And my next question, will the Minister of MACA provide this notification to the federal public safety Ministers while they are in Yellowknife today or tomorrow or whenever they leave? Thank you.