Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm not aware of our department requesting an extension, and I'm not sure if that's part of that process. I'd have to confirm that through our department. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. Oral questions. Member from Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, while I can respect that changes to income assistance will help residents, I'm convinced that even more administrative barriers and burden can be reduced by implementing a basic income guarantee in the NWT. So, Mr. Speaker, can the Minister of ECE commit to undertaking a feasibility study to study guaranteed basic income for the NWT similar to one that is underway in Nunavut? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Great Slave. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. This definitely would be quite a huge undertaking, and I'm excited to learn of Nunavut's undertaking of it and the study that they're currently doing. I know that the department has reached out to Nunavut to gain insights into the outcomes of their feasibility study so that we can learn from our sister territory as to what they're learning. But right now here in the territory, we've been doing, as the Member indicated, revisions to our income assistance program, and those revisions really -- well, they came with an extra $5 million that were put into the program. And what they've done is they've allowed us in the territory to set ourselves already apart from other Canadian jurisdictions in that our program looks at the actual cost of shelter and utilities, including fuel, to make sure that residents are being covered for what they need for their basic needs if they are on income assistance and they do need that additional support, whereas in other Canadian jurisdictions I know that these types of subsidies are capped at a certain level. And so I know that we're doing our part to try and acknowledge that life is different in the North and really make sure that we are supporting residents how we can in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister for that. So one other thing I was wondering if the Minister could do is commit to review and discuss with myself, and perhaps the social development committee, the findings from the forthcoming implementation options developed by Alternatives North, which should be available in -- at least a draft form in the spring. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And my colleague to the right just reminded me to slow down as well, so thank you for that. I am always happy to speak with social development. Social development will always have a warm place in my heart, and I'm always happy to be invited. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So this week so far we've heard a great deal on concerns for adequate funding for seniors. And I've asked a little bit about the income assistance program changes. I also want to recognize too that my colleague from Mackenzie Delta has a different perspective on this, and it's a conversation that really needs to be regionally-based and best fit. Yes, the question would be could the Minister speak to what pathfinding is available for residents who need ECE program supports, like income assistance and seniors home heating supports? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for acknowledging that not all communities are the same and not all expectations across the territory are the same. As far as pathfinding within the Government of the Northwest Territories, education, culture and employment has client navigators that help income assistance clients access the program and work through the program as well. These client navigators are found in most communities across the territory. And they're not only responsible for looking in just simply income assistance. These are people who know about programs in other NWT or GNWT departments, like, for example, housing, and can help their clients access those programs as well to be able to make sure that people are supported wholly as best they can from their position that they have.

The other piece that I wanted to bring up here, Mr. Speaker, is that there's also Pathfinders that are involved with integrated case management. That's now found under EIA. And also EIA has the government service officers who also act as Pathfinders within the system to make sure that people have access to the programs that they need and that they have the opportunity to learn about them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister for that information. My question is can the Minister confirm with her Cabinet colleagues and do a little bit more to promote these pathfinding pieces because often here on the other side of the House -- and I'm sure the Minister feels this way when she was a Regular Member as well -- we end up being those Pathfinders. So if folks on the Cabinet side could share those resources with us and maybe promote them a bit better in the public, I'm wondering if she can commit to that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, certainly, as Members of the Legislative Assembly, we spend a tremendous amount of time supporting residents learn about different programs across the GNWT, and I know that this is work that is also part of the homelessness strategy that lives right now within EIA with the Premier's office. And I absolutely can commit to providing information and also seeing what I can do from my part to make sure that information is accessible. For sure, I'm absolutely open to working with Members and welcome any ideas they have any time to make sure that people have access to the programs that are available within government. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister for Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from the Sahtu.

Thank you, Member from the Sahtu. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member from the Sahtu for bringing up this project. The Standing Committee on Social Development in the last term had the opportunity to sit down with the Behdzi Ahda' First Nation in order to learn about this project and hear from them, and so it's very nice to be able to be on this side and continue on with this project. So absolutely, yes, the department has been working with Behdzi Ahda' First Nation for the design of the new school in Colville Lake. And right now, ECE is working with a baseline that was determined by the school standards that were set back in 2020 -- sorry, the capital standards and criteria. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thanks to the Minister for that update. My next question there, Mr. Speaker, is what progress have been put in place to move this project forward? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in terms of the progress of this project, so education, culture and employment has a contribution agreement with the Behdzi Ahda' First Nation, and this contribution agreement agreed to fund the completion and submission of a schematic design and a class C construction estimate for the new school. And this also includes a geotechnical investigation of the proposed site for the project. The First Nation contracted an engineering and architectural consultant directly themselves to complete the work. And unfortunately, while the contribution agreement has expired, the schematic design and cost estimate has not yet been submitted to the department or received and so that's where the progress is -- or stands right now from the part of the department. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I'm glad for that response here, there is a contribution agreement in place. Agreements are really healthy for the results of the intent.

And my next question is what work has been done on the project; what financial commitments or preinvestments have been done to the project to date? Mahsi.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in addition to the contribution agreement that funded the design work, the geotechnical work has been completed and this included drilling five bore holes in the site that was selected by the community. In this process, there was a collection of soil samples that was done, and this was done in order to determine the type of foundation that would be required. This also included ground temperature monitoring -- installing ground temperature monitoring installation -- or instrumentation, sorry. Say that five times. Testing was also done on the soil samples, and there is a site evaluation report that came with that. In addition, Mr. Speaker, there is a draft concept design for the new school, and this draft concept design was produced by the consultant team and was based on input from the local DEA and school staff as well.

And I think it's worth mentioning here, Mr. Speaker, that there was also community engagement that was done through open house sessions in April of 2023. And there was representation from both the consultant team and ECE that was in the community for that, and the community was involved as well as school representatives and, of course, Behdzi Ahda' First Nation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from the Sahtu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm glad to hear there's progress made, including the agreement. I assume that the agreement would be extended nevertheless my last question to the Minister is the Department of ECE working with the Behdzi Ahda' First Nation on alternative financing and/or mortgage ownership options for the new school? Mahsi.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can say that the previous Minister of Education, Culture and Employment was very open to looking at new ways to see this project go forward and really wanted to work with the community to see it to its fruition. The community initially presented several alternative options for this project, including a public/private partnership, build/lease, third party funding contributions, and also potentially negotiated contracts. At the time, the department indicated that they needed more information in order to consider moving away from kind of the conventional approach so that there was a clear understanding of what that would look like, Mr. Speaker. And an agreement was reached in the end in order for the department to fund the Behdzi Ahda' First Nation for the development of that schematic design that I spoke about, including a cost estimate, and this would provide that clarity that the government was looking for.

And I just want to say, Mr. Speaker, that I'm really happy that the Member has brought this up. It is definitely a project that I would like to see move forward, and I really look forward to working with the Member on seeing this project move forward and seeing a new school in Coville. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from Mackenzie Delta.