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

Thank you so much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, this section actually goes between two different assistant deputy ministers in the way that it is in the main estimates, just so that everybody knows. The assistant deputy minister that is responsible for post-secondary is hiding in the little room. So just so that I -- I just wanted to be transparent and that I might have to phone a friend who is in a back room.

But for this one here for the reduction to Aurora College, what was done in our restoring balance exercise is the GNWT was we were instructed to go back and work with our departments, as well as our agencies and arm's length organizations. And so for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment that, of course, included Aurora College. And so what was done there was we went back to Aurora College, we went back to education bodies as well, and asked them what they were prepared to let go of as far as funding. And so that dollar amount that came from Aurora College was a hundred percent driven by them and them alone and so -- and I didn't tweak it any way, shape, or form. I respected their operational independence in that respect. So what Aurora College did was they were able to review position vacancies, retirements, and positions that won't impact programs and that largely was what drove their reductions from their budget. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I do -- yeah, I do note that -- I actually have notes for myself on Aurora College on the next page. It can be -- where we're going night after night here, it can be hard to keep track of all our notes. But, you know, the line item is here also so it seems like a fair place to also ask the question.

Just to be clear here, the Minister suggested that Aurora College had almost $2 million in reductions simply with vacant positions that weren't filled, is that correct? Or is there maybe a bit more to that story?

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

Thank you so much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, that's not a hundred percent of the story. That is definitely the primary driver for their reductions, but it is not a hundred percent. But I can definitely say that their selection of what dollars that they were not going to use and suggest for this exercise were intentionally not tied to transformation. But for additional detail, I would like the opportunity to invite another assistant deputy minister to join me at the table.

Yes, proceed. Thank you. I'm going to go to the assistant ADM.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, to my right I have Mr. Mike Saturnino, who is assistant deputy minister of Education, Culture and Employment as well.

Thank you. I'm going to continue on now to the Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I have a couple of questions. The first one I'll talk about the northern distance learning, and I note it's $850,000 decrease to that. That is a program that I know was piloted out of Inuvik for students in remote communities to be able to access the academic programs they needed through online services. Can the Minister speak as to what that reduction of $850,000 is a reflection of? Thank you.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, in reflection of the fact that a lot of students use northern distance learning and its importance to their education, it was ensured that any reductions to this program would not prevent students from accessing the program. And so the cuts are primarily to use more virtual meetings, so instructors and such that at one point would travel or students who would travel, that has been turned into more virtual settings. And then there's also some changes to technology uses on the back end. Thank you.

Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Minister Cleveland. So just then to confirm, the reduction of $850,000 is not a reduction to the program itself or the services that it offers? It's still going to maintain at the same levels it was maintaining when we spent $850,000 more last year?

Thank you. To the Minister to the question.

That is correct, Mr. Chair. Students who currently access northern distance learning will still be able to access northern distance learning. Thank you.

Thank you. I'll go to the Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. My other question -- since you have Mr. Saturnino with you is on the college, was the -- so I've spoken previously about the Centre for Learning, Teaching and Innovation and how important that is for the college to get their accreditation to be able to develop the programming they need to become a polytechnic. I guess my first question is was the Minister and your department aware that this program was actually running and that the funding from CanNor was sunsetting after three years? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, yes, the department was aware that this program was operating and was also aware that the program was a funded program through CanNor and that it did have a sunsetting time period. Any desire to have ECE support renegotiating that was not reached out to the department for. But I'd like to also pass to Mr. Saturnino as I think that the Member is eager to hear from him as well. Thank you.

Thank you. I'm going to go to the assistant ADM.

Thank you. I'm going to go back to the Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.