Debates of Oct. 28th, 2025

Okay, thank you. I'll go back to the Minister.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, the way that we are handling this so far is through operations and maintenance funding through the Government of the Northwest Territories. So that's mitigation through flushing protocols, through the addition of point-of-use filters in our schools as well. And so any kind of need aside from that, if there was a greater need, would have to come forward in a supplementary appropriation.

And through yourself, Mr. Chair, I would love to open it up to the deputy minister given that I know how important this is and how relevant this is right now. So I would like to give the deputy minister the opportunity to add more detailed information if possible.

Okay, Thank you. I'll go to the deputy minister.

Thank you. I'll go back to the Member from Frame Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I appreciate those answers from the department. Certainly, it is encouraging to hear that they are on top of it and look forward to seeing any budget ask come forward if need be.

Mr. Chair, I want to turn to another subject. I note that the GNWT's own polytechnic university facilities master plan, which was published in 2022, identifies a number of capital needs for Aurora College across all its campuses; however, there does not appear to be any budget allocated for any of Aurora College capital needs in this capital budget. I have a few questions about this.

My first one is what are the timelines, priority levels, and expected funding for other critical areas of need across Aurora College campuses? Thank you.

Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, the way the relationship works with Aurora College is I work closely with the chair, and the deputy minister works closely with the president, and together the president and the chair bring forward requests through our capital planning processes and they bring that forward to myself, and then I bring them forward to the financial management board for consideration. And so we continue to work on the priorities of Aurora College, but until such time as they are ready to bring forward any kind of capital infrastructure asks, I cannot bring that forward without their corroboration and collaboration in those efforts. Thank you.

Thank you. I'll go back to the Member from Frame Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Does the Minister see the lack of capital requests coming forward as signaling a shift away from our territorial campuses and in-person educational delivery for Aurora College? I guess I'm mostly just asking why are we not seeing asks come forward considering a couple of years ago we had a master plan that laid out a number of needs, pretty significant ones. So what's happening or what isn't happening, I guess. The Question can go either way.

Thank you. I think I'll go to bthe Minister.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, there is a beautiful campus for Aurora College located in Inuvik. There is also a beautiful campus for Aurora College located in Fort Smith. So what we were talking about here is the campus for North Slave.

Mr. Chair, I can assure you that those conversations are quite live and are moving forward, but it is not -- we are not in a situation where Aurora College can rely solely on the Government of the Northwest Territories. And part of our mandate agreement is to also ensure that we're working collaboratively together but also with third party funders as well. And that is an agreement and a commitment to one another that I myself have made, along with the board of Aurora College. And so it's not just about us working together to fund this; it's also about looking for creative opportunities to build and to manifest a North Slave campus. And I can assure the Member that those conversations are live and continue to move forward but not in time for what is before us today. Thank you.

Okay, thank you. I'll go back to the Member from Frame Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I don't need to emphasize the importance of this to the Minister; we have chats about it often. So I'll leave it at that. Those are all my questions for this page. Thank you.

Thank you. Next on my list I've got is the Member from Range Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The roofing or roof repair projects for Yellowknife schools. Can the Minister be specific about which roofs will be repaired? Thank you.

Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, with YK1, the roof we are referring to is Mildred Hall's gym. And the roof project that was raised to us by Yellowknife Catholic Schools was the Weledeh St. Pat's gym. Thank you.

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

Thank you. In the previous exchange of questions, there was a comment about funding mechanisms to pay for some of these renovations, and surpluses were identified. So my concern with that is that's what surpluses are for, of course, and Yellowknife schools, which is relevant to my riding and my work as an MLA, are also funded by taxpayers in the city.

The new education assistant program, that $14 million program that the department has rolled out, has a caveat that surpluses have to be emptied essentially before that -- or in conjunction with receiving that money. The concern that I have heard -- and not just from Yellowknife schools but from all schools -- is that will make things like renovations of infrastructure and facilities all but impossible. And in one of these school districts, the YK1 district, it's about 79 educational assistant positions. So we're not talking about one or two; we're talking about a significant expenditure to maintain these programs. So given that the surpluses will be drawn down to support these if they, in fact, apply, is the department willing to be flexible on other sources of funding for infrastructure programs and repairs based on needs? Thank you.

Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, I want to be very clear that with the expectation that school boards use their surplus to pay for the support assistants initiative, that we were very clear with school boards that we would honour any previous commitments that they had. So if a surplus was intended to be used for investment in a capital project and they, you know, were in the process of getting quotes for that, for example, a roof and were pursuing that, that we would certainly honour that commitment and also have given school boards the opportunity to resubmit their operating plans as well as their intended uses of their surpluses. So flexibility is absolutely built in and the understanding that sometimes plans change.

In addition, Mr. Chair, I wanted to also add that Cabinet recognizes that the cost of maintaining infrastructure is high and continues to go up and also that our funding that is allotted to Yellowknife schools -- because Yellowknife Educational District No. 1, as well as Yellowknife Catholic Schools, maintain their own infrastructure and in acknowledging that those costs have gone up, Cabinet has approved for the -- to be brought forward in our budgeting process in the main estimates in the new year an increase to the operations and maintenance of the Yellowknife YK1 School Board and the Yellowknife YCS School Board as well. So that will continue forward through our normal budgeting processes. And if approved by the House, those dollars will be afforded to those school boards as well. Thank you.

Okay, thank you. I'll go to the Member from Range Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. For the water system remediations in schools that have identified elevated lead, will the Minister commit that any remediation of infrastructure will be paid for by the GNWT? Thank you.