Debates of Oct. 28th, 2025

Thank you. Committee, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment begins on page 18. We will defer the department totals and review the estimates by activity summary beginning on page 19 with language and culture and information items on page 20. Are there any questions? I'm going to go to the Member -- just one second. Member from Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, on page 20, it speaks about the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre accessibility upgrades. Could the Minister please provide a substantiation of this project? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, this project will have multiple improvements for accessibility to Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre. And the project is 100 percent funded through Investing in Canada infrastructure fund. Thank you.

Thank you. I'll go to the Member from Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just broadly, could the Minister please describe what accessibility improvements and upgrades and renovations will occur? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Can I please pass to assistant deputy minister Locke-Setter. Thank you.

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

Okay, thank you. I'm going to go back to the Member from Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I'm so sorry, I couldn't quite hear the assistant deputy minister; I'm not sure if their mic is working. But I did crane my hearing, and I think they said that they are going to include an elevator in that project, which is a great interest to me as someone who used to work in that building, and I'm really glad that that is under consideration. And I'll just leave it at that as a comment. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Next on my list I got is the Member from Yellowknife North. Are there any other general comments from Members? Okay. Seeing none.

The Department of Education, Culture and Employment, language and culture, infrastructure investments, $4,500,000. Does the committee agree?

Thank you, Members. Next, we have on education on page 21, on page 22 and 24. Are there any questions? I'm going to go to the Member from Frame Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I note the first thing I wanted to take note of was an absence, Mr. Speaker -- or Mr. Chair, sorry.

Both school boards in Yellowknife have indicated that they have needs for urgent repairs. I don't see those in this budget. Can the Minister describe how she's been engaging with these school boards on the issues that they're facing with infrastructure and how does she propose that they would be addressed? Thank you.

Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, with both Yellowknife school boards, that being YK1 and YCS, ECE is currently working with infrastructure as well as the school boards. And maybe if I can separate those out into YK1 and YCS.

So with YK1, ECE is working with the school board and the Department of Infrastructure to work on specifically one of the roofs. They're finalizing an MOU between the GNWT and the school board to coordinate funding and project management of the work. So that is underway. And then in addition to that, ECE is working with the other school board, so that's Yellowknife Catholic Schools, to facilitate any necessary repair work as needed. So while they're not included in this budgeting process here, there are other mechanisms that we can use to address that and continue to work closely with the school boards. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would just ask if the Minister could be a bit more specific about the other mechanisms. Are we talking about potentially bringing a supp, or how is -- I just -- for me, what matters is is that the issues are being addressed and that we're gonna find money to address them. But if the Minister can be specific, that would be appreciated. Thank you.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So to answer the Member's question -- or his original question, yes, the issue is being addressed. There are other mechanisms in some of the school boards. There are reserves that the school boards have in order to address infrastructure specifically. There is also other mechanisms like deferred maintenance funding that is available through the GNWT. And then in some schools, they do have dollars already allotted from their surplus to be able to fund things like this. And as we indicated in question period and also in other conversations, we are honouring projects that are already on the go from the surpluses of school boards. Thank you.

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