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

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have to start off by saying I share the Member's frustration and the community's frustration on this one very much. Mr. Speaker, we were anticipating shipping of these units this previous winter road season. We had worked diligently with the Department of Infrastructure and the company to get this done and were then advised in February of 2025 that the contractor's transportation company would no longer be able to deliver the units during that winter road season, the one that we have just, just passed. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Minister for that information here. My next question there to the same Minister is the procurement closed aside from the final shipping costs? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as part of the contract, it is the company's responsibility to ship the units to Colville Lake. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Minister for that information. My next question and final one, will the Minister supply my office with the new 2026 winter road transportation schedule. Thank you.

Minister of Education -- I don't know if that's the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment question. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, she's prepared to answer the question. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I know it's one that certainly straddles two departments but as infrastructure does -- or sorry, as education, culture and employment does not actually build our capital projects in the territory, I do work very closely with my colleagues on this House and would be more than happy to work with the Minister of Infrastructure on developing some information for the Member for the Sahtu. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement I mentioned three pieces of legislation that are in the queue. This legislation is paramount to our war on drugs and the criminal activity that comes with drugs. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Justice. Can he give this House an update and what the status is of these three very important pieces of legislation - safer communities and neighbourhoods legislation, civil forfeiture legislation, and the trespass legislation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Inuvik Boot Lake. Minister of Justice.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as was so well stated in the Member's statement, I think that, you know, as we look at the challenges that we're facing in every community regarding drugs and crime, it's certainly top of mind, I know for all of the Members of this House, and certainly one of my priorities since I've become Minister of Justice. So the plan for these three specific pieces of legislation is to have legislative proposals developed during the summer of 2025 and pending approval by Cabinet to advance those legislative proposals.

A couple of -- I'll speak maybe to the SCAN legislation and the Civil Forfeiture Act, which are a lot more complex than the trespass legislation and will require extensive engagement with the public and stakeholders as we move those two forward. So the plan with those is to -- based on approval of obviously of the legislative proposals is to advance those and to have a bill brought to the floor in the winter sitting of 2026.

With regard to the Trespass Act, as I stated yesterday that's a little less complex piece of legislation, and we're currently working on the legislative proposal and, again, pending approval of the legislative proposal we'll bring that forward for a somewhat limited public engagement on that and with the target of bringing a bill to the floor in the fall sitting. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I know the Minister has also said to this House and committed to reviewing the Residential Tenancies Act to give that some strength as well to help us with this drug crisis. Can the Minister give an update on where they are with the Residential Tenancies Act review. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. Certainly another very critical piece of legislation that will support the work of the different, you know, agencies that are trying to combat the drugs and the crime across the NWT and certainly as important to the territory to help us in that endeavour as the other three pieces.

So currently the department is doing a review of the Residential Tenancies Act, and that review will continue through the summer of 2025. And the information that's gathered from that review will be used to develop the legislative proposal for the Act and determine what future public engagement will also be required as we move that forward. So we have essentially four really important pieces of legislation and, you know, so moving those first three pieces forward has been the priority direction that we've given to the department right now, and we will continue to pursue the Residential Tenancies Act review and ensure that we're meeting with the stakeholders and the residents of the Northwest Territories, you know, taking into consideration the information from the rental officer, the information from this House and media, as well as our stakeholders that are involved in the conversation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Justice. Final supplementary. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I know I can speak for AOC when I say we're ready for these LPs. You know, we're ready to get working on this. I appreciate that it's been brought up a little, that's going to be introduced in the winter sitting. My question, I guess, would be I know there's public engagement that has to be done on that. Can that public engagement on those three important pieces of legislation be done through the summer months to move this up even further, Mr. Speaker? We'd welcome these LPs as soon as they come forward, so the quicker we can get this work done, the better. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Member for the question. I think, you know, all Members of this House on both sides, Cabinet and Regular Members, are anxious to move these forward, and I think that was expressed yesterday and, you know, the advancement of the Trespass Act and shortening that timeline from our original plan to have all three pieces of legislation together and brought forward in the summer of 2026, so now we're looking at the fall of 2025 for the Trespass Act. We're looking at the winter sitting for the other two pieces of legislation. And the Trespass Act, I think is certainly an easier consultation with the public and the stakeholders. The other two are much more complex and, really, you know, to get those advanced to a state where we could bring a bill forward in the fall would be -- I don't think that's possible with the complexities that were faced there and the amount of engagement that would be required because of the fact that they are -- the SCAN legislation, particularly, is a little bit more contentious, and we'll need to ensure that we are engaging everyone on that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Justice. Oral questions. Member from Monfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister commit to reviewing the current student financial assistance policy to allow students to receive funding for academic upgrading at institutions outside of Aurora College, either online or outside of the territory, so that our students with -- our students with financial assistance needs have a greater choice and access to quality education?

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, some of this work has recently just happened where Aurora College is transitioning a lot of their programs online in recognition that a lot of students do want to stay in their home community when they are pursuing some education so that they have those home supports as well and understanding that not every city or every place is where students want to go.

In addition to the college access program and the occupations and college access program at Aurora College and their online offerings, there's also the University of Alberta's transition year program that is also included and funded by student financial assistance. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister say what's step is the department taking to address the lack of financial support for part-time studies, especially for students on income support or those working full-time in small communities who want to pursue programs, like personal support worker training? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in it regards to part-time studies, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment does fund students up to $880 per course with a maximum of $8,800 per year with the idea that beyond that, they're probably actually potentially looking at more of full-time studies, depending on what they're taking.

In the end of the previous Assembly, there were steps taken to increase our student financial assistance, and especially student financial assistance for Indigenous students in the territory, and also changed the number of semesters that they were eligible for to an unlimited number of semesters. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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