Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Member for Hay River North, that Bill 76, An Act to Amend the Electoral Boundaries Act, be read for a second time.

Mr. Speaker, Bill 76 amends the Electoral Boundaries Commission Act to

• Establish a Commission within two years of the 2023 general election;
• Expand the size of the Commission;
• Broaden the eligibility to serve as chairperson of the Commission;
• Add geographic and place names to the relevant considerations of the Commission; and,
• Modernize language, including by using gender-neutral language.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I move, second by the Member for Nahendeh, that Bill 76, An Act to Amend the Electoral Boundaries Act, be read for the second time.

Mr. Speaker, Bill 76 amends the Electoral Boundaries Commission Act to

• Establish a Commission within two years of the 2023 general election;
• Expand the size of the Commission;
• Broaden the eligibility to serve as chairperson of the Commission;
• Add geographic and place names to the relevant considerations of the Commission; and,
• Modernize language, including by using gender-neutral language.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

3. Double resources to support and revitalize Indigenous languages

Committee heard clearly that funding for Indigenous-language education and revitalization is not enough to ensure language communities survive. This unanimous sense of underfunding exists despite recent increases in language funding. The Government of the Northwest Territories now spends around $21 million each year on Indigenous language programming, up from $14 million ten years ago.

To gauge the potential funding gap, committee compared the Government of the Northwest Territories' Indigenous language funding with its French-language funding. Committee acknowledges this comparison is far from perfect: these language communities have different histories, circumstances, and needs; and, the government's responsibilities to these communities are different based on constitutional and international law.

Committee compared French-language funding per French-speaker with Indigenous language funding per Indigenous residents. Looking at Indigenous residents, rather than current Indigenous-language speakers, is appropriate because Indigenous language rights extend to all Indigenous people, including those who have lost the language.

Committee found that the Government of the Northwest Territories' French-language funding is around $2,200 per French speaker compared to Indigenous-language funding of around $1,100 per Indigenous person. This puts the funding gap at $1,100 per Indigenous person. To close this gap, the Government of the Northwest Territories would have to double per-person Indigenous-language funding. The total cost would add up to an additional $22 million per year. More details on this calculation are included in Appendix C of this report.

Committee believes that increasing funding by at least this amount is necessary to reverse the decline in Indigenous-language speakers and revitalize language communities. Committee therefore recommends:

Recommendation 6: That the Government of the Northwest Territories double funding for Indigenous-language education, services, and revitalization.

Recommendation 7: That the Government of the Northwest Territories reimburse use of an Indigenous official language as an eligible expense for all programs, grants, and contributions. These funding agreements should be multi-year to reduce administrative burden and improve sustainability.

Educators and language experts brought up the problem of fragmentation among language communities in developing resource materials. Committee heard one example of a southern publisher charging $20,000 to allow an education resource in one Indigenous language to be translated into another.

Participants thought the department could do more to "minimize the reinvention of the wheel" so that educational resources can be translated easily and affordably. One promising suggestion was for a "creative commons" - a digital space for people to share and collaborate on educational resources. Existing resource hubs, like the Our Languages NWT platform, do not particularly promote decentralized content creation and digital collaboration. Committee therefore recommends:

Recommendation 8: That the Department of Education, Culture and Employment set up a creative commons for Indigenous-language resource materials.

The creative commons should build on the Our Languages NWT platform and offer an accessible digital space. It should allow creators and users to share and collaborate on educational materials, language-learning apps, curricula, grant applications, and other resources.

Mr. Speaker, I'd like to now turn this over to the Inuvik Twin Lakes Member. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, there are four positions within Aurora College that are currently being borrowed from Fort Smith. But they do not belong -- but they do belong to Fort Smith, and they must be returned as soon as possible.

Will the Minister commit to work with the newly appointed board of governors and return the four loaned college positions back to Fort Smith? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, does the board of governors have the ability to veto or overturn a decision by the college president and senior management? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, if the new board of governors wanted to make a change of direction with where the college is going and say it was different from the college president and senior management wanted, how would that be resolved? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with the appointment of the new board of governors for Aurora College, can the education Minister explain how this will change executive decision-making at Aurora College and with the transformation into a polytechnic university? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier this month, on March 6th, the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment announced the Members of the new Aurora College Board of governors. I was very pleased to hear the Minister's long-awaited announcement on this matter because I know that having a new board of governors for Aurora College is a vital step to advancing the transformation into a new polytechnic university.

Mr. Speaker, among the 13 appointees of this board, there are five people from the South Slave Region - two Hay River residents, two Fort Smith residents, plus one student representative from the Fort Smith campus.

I am very happy to see that the South Slave is well represented on this newly appointed board. On behalf of the constituents of Thebacha, I want to welcome all 13 new Members into their new roles as the board of governors for Aurora College. I know that this new board will provide valuable input into the transformation and overall direction of the future polytechnic university.

Mr. Speaker, I am confident that with this new board, Aurora College will have a stronger northern influence, will work to decentralize, and will be in good hands as this process goes ahead.

Lastly, I would like to thank Denny Rogers for his service as the administrator of Aurora College for the last six years. I will have questions for Minister of education. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I too would like to recognize our MP for coming to visit us in this House, and welcome back to Fort Smith any time he wants, because that's where he went to school in the early years. I used to serve him on the line. I also want to welcome Jackson. I congratulate him on his grand chief appointment by all his people. That's a big achievement. And I want to recognize Brad who used to -- is a former Fort Smith resident. And of course Sholto, for all his volunteer work, not only with the dog mushers but Sholto is a great caterer and does incredible meals for the community at many community events. And I want to thank him for that. Thank you, Sholto.