Alfred Moses

I know there are some programs out there, Moms and Tots, mothers and babies, that invite all families to participate in those programs. We have made increases and improvements to the Canada Child Benefit, the NWT Child Benefit. That puts more dollars into low- to modest-income families. We also provide daycares and funding for day homes through subsidies, where, if parents want to have a day home, we can work on helping them provide that, possibly having their kids participate in the program, as well. Obviously, there are still other options. The Member did mention one in his statement. We are...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, we have reviewed the Senior Home Heating Subsidy. We also had this discussion with NWT Seniors Society and the Yellowknife Seniors Society in terms of enhancements that we will be making to the program. If everything goes well, we will be making those enhancements in the new fiscal year. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Of course, we care about all of our employees throughout the whole government. As I mentioned, those discussions I am sure are happening between the senior management over at the Aurora College and their current staff.

In terms of students in the Social Work Program, or social workers in general or educators, we continue to support students who are taking education as well in Social Work Programs in other jurisdictions, and we continue to support them and bring them back to the Northwest Territories here to work. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We've heard, on numerous occasions, that our current high school graduation requirements are not meeting many of the NWT students; and, therefore, the department has taken it on and is looking at reviewing and working towards revising the current requirements and looking at how we can assist students to create a pathway to graduation, whether it's the trades, whether it's for future post-secondary education, whether it's to get into the career field right away, or even just to get a completion of their high school, but those are discussions that we're going to have as we...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. There are certain criteria for families and seniors to access the Senior Home Heating Subsidy. They can also be accessing income assistance. Other factors, such as kids going off to school, no, we don't factor those in. We factor what is in the criteria for accessing Income Assistance and the Senior Home Heating Subsidy. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. There would be a number of variables, and I think the Member has alluded to a few of them, in terms of journeypersons with certificates. We have seen a decrease over the years. We continue to also look at having 389 apprentices who are current registered in the Northwest Territories. The good news is that we have developed an Apprenticeship Trades and Occupational Certification Strategy for the next five years, and that's being implemented by the working group and the steering committee. That's mainly made up of people in the industry. So hopefully we will start seeing...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is a great honour to recognize our president of the NWT Teachers' Association, Mr. Fraser Oliver. He did a great job this week with the Educators' Conference. It was well-attended with teachers from across the Northwest Territories, and I welcome all educators here in the gallery today. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. There are a number of programs that we have for seniors across the Northwest Territories. With our consultations and our discussions with the NWT Seniors Society and the Yellowknife Seniors Society, we have had discussions since the beginning of this government. They were pleased with the increase that they did receive from the Department of ECE. Those were our discussions that we had with them and their comments, and they were happy to have that increase. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. There were recommendations that were brought to me. I had to make the decision on them, and that decision was made early on in this government. The foundational review is still in place. We are waiting to get the report back before we look at making the management response. As I mentioned earlier with the staff, I am sure that senior management over at Aurora College is having those discussions with their instructors as we go through this process. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We don't have a committed line item to it. We always try to find the funding within the department to fund the program. Thank you, Mr. Chair.