Caitlin Cleveland

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member from the Sahtu for bringing up this project. The Standing Committee on Social Development in the last term had the opportunity to sit down with the Behdzi Ahda' First Nation in order to learn about this project and hear from them, and so it's very nice to be able to be on this side and continue on with this project. So absolutely, yes, the department has been working with Behdzi Ahda' First Nation for the design of the new school in Colville Lake. And right now, ECE is working with a baseline that was determined by the school...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for acknowledging that not all communities are the same and not all expectations across the territory are the same. As far as pathfinding within the Government of the Northwest Territories, education, culture and employment has client navigators that help income assistance clients access the program and work through the program as well. These client navigators are found in most communities across the territory. And they're not only responsible for looking in just simply income assistance. These are people who know about programs in...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. This definitely would be quite a huge undertaking, and I'm excited to learn of Nunavut's undertaking of it and the study that they're currently doing. I know that the department has reached out to Nunavut to gain insights into the outcomes of their feasibility study so that we can learn from our sister territory as to what they're learning. But right now here in the territory, we've been doing, as the Member indicated, revisions to our income assistance program, and those revisions really well, they came with an...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And you're very effective at your job. Thank you to the Member.

Mr. Speaker, in addition to creating pathways, there's also promoting program mentorship and support funding related to entrepreneurship. And so I've said before in the previous Assembly that, really, a healthy economy is reflective of our entrepreneurs and our private industry, and so making sure that we are supporting people who want to take advantage of entrepreneurship is very important to me and something that I'd like to see go forward.

Mr. Speaker, in addition to new products, there's also...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the review was done in the 19th Assembly, and it was anticipated that the changes would actually come into play for residents of the Northwest Territories before the start of the 20th Assembly, but this project has been held up and delayed due to system requirements on our IT side, and so it is anticipated that these changes will be seen by residents coming in the summer of this year. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, I listened to the Member's statement today, and I absolutely agree with the Member that all of our residents have great potential and that it is our job as their family, friends, and neighbours to ensure that they have the support to reach that potential if they want it and if they need it. Within the department of education, there are career counsellors, there are employability assessments and resume and cover letter development help if people want it. There's interview skill development, career action planning. There's job search help as...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can say that the previous Minister of Education, Culture and Employment was very open to looking at new ways to see this project go forward and really wanted to work with the community to see it to its fruition. The community initially presented several alternative options for this project, including a public/private partnership, build/lease, third party funding contributions, and also potentially negotiated contracts. At the time, the department indicated that they needed more information in order to consider moving away from kind of the...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in terms of the progress of this project, so education, culture and employment has a contribution agreement with the Behdzi Ahda' First Nation, and this contribution agreement agreed to fund the completion and submission of a schematic design and a class C construction estimate for the new school. And this also includes a geotechnical investigation of the proposed site for the project. The First Nation contracted an engineering and architectural consultant directly themselves to complete the work. And unfortunately, while the contribution...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, certainly, as Members of the Legislative Assembly, we spend a tremendous amount of time supporting residents learn about different programs across the GNWT, and I know that this is work that is also part of the homelessness strategy that lives right now within EIA with the Premier's office. And I absolutely can commit to providing information and also seeing what I can do from my part to make sure that information is accessible. For sure, I'm absolutely open to working with Members and welcome any ideas they have any time to make sure that people...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories is well aware of the securities council that the government of Yukon has put in place. We were excited to see some of the names on that council because those are people that we have had the opportunity to work with here at the Government of the Northwest Territories in the past and that we look forward very much to seeing the results of that securities council. But as far as what the Premier will choose to do, that question would have to go to the Premier. I can say, though, that we have priority setting...