Caitlin Cleveland

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, you know, what can be done certainly with the changes to the policies within income assistance, there is a public education component that is needed so that we're ensuring that people understand, you know, the portion of earned income certainly with -- within any change, especially when it comes to people reliant on a program for their month-to-month needs, we want to make sure that that they have the information that they need at their fingertips and understand the opportunities that exist within that. Our intent is to make sure that we are...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in addition to making sure that third party investments was included in the mandate agreement with the Aurora College board of governors, I've also ensured that if I know of any programs or funding sources that I am sharing that information with Aurora College, with their board of governors. I know that because of that they have pursued specific funding that is relevant for their housing desires. I've also confirmed with them that should they want to travel to Ottawa together in order to meet with federal counterparts on some of these opportunities or with...

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, through conversations and -- through conversations with Members, it has become quite apparent that there is a desire to see some form of productive choices returned to the income security programming. So that is currently something that we are pursuing and working on collaboratively with Members. Thank you.

I believe that's correct, Mr. Chair. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, through the reports of the business plan, we know that there are hundreds of contacts between mental health workers that are funded through this program and students, and so I would say that any time a student has access to the support that they deem that they need, it would be certainly a success to ensure that we're supporting students when and where they need it. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the answer is no, no extra people. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as an entire Cabinet, we have asked okay, where we can put some additional dollars that really not only achieve our economic goals in the territory but make sure that we're also achieving our social goals. We're at a point in time, Mr. Speaker, where we have to make sure that our investments are multi-use, just like our infrastructure, and so that includes looking at investments that speak to both our social and our economic needs in the territory, hence housing and health care investments, as well as investments in education.

Mr. Speaker, in addition to...

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So Mr. Chair, with the changes to student financial assistance that were introduced, we have seen an increase in Indigenous students pursuing post-secondary. We currently have about 50 percent of student financial assistance students in the Northwest Territories are Indigenous students. And the big change that was made there was making sure that Indigenous students have access to an unlimited amount of semesters and that includes, for example, the tuition and the books that come through the basic grant. And in addition to that, Mr. Chair, we, through our...

I'd like to pass to the deputy, please, Mr. Chair.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So 55 percent of the school-based mental health and wellness program is funded by ECE, and 45 percent of it is funded by health and social services. Thank you.