Caitlin Cleveland

Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I appreciate the success that has happened over the course of this term, but there's still room for us to grow and there's still room for us to welcome more people to the Northwest Territories. One of the things that I like to do in this job is pick up the phone and call people. And I've had the opportunity to speak to people working in the immigration sector from other jurisdictions who have literally said, why aren't you guys getting closer to your quota? So I think there's room for us to grow.

Madam Speaker, the department's response to the...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, in December 2022, the NWT recorded the highest employment rate in Canada. But like the rest of the world, NWT employers, including the GNWT, struggled to fill many positions critical to our success. But our population growth is not keeping up with our needs. By the 2040s, our population is projected to grow by only nine percent while Canada's at 25 percent.

Madam Speaker, the bureau of statistics projects that by 2035, the population will decline in 18 of 33 NWT communities, including Inuvik, Fort Simpson, Fort Smith, Fort Resolution, Whati, Fort...

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to deal with the motion I gave notice of earlier today.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. So just so that I can get this straight, no NGO could afford to operate a shelter at the budget they were given by the housing corporation, so everybody walked away from the table. So housing corporation stepped in and said we are going to operate this shelter because we need a shelter in Inuvik, and the cost of doing that properly is $2 million. So now the government has come back and said it is too expensive to operate a shelter in Inuvik, we're going to get a third party to do it, and we're going to give them a quarter of what we spent in order to operate...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that commitment from the Minister. I think this is an excellent program and a really big opportunity for northern students.

One of the things that I also mentioned today in my questions was summer students. Summer is coming. Now is the time where summer students are hired. And I would also like to see an effort on the part of the GNWT to also make sure that summer students are being hired across the Northwest Territories. And so will the Minister of education also commit to talking to his colleagues about ways to make that happen? Thank you...

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. So, Madam Chair, that line item has not grown. So in 20222023, it was $2,997,000 and then again in this year it is holding steady at the same amount. And so I do not see an increase of the $2 million that was originally in executive earmarked for the Inuvik shelter. And so I'm wondering why there's no increase if the Inuvik shelter is now coming out of that emergency shelter's pot found under homelessness initiatives? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I absolutely hear the Minister that there are only so many employers in the Northwest Territories willing or able to take on this work and that it is a significant investment to be able to take on a high school student in this kind of capacity. One of the things that the Minister has at his disposal is an entire government, which is one of the largest employers in the territory and actually employs red seal apprentices and skilled trades people in multiple regions across the territory; in fact, Mr. Speaker, in all the regions across the Northwest...

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, the last question for this section is the Minister did reference, as well as the deputy minister, the homelessness specialist position. And I'm wondering if given the release of the homelessness prevention strategy during this fiscal year, but hopefully for implementation soon after, if there will be a need for additional resources in order to implement that strategy and if one homelessness specialist is enough for the department? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

In October 2020, the Speaker tabled the Ombud’s firstever annual report for 20192020. The Ombud’s report made 14 recommendations for legislative changes to the Act. The recommendations were informed by:

The Ombud’s review of legislation in other jurisdictions;

The advice she received from other Ombuds and legal professionals; and

The issues that arose when responding to individual complaints in her first year in the role.

The Ombud made her recommendations "with the intent of ensuring that my office is fully enabled to fulfill the purpose and vision with which the...

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, if from that $2 million was the cost of operating roughly the Inuvik shelter, where will that $2 million then be housed within the housing corporation budget to properly fund a thirdparty provider to provide that service? Thank you.