Caitlin Cleveland

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I want to talk about opportunity - opportunity that strengthens communities, creates pathways to employment and entrepreneurship, and positions Northerners to capitalize on the heightened national and international interest in the North. As the Minister of Finance said in yesterday's budget address, a strong Northwest Territories builds a stronger Canada, and that strength begins with our people and the opportunities before them.

Across the Northwest Territories, people are looking for practical ways to build their careers, grow their skills, or start...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there's definitely questions being posed in looking for solutions as part of the potential lifting of the moratorium. One of the concerns that we have certainly heard is ensuring that fairness to exploration license holders is maintained and addressed in this process. There are a number of licenses that would be set to expire potentially right up against when the moratorium could be lifted. And so it would be essential to ensure that a solution is figured out before that happens. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my colleague, the Minister for Strategic Infrastructure, Energy, and Supply Chains, sits on a steering committee for the Mackenzie Valley Highway, and making sure that people are ready for this project is part of their conversations. I also understand that this month, the committee -- or sorry, the Minister's Department for Strategic Infrastructure, Energy, and Supply Chains will be doing their engagement plan to start working with Indigenous governments on what that readiness will look like, and so I can confirm to the Member that this work is...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, the programs within the GNWT extend beyond the walls, so to say, of ITI. ITI has programs, for example, like its community futures program that issues different loan arrangements. It also has its SEED funding where you can have -- or apply for different levels of loans -- not loans, sorry, grants for governments -- or jeez, I am going to start over. I think it's -- it's Friday, Mr. Speaker. SEED funding, which is grants for businesses. They can either do things like upscale their business. They can expand their business. Because this is going...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can assure the Member that I have not stopped talking about the Mackenzie Delta LNG opportunity. I've talked to federal Ministers about it, Alberta Ministers about it. I've talked to the major projects office. I've talked to the Canada Infrastructure Bank. I've talked to businesses about it, ambassadors, Consul Generals. And so I am definitely along with some of my Cabinet colleagues consistently making sure people both have the pre-feasibility study and idea of the economic potential that exists there. Having those conversations alongside the chair of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to welcome to the gallery Fort Simpson teacher Jackie Whellie. This week we also celebrated National Women and Girls in Sport Week, and Jackie is a very active futsal and soccer coach and does a lot for kids in the community, so huge thank you to her.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the advocacy of the Member. The way the program is designed today is to support our most at need -- or most in need seniors and elders in the Northwest Territories. And so the program is designed to support them with up to 80 percent of their fuel costs under this program. And if they're not able to meet their monthly living needs, then their client navigator can support them to move over to the income assistance for seniors and persons with disabilities that has a once-a-year program application. And under that program, it pays for...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, as part of the review to the income assistance policies and legislation regulations was the ability of residents to actually keep more earned income as well as increasing what qualified for unearned income. So there is an ability of residents to keep up to $350 a month of unearned income and then for earned income, so that would be as a source of employment, it's $500 plus 25 percent of their paycheque. So there is right there up to $850 plus that residents are incentivized to earn through other mechanisms, including through employment. There's also...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I definitely want to be responsive to this entire House and what people want to accomplish together. I will say that universal basic income is typically an unconditional benefit, and I'm hearing lots of desire to see conditional benefits brought back to this House and so I think it's really important that before the department goes away and does a tremendous amount of work that everyone is on the same page and is -- that the majority supports something of this nature, so I think that is an important first step. Thank you.

I like great Kam Lake; that sounds really good. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to recognize Rita Mueller who is the president of the Northwest Territories Teachers' Association. I've had the privilege of knowing her for about 25 years. I first met her when she was principal of Chief Jimmy Bruneau School. And I'd also like to recognize my youngest child who chose to come spend his afternoon here, and that's Dalan Bowden. Thank you.