Caitlin Cleveland

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I would need to go follow up with the board of governors of Aurora College and their trades program specifically. I can tell you that their trades instructors are all people generally who have worked in the field, who have a tremendous amount of experience, and the apprentices then also go and work directly with employers across this territory as well. Given that it's a small territory, I would assume if there is something up that we would definitely hear about it, and I can say that I certainly like to keep my lines of communication open with our...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, government-wide, we have adopted a macroeconomic policy that we use in all the work that we do, not only across government but also in the Financial Management Board. That said, Mr. Speaker, we also do have -- you want me to keep going? Okay.

Mr. Speaker, we also do have our budget address, which our Minister of Finance delivers every year, that also includes an economic outlook, and I would be more than happy to work with the Member to make sure that we're capturing some of this and some of the other reporting mechanisms that the Member is...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we had a great conversation earlier this week, the Member and I, on how we incorporate some of that data. So we do incorporate data into the work that we do. We incorporate it into strategies like our film strategy, our fish strategy, into our art strategies. So that's work that we continue to do in all of our planning, in all of our programs that we do at the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment, and work that we will continue to do.

Mr. Speaker, I'm more than happy to continue having conversations about how we can incorporate more of...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, even with the support initiative funding, we're still asking all education bodies to still put in their applications to Jordan's Principle and Inuit Child First Initiative. So even with those applications and that funding arrangement that we do have and have applied funding for, there still is a responsibility to make sure that we're still submitting applications to the federal government, and the same encouragement would apply for the question of the Member in regards specifically to funding for the speech-language pathologist.

In addition, Mr...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So the Member is absolutely right. When programs are not offered here, then often our students will go down to Alberta, for example at NAIT. So quite often, we end up with students who are doing their first and second year here in the Northwest Territories, and then their third and fourth year are being facilitated at other institutions. Predominantly, they end up going down to Alberta. I will also say the chair and board of governors of Aurora College is looking at other ways of increasing their trades offerings and making sure that they're increasing access...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we currently follow the national, what's called the NOT Code, so the trades that are identified under national standards, and so that's the system that we adhere to to make sure that we're being consistent with the whole country. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, our programs are accredited, so they go through a process of accreditation before they can be offered, before they can be deemed programs that people turn around and then can use in life. We want to make sure that we are being safe, that we have appropriate training for people across the territory, and make sure that we're offering a program that is competitive with the south. If the Member has a specific concern about a specific program, I'm more than happy to follow up on that with him, with the college, and make sure that I can provide him with...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

So, Mr. Speaker, it's called the Apprenticeship Trade and Occupational Certification Advisory Board, so ATOC Board, and they are still very much in play. Their current board all has current membership, and I actually rely on them quite a bit and source them for their expert opinions. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, while I said to the Member that we don't want to do strategies left, right and center, and make new door props for departments to use, that we want to make sure that we're using our public servants effectively and efficiently, we still do have programs, and we still do have metrics in our programs. So continuing to use our data that we do have is incredibly important.

Mr. Speaker, I'd also say that it's really important that we are very clear in our communication that we have accessible messaging as a government in all of our economic initiatives that we're...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, the support of a healthcare worker on those assessments is a change that was proposed by the federal government. We continue to go about doing our applications with education bodies in the same way and making sure that at the Department of Education, Culture and Employment that we're providing the support letters that our education bodies need to be able to facilitate that application process. So that support that we've always provided is still maintained and still provided. Thank you.