Caitlin Cleveland

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, that was a sunset of a federal program that was not reinstated, and there was a significant impact to labour market programs across Canada and one that we have heard a lot about from provincial and territorial labour Ministers across the country for sure. Thank you.

Mr. Chair, with your permission, I'd like the opportunity to trade out my witnesses, please.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, that would be the difference between what is currently being provided and what would need to be provided to make it on par. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, it's not a trade from one to the other. What is happening under the senior citizens supplementary benefit is we have more seniors in the territory, so we needed to increase that budget in order to account for the expected growth of that program that matches our population growth in that age bracket. Thank you.

Sorry, Mr. Chair. Just for clarity, is the Member still speaking about the Indigenous languages broadcasting grant of $52,000? I'm just looking for clarity from the Member. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I will definitely put in a plug for, you know, if anybody has any French translating drafters out there, who are both lawyers and very skilled in the language of French and translations, please come live in the Northwest Territories and make this your home. We have some work for you. But, yes, as soon as we can get that done, that is something that I very much look forward to getting out for engagement and making sure that we can put that new regulation in play. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, in that top line item there, the $8.2 million to the $6 million, that line item reduction is due to some fiscal sustainability reductions. So for starters, there is a sunset of education renewal and innovation funding but from our fiscal sustainability plan, there's also a switch to virtual meetings related to committee meetings and a reduction of the number of training sessions as well by our student support and wellness programs. There's also a trueup of mentorship allowances and substitute wages to support the budgets under the school funding...

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, can I please pass to the assistant deputy minister Mr. Saturnino. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, in the $10.6 million that was mentioned, that federal funding announcement, how those dollars are going to roll out, that plan is being worked on in conjunction with sector stakeholders as well as Indigenous governments and education bodies to make sure that we're all working together. I know that a lot of this comes down to us making sure that we're stacking funding together, that we're working together with additional funding mechanisms to bring it all together and make sure that we are doing what we can with the dollars we have to create more...

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, one of the things that is important to know in these two main estimates for 20232024, as well as 20242025, is they both have the funding for the new income assistance program included in them, but because we weren't able to launch that program, the actuals were far less because we weren't able to get those dollars out the door with the new program. I think it's also worth knowing as well that we still have not returned to our prepandemic levels for income assistance uptake as well. Thank you.