Caitlin Cleveland

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I'd like to start, and then I'd like to pass it to the assistant deputy minister, Mr. Saturnino. But, for starters, absolutely there's more that can be done as far as employers learning about the wage subsidies. And I think that especially when it comes to achieving our goal of increasing SNAP apprentices across the territory especially outside of Yellowknife, the more work that can be done in order to find those employers and make sure that they know that they are eligible for wage subsidies, I am a firm believer that us as MLAs have a role to...

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, what I can say is that I would like to ensure that we have a department that is doing its part to support the revitalization of Indigenous languages across the territory. I think that there is work to be done both external and internal to the government, and part of that is the Indigenous Recruitment and Retention Framework that is put in play by the Minister of Finance as well and services to the public that is coming out of the GNWT. There's also work that is being done right now in regards to, that I've spoken to already today, like the MAP...

Thank you so much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if the goal is for our child care providers to be paid on par with education assistants across the territory, then the ask would need to be $3.5 million for wages and $3.5 million for compensation and benefits.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I absolutely agree with the Member. I know that we are both products of being able to be in French language schools in this territory and are able now to pass that on to our own children, which is definitely a privilege and one that I would like for Northerners to be able to continue.

So within that funding, the Member is right. There's a sunset of funding related to the CanadaNWT Cooperation Agreement on minority language education and second official language instruction, and the Member was totally in tune with his math as well. $1.453 million is...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Absolutely, subject to legislation, I'd be more than happy to make anything public to make sure that I am following the rules of the Northwest Territories but certainly I definitely agree in transparency, and I want to encourage and support the Member's desire to continue to stay afoot on the happenings over at Aurora College, the direction they've been provided, and also the timelines that they intend to adhere to.

Mr. Speaker, the reason why yes, was a little bit longer is because I've answered this question numerous times and want to ensure that I'm getting...

Thank you so much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, that's not a hundred percent of the story. That is definitely the primary driver for their reductions, but it is not a hundred percent. But I can definitely say that their selection of what dollars that they were not going to use and suggest for this exercise were intentionally not tied to transformation. But for additional detail, I would like the opportunity to invite another assistant deputy minister to join me at the table.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the trades trailers are owned by Aurora College and so would fall under their operations. Thank you.

Thank you so much, Mr. Chair. So this line item  or the difference, sorry, in this line item here is a decrease mainly due to reductions of $460,000. And this is partly offset by funding from the Canada Council of the Arts to support artists across the Northwest Territories. And if the Member just gives me two seconds  sorry, guys.

So this reduction here is largely due to a reduction in heritage centres across the territory. And so originally, there was a budget there of half a million dollars in the previous Assembly. That budget line item was moved up to a million dollars. But what we...

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the NWT Early Childhood Association has a very good working relationship with the department. I've had the opportunity to chat with them during multiple occasions and can definitely ensure that this is added to the conversation in an upcoming meeting for sure to make sure that we have kind of the full context of asks and then go from there. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would have to phone a friend for that one, but I believe it is worked into federal and GNWT agreements with Indigenous governments. But may I please pass to the deputy minister.