Jane Weyallon Armstrong

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with the CLC closing, can the Minister commit to discussing partnership opportunities for apprenticeship and other programs with Indigenous government and community organizations to strengthen the presence of Aurora College in small communities? Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you for the information, yes. I have no more other questions on this topic as well. So thank you.

Okay, yes, thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. I know that there's -- we do have a lot of mental health issues too in the small communities, you know. Like, I mean, we have lots of issues in small communities because we have high rates of unemployment, housing crisis. There's accumulation of all the social issues. It's all -- you know, it all goes back to mental health issues. So I just wanted to ask if they know or if they're working with Indigenous governments or organizations to take on -- you know, if they're working with these organizations to take on more of a mental health and addiction...

Thank you. Child and family services, here within the budget, you know, 2023-2024 it was like 4.46. Are we on -- I'm on page 205. Okay, so there's an increase from 46 -- from that time and then 2024-2025 and then there was a -- it revised -- the budget was revised -- the estimate was revised. And then 2025-2026 went to 52. I don't know if this is good or bad because, you know, child and family services. So is this -- okay. So I know that this takes care of the -- you know, the -- all the NWT. And so how much of this is for child and family services program that are for the children in care and...

Thank you. Masi, Mr. Speaker. Community learning centres are currently staffed by full-time community adult educators as well as visiting instructors. Can the Minister explain what will happen to these jobs once the centres close? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I'll do this in my language for the opening comment -- I mean for the opening of the statement.

Mr. Speaker, [No translation provided].

Mr. Speaker -- I'll do it in English now -- a few days ago, last week, in response to questions about the closure of the community learning centre, the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment mentioned that a GNWT in What We Heard report and the 2024 facility report. Mr. Speaker, we can see from these reports that learning centres are at the heart of college programming in small communities. Of the 19 centres being closed, the facility report...

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. This has to do with human resources. According to the budget here, payroll, payroll tax, it decreased for 2025-2026 from 2024-2025 fiscal year. I just wanted to know because in here with the active positions, all across the regions there's going to be 33 positions that's going to decrease in all the regions, and even for Tlicho region, there's -- we're going to be down four positions. So I just wanted to know because payroll tax is down and it's not just GNWT that's, you know -- it's probably other organizations as well too. But with this, can the Minister tell...

Thank you. Will the new Indigenous employment policy apply to internships and summer students employment program? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Choosing our youth for the public service:

Mr. Speaker, Indigenous youth are the future of the NWT, and we need more young people in the public service, Mr. Speaker. In April, the government will implement a new Indigenous employment policy. The Minister of Finance has said her department will now focus on recruiting people who are Indigenous to the present boundaries of the Northwest Territories. Mr. Speaker, I am concerned for our youth. They are already on an uneven playing field when we look at outcomes in our education system.

Many young people leave the territory...

Yeah, that's -- I have no more further questions regarding this topic. Thank you.