Kate Reid

Yeah, thank you, Madam Chair. It's disappointing that it was trimmed rather than advertised but more of a comment than a question, and I'll cede my time. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. And, yeah, the 2024-2025 Main Estimates for the Indigenous language secretariat are slightly lower than this year's main estimates, so that's a positive, I believe, but in the historical 2023-2024 actuals, it's quite a significant drop. Could the Minister explain that, please. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Would the Minister be willing to share those items with the committee when they are available? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. So I note in the progress to date on that item that you also mention archival records. And that's kind of what cued me to asking about that because there are archival records outside of the GNWT's ownership within the territory. So I assume that just means archival records that speak to those heritage resources? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm good.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm going to be pretty basic today. I have more things to say about this throughout the coming weeks. But can the Minister please explain how we plan to meet our targets in the business plan with the new limits placed upon us by the federal government? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Yeah, thank you, Madam Chair. And, yeah, there's an argument to be made if we want more people, you know, participating in the wage economy and getting jobs, you obviously need to build that ability to have good jobs that aren't just minimum wage paying jobs, but I think another part of this equation is moving from minimum wage to living wage. I would note that $16.70 an hour will not let a person survive with a family here in the capital. I can't imagine what it would be like in our smaller communities. So I'll just leave that as a comment. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, those recommendations, in broad strokes, are implementing the full suite of tools in the GNWT's program manager's guide for funding NGOs which was from 2014, update that guide with specific items -- I won't list them here -- and provide additional supports. So I would say the EIA is providing those additional supports. But will EIA be committing to and will the Premier be committing to looking at the suite of tools in that guide and updating that guide? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when I replied to the last year's budget, I started with a quote. This year I will simply say, the race is not always to the swift.

Mr. Speaker, that is the moral of Aesop's fable of the tortoise and the hare. For many years, if not decades, the GNWT has been criticized for being too slow and not doing enough. It's a criticism rooted in a truth, which is that this government does tend to move slowly. This is why this criticism is continually repeated. I think there is nuance within that truth, Mr. Speaker. First, however, I want to talk about what I have...

Thank you, Madam Chair. So one thing in that list of items from fiscal restraint that caught my ear just now was a reduction in translator training. Could the Minister please explain why that was a choice that was made? Thank you, Madam Chair.