Thank you to the Member. To the Member, Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Can the Minister first just clarify in terms of the loss of two active positions, I guess one in headquarters and one in the North Slave, what were those positions doing -- I am not sure if it's related at all to the possible new federal agreements or what's coming. But maybe you could just explain what those positions were that have been lost or sunsetted. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the Member, Yellowknife North. To the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, we had a sunset of an agreement, a federal agreement, that was funding the North Slave regional training partnership position. And then in addition, we have removed a certification administrator position that has been vacant for more than 20 months. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. To the Member Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. And so just to clarify, was the North Slave regional training partnership specific to the Giant Mine remediation project? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Member Yellowknife North. To the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The answer is yes.
Thank you, Minister. Member Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So that brings me to some targets in the business plan specifically around the Giant Mine remediation project and the socio-economic goals or indicators.
You know, this has been there for a number of years and publicly available that the Giant Mine remediation project is targeting 25 to 35 percent Indigenous employment, 36 percent northern employment, 30 percent female employment, and yet we see in the business plan progress to date has been very disappointing. We've had about 11 percent Indigenous employment, only 26 percent northern employment, and 17 percent female employment. And we're also seeing the loss of the regional training partnership, which it seems was not as successful as hoped anyway. And so can the Minister give us any insights on what -- what went wrong there, why this training partnership program was not very successful, and we -- we haven't been able to meet our targets yet? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the Member Yellowknife North. To the Minister.
Thank you so much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, definitely within this position it was a harder-to-fill position than we had originally anticipated. That said, I have had the opportunity to speak with multiple employers that have worked on the Giant Mine remediation project. And while the procurement numbers for the project have been high, the Member is right, that the northern employment numbers have have not matched that. And in conversation with some of the proponents have learned that -- what I've been told is I will be happier with the more recent numbers that come out because they've really focused on working to see increases in northern employment, northern participation, and not just procurement, and so I am hopeful and looking forward to seeing kind of updated numbers and will continue to work with the proponents that are working on and are successful in bidding on these projects to ensure that we see more and more Northerners working on the Giant Mine remediation. This ultimately is our goal. It's not just within the procurement but within northern employment as well. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. To the Member Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So if we are starting to see more successes, what -- what's changed? I think we just need to try to be able to articulate to ourselves and the public, you know, what -- what is going right when things are going better or going right and then what's going wrong when it's not going well because we seem, over the years, to often sort of -- we set these goals for ourselves, we want Northerners employed, you know, we want jobs, and then it doesn't work out and we go, oh, you know, like, oops, or, you know, who would have known or we just didn't manage it, we don't know why. And if things go well, we need to actually know what's changing or what we're doing better so that we can replicate that or do more of it or put more funding into that. So does the Minister have any more insights into what might be changing if things are starting to turn and for the better? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the Member. To the Minister.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I can assure the Member that public sector and private sector are not being flippant, that we recognize that there is a tremendous amount of opportunity within the Giant Mine remediation project. A lot of it comes down to, well, one, ensuring that there is lead time to upcoming procurement and that locals have not just the time to bid on projects, as we're seeing through the success in procurement and the high procurement numbers, but also the time to prepare their workforce. And so, one, it's having the available workforce and, two, having the properly trained workforce. So two components of that. One, making sure that we are supporting our industry partners to pursue the training that they need to pursue, making sure that we are supporting them through different workforce development funding arrangements, making sure that if there is opportunity for training that we are working together to try and connect those people at the end of the day. And so I will say a lot of our opportunity needs to be captured through being very purposeful in our workforce development in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. To the Member Yellowknife North.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. So final question here, hopefully, so it sounds like that the North Slave regional training partnership was not really the thing or the vehicle to be able to make those kinds of things happen. It hasn't been decided that it works well enough for ECE to directly provide that support and be liaising with contractors and -- and that we don't need these kind of special, you know, training partnerships or other vehicles set up, or is there an eye to try to set up some new initiative or organization or working group or committee or something to try to ensure that some momentum is gained around increasing northern employment on these projects? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the Member. Minister.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, just because this role is not currently filled and has sunset does not mean that this work has stopped. As I mentioned to the Member for Great Slave, we're increasing funding in this area. As we go forward, this is an area where I want to see more and more opportunities and I, you know, look forward to coming back to Members of this House and letting them know I've spent all the workforce development training dollars and because that means that Northerners are receiving the training that they need in order to fill the roles that we need filled in the territory to capture a lot of this economic development opportunity.
I think what it comes down to, especially when, you know, we don't and nor should we have kind of a bricks-and-mortar training institution in every single community across the territory. That's not realistic. What, though, is realistic is making sure that people are doing -- are able to access training, doing training on the job, so that we are -- we have Northerners working, we are succeeding in gaining the opportunities from these projects, that we are also at the end of the day ensuring that Northerners are ending up with further education, further training, further certifications, that they need to continue to grab hold of these procurement opportunities. And so we want to make sure that from one opportunity to the next these skill sets and these certifications are transferable, are importable, and then at the same time, you know, that this is not just something that is -- for example for Giant Mine, this is something that is needed when we're talking about Mackenzie Valley Highway, when we're talking about other opportunities that come to this territory, that we're being purposeful in the training that is needed. Because we know that we need workers, that we need people in this territory. We know that, you know, for example, our nominee program does not begin to fill our labour needs, and we need to make sure that we as Northerners are filling these roles as best we can across the territory. Thank you.
Thank you to the Minister. Moving on, any further questions? Seeing none, please turn to page 52.
Education, Culture and Employment, labour development and standards, $18,666,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Moving on to languages, culture, on page 56, with information items on 58 to 60. Are there any questions? To the Member, Great Slave.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. As the Minister knows, culture and heritage, near and dear to my heart.
In the business plan, there is a piece around planning to include heritage resources in emergency planning and that draft steps to implement planning are expected in summer of 2026. Could the Minister provide a scope of work on that particular item insofar as I assume it's heritage resources contemplated in both institutions as well as perhaps archaeological pieces, but I just would like to seek some clarity around that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the Member Great Slave. To the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'd love to talk about workforce development until the bison come home, but for this one I will pass to the deputy.
Thank you, Minister. Deputy minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. And the Member is correct that this refers to both heritage resources on the land and in institutions. I think primarily what this is referring to is archaeological and in the Beaufort Delta in particular, with the eroding coastlines and the loss of heritage resources into the Beaufort Sea. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, deputy minister. To the Member Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Well, you know, we're gonna make the Minister a passionate fan of culture and heritage if it's the last thing I do. That's good to hear. And I just declare one more point of clarity, Mr. Chair. Will we be seeing steps on -- or draft steps to implement as committee in summer of 2026? Thank you.
Thank you to the Member, Great Slave. To the Minister.
I'd like to pass to the deputy, please, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. To the deputy minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I anticipate that we would be sharing those with committee when they're determined. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, deputy minister. To the Member.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So in the business plan, it says summer 2026. Is that still on time? Thank you.
Thank you to the Member Great Slave. To the Minister.
Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair. The answer is yes.
Okay, thank you, Minister. To the Member Great Slave.
Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. And to the main estimates, I believe the only real substantive pieces that have changed from the previous main estimates to this main estimates in terms of dollar figure is an increase to Francophone services for the educational authorities, Aurora College and WSCC in provision of services in French, and possibly the reduction is with two staff, one full-time and one part-time. Is that really the only money that is being moved around right now? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Member Great Slave. To the Minister.
I believe that's correct, Mr. Chair. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. To the Member Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So some of the work that's being contemplated with the legislation and the work that is ongoing for future Assemblies, be it the Archives Act or the Heritage Resources Act -- I apologize if that's not the correct title -- that work is being contemplated in existing resources? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Member Great Slave. To the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, and we continue to work on those pieces of legislation internally to the department. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. To the Member Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think those are all my thoughts for right now.
Thank you to the Member. Any further questions? Seeing none. Education, culture, no further questions, we'll please turn to page 57.
Education, Culture and Employment, languages and culture, $16,975,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
