Alfred Moses

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I do know where the Member's going with this, Dechinta did approach the department for a letter of support. At the time we were looking at some of our own needs and our inventory as well to support some of our programs moving forward through the Aurora College, and knowing that we were coming up with the Skills 4 Success Action Plan and the strategic framework going forward, the 10-year strategic framework going forward to address some of the in-demand jobs, skills and training that was needed. So I know where the Member's going. They did request a letter of support. At...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I will continue going on and saying that we haven't heard any concerns since the implementation of the Canada Child Benefit. Leading up to the Canada Child Benefit implementation here in the Northwest Territories, there were some concerns that were going around on Facebook and social media that were brought to our attention. We assured individuals that nothing was going to change; in fact, money was going to go up after August 1st. So, yes, since we have the implementation, we haven't heard any concerns. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I'm sorry, Mr. Chair. Can the Member please repeat his question? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This government is committed to finding new ways to make it easier for NWT residents to acquire the skills and training they need to get jobs and to connect employers to trained and qualified employees.

The Department of Education, Culture and Employment plays a key role in this by focusing on fostering lifelong learning, skill development, training, and employability. That includes expanding opportunities for tradesoriented learning, while also enhancing our communications, service delivery, and way of doing business.

Today, I would like to tell Members about a new...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. To my right, I have my deputy minister, Sylvia Haener, and to my left Deputy Minister Olin Lovely. Thank you.

Any positions that were reduced within our department, we'll continue to follow up and monitor to see how that position that was reduced is affecting the program delivery as well as other staff in that area.

No. I just want to thank the Members for their questions, and I know there are a lot of concerns and a lot of issues out there in terms of infrastructure needs throughout the Northwest Territories. We try our best to meet them as we move forward.

Sitting as a Regular Member in the 17th, I understand some of the frustrations, but, in our current fiscal situation and with all the competing infrastructure needs, it's always a tough job to see where we put the dollars. But I appreciate the questions and just thank everybody for their support and the questions that they had. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

We're always looking at reviewing our programs to make them more efficient and more effective for the residents of Northwest Territories. The CSCCS Program wasn't fully utilized over the last few years. I believe we had over 300 people who took part in it last year and got trained and skill developments. Myself, I just recently went to a labour market FPT meeting down at Quebec City where we're looking at getting more incremental dollars that might be able to offset some of those costs, but we can review it. The dollars have been fully utilized. Maybe we can do a better job of promoting it and...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Currently, Tsiigehtchic isn't on the list but, as I mentioned, we are continuing to do that survey and it is based on needs of the community. If the Member is saying that there is a need in the school, we'll reach out to them and see what kind of resources they have in the school for the junior kindergarten. Thank you.

Yes, we submitted it in September. I'll have to get the exact dates, and as mentioned we should hopefully be hearing something back in January or February. Thank you, Mr. Chair.