Caitlin Cleveland

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, overall the initiative is focused on critical minerals and then from there, on mineral resource development and, really, investment attraction in the territory. But our focus is certainly these days on critical minerals given that's where the world is really turning its attention these days. This program is certainly just in its infancy and over our time, we will certainly continue to track, as we already do, exploration in it the territories, projects moving forward in the territories and, of course, GDP from our mineral projects. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Terry's going to feel very special today because we're all fighting over him, but I'd like to say a warm welcome to my constituent, and we might need some proof of residency now to Mr. Terry Testart. Mr. Speaker, I'd also like to acknowledge Steve Loutitt in the House today. I started my journey with the GNWT as an intern for the Department of Transportation, spent many a days on the tarmac with Mr. Loutitt, including the year where a missile hit the golf course. What a time to start in communications. But very much my best memories of him were certainly at...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, this was a soft launch at PDAC where we were able to attract different ambassadors from different countries who have now their own critical mineral funds, their own raw materials funds. We were able to attract different investors, mining companies, exploration companies, and really we're able to start by rolling this out. We do have some collateral, and there will also be a web page that I'd be more than happy to share on social media to ensure that Northerners also have access to it as well. Thank you.

Thank you so much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this program was just recently announced -- the Member is right -- when we were at PDAC, and it's an investment from CanNor, $460,000 between the three territories, to invest in essentially a promotional campaign to attract investment to the three territories specific to critical mineral mining. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, we have great rocks. The global demand for critical minerals continues to grow, and the Northwest Territories is well-positioned to play a key role in supplying these essential resources to Canada and its allies. With over two-thirds of the critical minerals listed by Canada, and almost half identified by the United States, our territory is a significant contributor to securing a stable and responsible supply of materials vital to clean energy, advanced manufacturing, and digital technologies.

Recognizing the opportunity before us, the Government of the Northwest Territories...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, absolutely, there -- the way that we shifted the criteria, based on our reduction in allotments this year, was to really focus on those individuals who had expiring work permits in 2025. And I appreciate the Member bringing forward the concern around people who have work permits expiring at the beginning of 2026, especially given that it was February before we launched this program.

What we're doing with our stakeholder partners is spending time this year and really focusing on if we do have consolidated numbers going forward in 2026 -- we don...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at the end of the day here, we're talking about people, and this is a very, very emotional subject for people who live in the territory. 99 percent of the people who are part of our nominee program are people who are already living in the Northwest Territories, and people who do apply to the nominee program as -- for those potential spots have to have worked in the territory with an employer already. So those are people that are already living in the NWT, they're contributing to our communities, they are friends, they are neighbours, they are...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, right now we're working with education bodies to completely understand, you know, exactly what this entails. So as the Member alluded to in their statement, classroom assistants are a huge component of this but there are other elements that education bodies are having funded through Jordan's Principle, and we don't vet these applications, we don't see them. Applications go from education bodies straight to the federal government.

The other crucial piece around this is the federal government does have guardrails within their policy. Their...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I share the Member's huge concerns on this. We ourselves put about $165 million from the Department of Education, Culture and Employment straight into education bodies. And over the course of the time that Jordan's Principle has been available, schools have been able to put in their own applications looking for support for other areas and have attracted a further $60 million into our education system, and so we heavily rely on Jordan's Principle within the territory. This week I do have meetings with our education Ministers from our sister...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I've previously shared with the House, I cannot direct the operations of Aurora College. That would be seen as interference, and I'm prohibited from doing so under the Aurora College's Act. But the commitment that I have made is that, first of all, to acknowledge that this is an issue that needs to be reviewed and that there are other parties within the Northwest Territories who want to be involved in some of this work which is very promising and very good. And so as the Minister of education, I have committed to following up on these programs...