Caitlin Cleveland

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one of my tasks, and very exciting and important tasks over the life of this term, is to begin work on the modernization of the Education Act, and that work will be done in collaboration with Indigenous governments and so I could very well see this being part of the conversation.

One of the cautions I would put out there is that the treaties currently under negotiation, that do not yet have boundaries established there's some of them so we wouldn't know what those would be, and then under, for example Treaty 8 and Treaty 11, the geographies are...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am absolutely more than happy to sit down with anybody. That is one of our key jobs as Ministers, is we spend a lot of time in meetings making sure that we understand what it is that residents of the Northwest Territories are looking for. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one of the things that we have heard from education bodies across the Northwest Territories, and specifically people who are in the role of classroom support positions, is that they wanted to have a fuller toolbox to be able to help students. And so one of the programs that ECE worked with education bodies to put into place over the course of the last few years was training for classroom assistants through a partnership that was formed with Douglas College, which I look forward to speaking about more in the House this week, and we are just...

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, to my left I have deputy minister Pamela Strand. And to my right, I have Nina Salvador who is the director of corporate management and finance.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I didn't hear a question, but I very much look forward to discussing with the Member and absolutely very much look forward to hopefully travelling to the Sahtu. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is my understanding that in 2019, so almost some years ago now, that the Sahtu leadership came together to discuss issues of education and a vision for the future of education in the region and that this led to a fiveyear strategic plan that will be expiring in June of 2025. So I appreciate the Member for bringing this forward because it sounds like the timing is right. And so if leadership from across the Sahtu decides to come together in an education conference next summer, I would be more than happy to attend and to listen in to this and...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in conversations in communities and with Indigenous governments that happened in the previous Assembly, immersion education was one of the top things that our committee at that time consistently heard about, and so I absolutely expect that this will be a key component of the conversation when we do review the Education Act. But that being said, Mr. Speaker, there is an Indigenous languages and education policy in place today in support of education bodies and welcoming all students within learning environments that centre respect and promote...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, ECE completed a review of the SFA program just in the last Assembly and with the goals to ensure that it was meeting the needs of NWT students to pursue their postsecondary education goals. The changes were in alignment as much of the work that we do, and the new work that we do with the Truth and Reconciliation of Canada Calls to Action, as well as the Report on the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, as well as United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, with the aim of better supporting Indigenous students with...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is a funding pot that is referenced as SCIP that is available to licensed centrebased early learning and child care facilities. It promotes staff training to help with the development of inclusive programming, provides guidance, resources, and support to create appropriate spaces, and supports staff positions that can provide onetoone support for children.

Mr. Speaker, I absolutely hear the Member, though, that what I am hearing from not only the Member but from residents of the territory is that they are looking for more supports, and what I...

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I took that as a comment but very happy to respond to it.

We often hear about the need to diversify our economy in the Northwest Territories, and we certainly do already have a very diverse economy, and when we look at, you know, where to go tomorrow and what opportunities sit before us, I agree with the Member that we have a tremendous amount of areas in the North that have the ability to grow and the ability to flourish and that we need to take stock of what our assets are and where we're going to get the biggest return on our investment as we go...