Caitlin Cleveland

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Finance. I'm wondering if the Minister of Finance can tell us how many summer students are currently working for the GNWT this year. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as it stands right now, the last numbers that I saw, I saw a lot of summer students really concentrated in Yellowknife. And there's a great deal of need in our communities as well. If we look at what's happening in the Northwest Territories to date, there's tremendous amount of flooding that leads all the way up to the Arctic Ocean. I'm sure that there's students that would love to be on the ground and helping out with that too, with cleanup opportunities and being able to see, you know, a different community or being able to help out their own...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate that response. The numbers are much better than the last numbers that I have from the Department of Finance, and so that is good news to start us off with today. And so I thank the public service and the Minister for that.

But this number is still lower than previous years, and I'm wondering if the GNWT has plans to beat their numbers from preCOVID times. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, succession planning within the GNWT is important. A key part of the Government's succession planning is their summer student internship programs. Growing up in the NWT, not once did I every kick back and think, Wow, one day I want to work for the government. But, as a summer student, I was exposed to a multitude of unique positions that I never knew existed within our government, the GNWT's staff's graphic designers, biologists, and heavy duty mechanics. Some public servants work in an office, others in classrooms, and some spend their days in the bush.

The GNWT website says this...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Your committee would like to report on its consideration of Bill 25, an Act to Amend the Education Act. Bill 25 received second reading in the Legislative Assembly on March 30th, 2021, and was referred to the Standing Committee on Social Development for review. The standing committee held a public hearing with the Minister of Education, Culture, and Employment and completed its clausebyclause review of the bill on May 31st, 2021.

Mr. Speaker, the committee reports that Bill 25, An Act to Amend the Education Act is ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole. Thank...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Ombud's sixth recommendation is to remove the restriction to investigate the director of Human Rights Commission under Section 23. The Committee agrees.

The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends that Section 23 be amended to remove the reference to the Director of Human Rights, and further that the reference to the Conflict of Interest Commissioner be amended to Integrity Commissioner.

In the 20192020 annual report, the Ombud makes several recommendations to address procedural issues around the Ombud’s jurisdiction to...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I'm happy to hear that and also happy to participate in any way that might be useful to the department as well if any feedback is useful.

Mr. Speaker, the World Health Organization publishes simple clear documents titled "I just found out I tested positive for 19" and "I just found out I am a contact of positive 19". Straightforward guiding documents like these would have been useful during the Yellowknife outbreak and especially where the Minister did acknowledge that there was some confusion over what category people fell into.

So I'm wondering will Health...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it appeared that during the pandemic that there was a large requirement on those two entities to come together and do communication together. There was a lot of influx of calls to Protect NWT, to Public Health, and to the CPHO's office, and there was a need for those to come together and to work in unison.

So how does Health and Social Services or the office of the CPHO ensure that those communicating bodies are able to work together and pass the same and consistent information on to residents. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, I originally wanted to talk about the power and resilience of community. Through floods, the schoolbased COVID outbreak and the devastating loss of family, this month is a testament to how Northerners support one another through adversity. But what this government needs to hear now is how they COVID outbreak communication jeopardized the contact tracing, testing, containment, and commitment of both staff and NWT residents.

In May, over a thousand people found themselves suddenly selfisolating from potential COVID exposure at schools, restaurants, and children's...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Health and Social Services. As we are over one calendar year into the COVID19 pandemic, can the Minister provide a copy of the exemption policy document used to guide selfisolation exemption decisions, and the number of exemptions per week for the last three months, the category for grounds for exemptions, the percentage breakdown between exemptions granted to residents versus nonresidents, and the percentage of exemptions granted for personal versus essential versus commercial purposes. Thank you.