Caitlin Cleveland

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, the -- it's not strictly a oil and gas division. It's mineral resources -- mineral and petroleum resource development. And so they are not strictly focused on petroleum or oil and gas. They are focused on all minerals. We have a total of 29 staff working in the Beaufort Delta out of a total of 104 working at headquarters. But those are total numbers across the board. The 104 also includes our economic development, our corporate management, our tourism and parks people, everybody. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, you know, I think that I spent a tremendous amount of time in the last term actually looking up knowledge economy and trying to figure out what people actually meant. So I hear the Member in that kind of the piece in there about really it means something slightly different to everybody else, but my understanding of it is essentially a system where production of goods and services is based on research and innovation and development of product in our territory. And I think the really neat thing about the Northwest Territories is you're able to really...

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I agree with the Member that we definitely want to put our fund where we have high return on investment. That said, there is a significant amount of interest in the Northwest Territories right now at a time where we are also working to be fiscally responsible within the GNWT. And so, you know, we will certainly continue to assess the program as we go throughout the life of this Assembly, but also ensure that we are really riding on and encouraging further momentum. I don't think that at the end of the day this is going to make our break somebody's...

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, for all of our contribution agreements within the Department of ITI, we always have a reporting mechanism, so yes.

Mr. Chair, I think I've already identified that this work is already underway. I think the Member knows the answer to his question, and I absolutely value what he is getting at here, and he is getting at that he would like to see more positions in communities, and I understand that. In addition, there's also a remote work policy as well that I hope that we as a government can use. I can also speak to the fact that ITI is also in the process of using that for positions that were traditionally in Yellowknife and people wanted to be able to work from communities, and so I would like to take the...

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, it's difficult to put timelines and to put cornerstone outputs on these without working together with our partners. I think that part of these documents being so successful is that they have to include everybody's voices, and everybody has to be able to see themselves in it. So to start with, with outputs without actually defining where we're going to go on this path together and what our common goals are, I think would be unfair. And so I hear, I think, the Member's desire to see something sooner than later and to really be able to drive momentum and...

Thank you so much, Mr. Chair. It's 8 to 1. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, there's multiple streams. There's streams that are for people who are sole proprietors that own their own business. There's streams for organizations. There's streams -- a multitude of different streams. There's streams for Indigenous governments. And so my suggestion would absolutely be for people to reach out to their regional office if they have a project that they would like to see go forward, an event, or especially if somebody has an economic development idea they'd love the support of seeing through.

Thank you so much, Mr. Chair. And thank you to the Member for the clarification. So the mineral and petroleum resources office that's there has five staff. They work in concert with the mineral and petroleum resources division that is based in Yellowknife, and they also have close working relationships with the regional office as well. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, it's an ITI policy, so it would be centered there, but as with most of our work we are always happy to share, especially when it is good news stories that are working well within the department. Thank you.