Caitlin Cleveland

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, your Standing Committee on Social Development is pleased to provide its report on Bill 30, an Act to Amend the Aurora College Act and commends it to the House.

Bill 30, an Act to Amend the Aurora College Act was first introduced by the Department of Education, Culture and Employment on June 2nd, 2021, and then referred to the Standing Committee on Social Development for review.

Bill 30 proposes changes to the Aurora College Act (the Act) to:

Create a new public governance system for Aurora College;

Move the college to an arm's length relationship with the...

Yeah, thank you very much, Madam Chair. And as the Member for Yellowknife North said, we did already read an extensive report into the House but I just wanted to start off by saying thank you to the Member who did bring this bill forward, and while committee did not reach consensus on a path forward, I do agree that the Member did bring forward a bill for the purpose of fixing a substantial issue in the Northwest Territories, and that relates back to everyone having the right to safe and secure housing and being able to have a warm house at that. And so I think that the issues that are...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, sometimes going to the union can cause a little bit more friction than people are looking for right off the bat. And so I'm hoping that together we can find an alternate solution for staff who want questions and further clarifications. But often the current process means that frontline staff receive far less opportunity for professional development from their colleagues that work in headquarters departments. This is required for nurses who want to gain the experience and the certifications required to work in small remote nursing stations and...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Finance and the Minister responsible for Human Resources.

Further to my statement today, I'm wondering if the Department of Finance has a clear policy of who can apply and cannot apply for education leave and supports from the GNWT? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Committee takes note of the request to allow for sufficient time for meaningful consultation and engagement. Committee will review its public engagement processes to ensure timelines are respectful and sufficient for stakeholders to support meaningful consultation.

Further, committee makes the following recommendation.

The Standing Committee on Social Development recommends that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment and Aurora College take note of this request that engagement timelines are respectful and sufficient for stakeholders to support meaningful...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, before COVID, we sat as equals and set the priorities for the 19th Assembly. Even then, we recognized the shortage of resident healthcare workers and tasked the government to reduce the number of health worker vacancies and our reliance on locums.

Mr. Speaker, there is significant strength in Northerners serving Northerners, providing trauma informed care. This not only fulfills our priority, it creates sustainable succession plans and recognizes the primary role education and meaningful employment play in connecting all community health indicators. I...

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I guess I'm wondering if this is a straight transfer to transfer or replacement, sorry, to replacement of a 15passenger van or if looking at the reduced number of inmates because of the new or the new act, if there is a need for less vehicle and then a potential savings down the road, or if it is an actual need for that quantity of vehicle. If the Minister can speak to that, please.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I'm trying to make sure that my colleague from Monfwi has time to ask questions.

Mr. Speaker, the next commitment I'm looking for from the Minister is a better evaluation and picture of the landscape of procurement so that we know that the government is being held accountable and businesses have a clear indication of what is happening with GNWT procurement. I'm very thankful, first of all, to the Minister of Finance actually, with her other hat on, who did produce an infographic of what procurement looks in the Northwest Territories. But what businesses want to...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm wondering if the Minister sees this as an incremental process where we can see implementation of change as they go, or does the Minister anticipate this happening in one large change at the very end once all of the consultation engagement is done, and can the Minister speak to that process. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this sitting, as we work through the capital estimates, the GNWT tabled a procurement policy review. I support infrastructure spending and the economic development it brings. But for your territory to see the benefits of this capital budget, we need procurement that increases benefit retention and grows the NWT private sector through meaningful spending.

While I recognize the GNWT is preparing a response to this report, there are some simple procedural changes that could be implemented immediately to improve fairness and transparency in the procurement...