Caitlin Cleveland

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. My question was: do we provide support to Indigenous governments in any way possible, in any of our capacities, to be able to provide support for Indigenous governments to access that funding? Thank you.

Okay, so, just so that I understand, the difference is whether we are funding an organization or an individual, a specific individual, or an employer, but we can shuffle money between the two as long as they are consistently going for workforce development. Is that correct?

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I guess just a general comment that might not be expected, but I will say, just for the record, that, compared to some of the other increases that budget saw, it was somewhat disappointing that the education department saw the lowest percent increase. I know that a lot of the increase was due to forced growth, but there was some addition of increases across departments, and it would have been nice to have seen that reflected instead in the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, especially with our interest in increasing trades and increasing...

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I have a few questions. My first is for the apprenticeship and occupational certification line. How many apprenticeships are currently involved in the program? Thank you.

I am very happy to hear a "yes" in response to that one. I am wondering if the Minister has an idea of a timeline in regards to that type of a feasibility study?

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that response. My next question is in regard to early learning and childcare. One of the priorities of the 19th Legislative Assembly was affordable childcare, accessible and affordable childcare, and I notice that the budget for early learning and childcare has come down a little bit. I'm just wondering if the Minister would speak to that, please. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. I appreciate the Minister's opening statement in regards to the oral health strategy, and I'm wondering if the Minister plans to table an official report of where we are with the oral health strategy. Thank you.

Thank you very much for that, Mr. Chair. I'm going to keep moving up the page, here, in the interest of time. My next question is in regard to inclusive schooling. Any of the educators I've spoken with across the Northwest Territories, or even within our school boards here in Yellowknife, have said that the need for funds for inclusive schooling is probably their greatest funding need, and I see that the line items are fairly status quo here for the inclusive schooling line. I'm wondering, given that our need for inclusive schooling continues to go up, and the supports required for students in...

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I just find it difficult to evaluate how effective this use of dollars is without knowing what we stand to collect and what we stand to gain from it, so I find it difficult to approve this without knowing what the other department stands to gain from it and, ultimately, what the GNWT stands to gain or lose from this addition to the budget. I just wanted to make sure that that was noted here. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm wondering if the increase to contract services is also in relation to the guns and gangs contract, or are there other contracts involved in that increase as well? Thank you.