Caitlin Cleveland

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, attendance has long been a concern for education bodies across the territory and have put in different mechanisms to try to address attendance over the years, but as the Member stated in her statement today, there is definitely a huge concern for attendance across the territory in today's world as well. And so this is really a situation and a challenge that is going to have to be addressed not only by teachers, principals, education bodies, but by communities as a whole and by a territory as a whole. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, art is powerful, and art is beautiful, but it is far more than a thing of beauty. Art is a personal, local, and global connector. It connects people to themselves, to one another, and to people living across the world. Further, it connects us to culture, land, and elders and it is critical to our wellbeing and to our shared and individual histories. Art is a conduit of healing. Art is foundational to how we educate our children, preserve traditions, feed community wellness, and build a strong and independent territory.

The arts sector plays a valuable role in the NWT, not only for...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I commit to working with education bodies to understand how I can support their needs to improve attendance across the territory. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, different education bodies have used different tactics because they see their challenges as being unique in communities across the territory. Many of our well, all of our schools have food programs to try and incentivize youth to come to school for that reason. Some education bodies send busses around the communities to pick students up from their home and bring them to the school. And, of course, teachers have come up with unique ways to try and incentivize attendance in schools and that could be anything from choosing subjects that are...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I was 22 years old when I learned I would soon welcome my first child. I was excited, anxious, eager for the journey to come, but was also terrified because I couldn't keep a plant alive and would soon be trusted to raise a human. And so on the 6th day of the 6th month of the 6th year at 6 minutes to 9:00, I met Action Jackson. I was in awe of him. He was fiercely independent, terrifyingly fearless, relentlessly curious, and oh so sweet. This past weekend, that baby graduated high school.

As we stood for a family photo, him in his cap and gown, he stretched...

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I'd love to see a day where, you know, people can put themselves on a list, and we have a centralized database that is shared among licensed child care providers. But we simply do not have that type of digital technology within ECE, let alone most of the government at this point in time. I would, for sure, love to see significant investments in digital technology and innovation in that area within the GNWT, but it would take significant investment, and it's one that I simply don't have the dollars for at this time within the department. That being...

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, just to go back really quickly, I do have the number for the Member in terms of the change in enrolment for Tlicho region, and it's 4 percent. So a decline of 4 percent for Tlicho region schools.

And then in regards to the degree programs from Aurora College, Aurora College has spoken about having their first degree program be general studies, and they pushed that back by a year. Originally, they had intended that that would start this fall, and so that would mean that it would start next fall. Beyond that, I do not have that information as of yet from...

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I appreciate the Member's comments for sure. I can reflect on some recent decisions that were made that came out that were not  well, that were fully baked, we will call them. And so it's  you know, it's definitely one where finding that sweet spot of how people want to see ideas come out of the oven is definitely one that depends who you're chatting with. And so I appreciate the Member's support on this and look forward to being able to update him on what those timelines look like once we've had the opportunity to make sure that we're going about...

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, it would depend on the extent of renovations and what was required, but there are funding arrangements that the department does have to help people set up their familyrun day home out of their houses, and so it would be on a casebycase basis as to what exactly a resident might be looking for to help with that. And so if there is somebody within the Member's communities that would be interested in that, I know that the ELCC coordinator would love the opportunity to be able to hear from that person and work directly with them. That way they could...

Sorry, I just wanted to make sure that residents know that they can either choose one or the other or both and that they can work with their client navigator on that one. Thank you.