Caitlin Cleveland

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. And I'm very happy to have gotten this question on the floor because I think it's an important conversation.

I absolutely do not subscribe to the notion that artists must be starving artists. I never have subscribed to that and believe wholeheartedly that regardless of whether or not it is an elder participating in a cultural day at a school or it is somebody delivering a community performance or it is somebody who is, you know, sewing mitts, all form of arts and crafts and performances and film and writing all have value. Whether or not somebody is actually...

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, I received a letter from Aurora College chair on Thursday indicating that they are requesting funding to reinstate that entity. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, like the rest of my colleagues, I am definitely always willing to have conversations. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. The short answer to that is yes.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, STIP feedback still comes forward ad hoc through different evaluation parameters from education bodies and from open communication with education bodies, and then beyond that calendars are still developed to meet legislative requirements, for example for instructional hours, and then, of course, we have the collective agreement parameters for a number of teacher workdays and stuff like that. And if but, yes sorry, I've been passed a note. Yes, we can consider doing that as well. But I'd be curious to know I feel like the Member has another ask...

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, when I went through these numbers, because I did have similar questions to that, the funding that I did note went from about $1.17 million within all of those pots that it has now been distributed to to about $1.426 million. So it did have a slight increase in the funding within those arts programs from one year to the next. And, yeah, I'll leave it there, and I'll wait for the next question. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I will definitely put in a plug for, you know, if anybody has any French translating drafters out there, who are both lawyers and very skilled in the language of French and translations, please come live in the Northwest Territories and make this your home. We have some work for you. But, yes, as soon as we can get that done, that is something that I very much look forward to getting out for engagement and making sure that we can put that new regulation in play. Thank you.

That is correct, Mr. Chair. Students who currently access northern distance learning will still be able to access northern distance learning. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, 3 million of those dollars were focused on small communities, and 1 million of those dollars were focused on regional centres. And so the change in that reduction would signal a desire to kind of change the policy work behind that funding to ensure that funding is directed at communities with the highest unemployment rates. Thank you.