Caitlin Cleveland

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are certainly some options for other funding. I did use the example of fundraising. If there is another source that a childcare facility is looking at bringing in to access funding, certainly would want to know about it and be able to work alongside the Department of Education, Culture and Employment to explore that option. We certainly do want our childcare facilities to stay open and stay operational.

I think a couple of things here, Mr. Speaker, I will absolutely acknowledge that the original agreement was signed before extreme inflation...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there's everything from training workshops, workforce development, through Education, Culture and Employment, not just ITI. There's also support afforded through on-the-job training. And so ECE does do wage subsidy programs that employers also do have access to. Workshops are everything from arts focused to tourism focused and even agriculture focused as well. And you know, when I look at the numbers, there's certainly some good activity happening within the region, but also always, always looking for more opportunities as well. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at this point we're working with Aurora College to really gain clarity on what the picture will look like, and our actions from there will be to determine how we go about working with our education partners and stakeholders across the territory to ensure that at the end of the day we still are providing options for adult education and opportunities for education and employment in our small communities across the territory. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can confirm that this afternoon those reports are now online and as soon as I stop answering questions, I'll be able to send an email to my colleagues to let them know those links. So, Mr. Speaker, there -- to start, there was a facilities master plan that was released by the GNWT in September of 2022. In April of 2024, there was community learning centre reports, along with What We Heard reports, that were commissioned by the GNWT and also community learning centres facilities report. These reports, Mr. Speaker, did not identify the closure of...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So within that MOU that I spoke of, it is a contribution agreement that does go to Aurora College to be able to deliver the adult learning and basic education throughout the CLCs throughout the Northwest Territories, so that funding ultimately would -- any that was not used through the contribution agreement and the MOU with Aurora College would then come back to the department of education, and the department of education would still have the responsibility for ensuring that we're enhancing those opportunities within communities. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I couldn't speak to the methodology that Aurora College took in coming to this conclusion and what kind of engagement that they did do. But given that it was very much a shock for the Northwest Territories when this information was released, I would venture to say that many people didn't feel that they felt that they knew that this was coming. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my goal is to always say yes, especially when it comes to transparency. I will note that this report was commissioned by the Department of Infrastructure so I will say yes with a caveat of being able to make sure that there isn't any privacy concerns from the Department of Infrastructure or concerns about any commercial information given that they are the owners of the report. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today, right now, I can commit to the Member and to the public that this program will be reopened in the month of February and that in the, you know, coming week, we'll be able to inform the public as to what that will look like, but that is the extent of the commitments I can give on timing right now. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in multiple instances, the department of education hasn't even had to pick up the phone. As soon as the media articles hit the online waves there, the phone started ringing. My phone certainly did and as well as the department as well as Aurora College. So once we have clarity as to kind of what the landscape looks like, then would be the opportune time to start making phone calls and being able to actually have concrete conversations about how Aurora College intends to go forward so that we can have conversations based on known factors. Thank you...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for providing me with the opportunity to speak to this.

I want to start by acknowledging that this would definitely be a very concerning time for people who are waiting for the opportunity to put their name into a very limited number of nominations that the NWT currently has. Our numbers were cut from 300 to 150 by the federal government. So we did put a pause on the program so that we could get together with some of our stakeholders and partners to reevaluate what this program could look like upon reopening it. And so what I can...