Caitlin Cleveland

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is most definitely an easy commitment because I've previously made it to the Member for Yellowknife North. Absolutely. Thank you.

Monsieur le President, [No translation available] Merci.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, absolutely, there -- the way that we shifted the criteria, based on our reduction in allotments this year, was to really focus on those individuals who had expiring work permits in 2025. And I appreciate the Member bringing forward the concern around people who have work permits expiring at the beginning of 2026, especially given that it was February before we launched this program.

What we're doing with our stakeholder partners is spending time this year and really focusing on if we do have consolidated numbers going forward in 2026 -- we don...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at the end of the day here, we're talking about people, and this is a very, very emotional subject for people who live in the territory. 99 percent of the people who are part of our nominee program are people who are already living in the Northwest Territories, and people who do apply to the nominee program as -- for those potential spots have to have worked in the territory with an employer already. So those are people that are already living in the NWT, they're contributing to our communities, they are friends, they are neighbours, they are...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, right now we're working with education bodies to completely understand, you know, exactly what this entails. So as the Member alluded to in their statement, classroom assistants are a huge component of this but there are other elements that education bodies are having funded through Jordan's Principle, and we don't vet these applications, we don't see them. Applications go from education bodies straight to the federal government.

The other crucial piece around this is the federal government does have guardrails within their policy. Their...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I share the Member's huge concerns on this. We ourselves put about $165 million from the Department of Education, Culture and Employment straight into education bodies. And over the course of the time that Jordan's Principle has been available, schools have been able to put in their own applications looking for support for other areas and have attracted a further $60 million into our education system, and so we heavily rely on Jordan's Principle within the territory. This week I do have meetings with our education Ministers from our sister...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I've previously shared with the House, I cannot direct the operations of Aurora College. That would be seen as interference, and I'm prohibited from doing so under the Aurora College's Act. But the commitment that I have made is that, first of all, to acknowledge that this is an issue that needs to be reviewed and that there are other parties within the Northwest Territories who want to be involved in some of this work which is very promising and very good. And so as the Minister of education, I have committed to following up on these programs...

Well, Mr. Speaker, this is the beauty of going last as you get to repeat some people. But I'd like to say a big hello to constituent James William; powerhouse of an athlete, powerhouse of a parent, powerhouse of a coach, and powerhouse of a chair, David Wasylciw, who is the chair of the Yellowknife Education District No. 1, so we get to spend some good time together. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is part of the information that I'm looking to ascertain from the federal government and to understand really what the resource needs would be of the people who would be identified as asylum seekers as part of this program. I know from just listening to interactions on the floor of the House, there's a huge demand, for example mental health supports across the territory, and so what kind of additional supports would we require in order to invite and welcome more asylum seekers in the territory, depending on what their health needs are, what...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Because the federal government hasn't yet told me what is involved in the deal, what it is that they are asking of us, and what it is and how they are supporting residents in return. So that's the information that I'm waiting for. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.