Kate Reid

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So is the Minister and Cabinet envisioning that this process will be perhaps, for lack of better term, a pilot project for legislation that deals with the social envelope, is it going to be more widely expansive, or is it only for the Education Act and you'll take lessons learned moving ahead? I mean, I realize this is all theoretical but I'm just curious from sort of like a 30,000-foot view. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday in Committee of the Whole, the Minister of health said that this $100,000 of funding that was cut to the shelter network had to do with their ability to do online training. So my question is, does the Minister believe that training in trauma-informed practices can sufficiently be done through Zoom? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, yeah, that was just sort of a general question throughout the department, so I appreciate that.

Going to the business plan, much like my colleague from Frame Lake, I have a sort of a wider picture question. I know the department is working to revitalize/amend the Education Act. I'm curious if the Minister can speak to what kind of process they are looking at to develop that legislation with Indigenous partners. Is it going to be through the process convention that is established for lands and resources legislation, or will it be a new process? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last week, Members received a letter from the Family Violence Shelter Network seeking assistance to reinstate funding for the annual building shelter capacity fund in the 2025-2026 Budget. The network is a partnership between YWCA-NWT in Yellowknife, safe homes projects in Fort Good Hope and Fort Simpson, and family violence shelters in Inuvik, Tuktoyaktuk, Hay River, and Fort Smith. The shelter capacity fund slated to be cut is in the amount of $100,000. These funds are vital to the work the network does to train and build capacity of shelter staff to meet GNWT service...

Perfect, now I understand. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Nothing further.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Well, that was my lived experience as a library staff at the city of Yellowknife many, many years ago. I'm pretty sure it's still the same, but I could be wrong.

So I guess my question, then, becomes if we want to expand public library services and really, you know, make sure we're supporting literacy in every facet of our territory, including adult literacy, of course how we expand those services and how we deliver those services, I think is a really great question to be engaging with the NWT Association of Librarians, and I would really encourage the Minister to speak...

So the $8.8 million is going towards other deficits. What are we spending on medical travel? I'm lost in the sauce, Mr. Chair. Thanks.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that, and I look forward to when the Minister can share that information with this side of the House.

Just really quickly, and because I think nobody necessarily asks about it but it's something I'm very passionate about, can the Minister tell me is -- public library services, are they -- is usage staying static; are we expanding programs and services? What's the story that she can tell about our public library system in the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And thank you for that answer. I do have one more question about that line item. Can you please provide the rationale for the budget reallocations from medical travel funding to the health and social services authorities funding. Just curious how this will help with the administration of medical travel. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I can appreciate that, and it's nice to have a wholistic approach for all children and teens going to school.

I guess, then, my question becomes, you know, how are we measuring the success of these programs and how will we know that they're accomplishing what we want them to be doing which is, you know, helping our youth with their mental health and as -- I know as the Minister has heard, it's not the greatest right now, so. Thank you, Mr. Chair.