R.J. Simpson

My colleague is speaking about the trades and occupations wage subsidy program in which the department tops off the wages for apprentices for a couple years. She noted that it doesn't necessarily follow the apprentice all the way through. That is because the pot of money just isn't big enough to do that. We can't cover everyone.

I am looking forward, in this Assembly, to increasing the number of apprentices and journeypeople that we have in the territory. If this is something that we think is useful and a way to do that, then I look forward to having those budget discussions with Cabinet and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The SNAP program, as the Member mentioned, the Schools North Apprenticeship Program, doesn't run on a schedule. It is not a regular part of the curriculum. There is no scheduled start time right now. The program requires a significant number of parties to all come together. You need employers; you need the school; you need students, parents, and ECE to ensure that things run smoothly.

If there is an interest from employers and there is an interest from students, then this is something that we can facilitate, and we can use this program. I will speak to the department to...

Direct communication with the staff and the students is part and parcel of the type of communication that I want to do, and I will be reaching out, and I will reinforce my commitment. Like I said, this is a great opportunity. I am lucky to be involved with it, and I am going to see it through to completion, and we are going to wind up with a world-class university in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Change is always hard. I assumed years ago or, rather, when this was first discussed in the Assembly, that it would be difficult to change. Actually, one of the first meetings that I had, I think the very first meeting that I had with Dr. Weegar, I asked him if he was getting any resistance and, if so, that I wanted to work with him to ensure that we made these changes.

I am all in favour of developing a world-class, arm's-length university here in the Northwest Territories. There will be some changes. There will be some bold changes, and I am fully in support of those. Going forward, maybe it...

The department has looked at a number of ways of doing this. Unfortunately, there is no way of getting around the fact that the board members were elected for a fixed period of time. Any change to that period of time, to extend it, would be antidemocratic.

If you are elected to a certain period, if the voters vote you in and they think that you are going to be there for this many years because that is what the legislation says, I am not willing to extend that. What would be required would be a plebiscite, similar to what municipalities do.

I believe in democracy. I am a strong supporter of...

The best-spent money is always on children's education, so it's hard to argue with that.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the Member for bringing this to the House's attention and thank all of the teachers that the Member mentioned. If you look at the list, most of those names have over 20 years of experience; some have 30; some have 40. They are nearing retirement, and ECE and the education bodies are very concerned about the fact that there are not enough fluent speakers to replace these teachers. The department can't address this issue alone, and it is undertaking a concerted effort to begin working with Indigenous governments to address the issue.

In 2018, the NWT...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There was a foundational review of Aurora College in the last Assembly. There was a government response to that foundational review, to the recommendations of it. That foundational review stated that we should just get rid of the president altogether and have a bureaucratic head of the college. What we have chosen to do is keep the president and have the associate deputy minister position so that there is a bit more continuity.

Right now, we believe that this is essential to ensure that both the college and the transformation team are working towards the same goal. If we...

ECE is partnering with three regional Indigenous governments, and we are piloting a program called the NWT Indigenous Languages Mentor Apprenticeship Program, and there are approximately 60 participants in the program right now. Now, this program pairs a fluent Indigenous speaker with an Indigenous language learner through language immersion, and the goal is to have apprentices increase their fluency and confidence in speaking and understanding the languages, with the ultimate goal of becoming fluent enough that they can then become teachers. Lastly, ECE is partnering with post-secondary...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department, in recent years especially, has really been doing quite a bit in this area. Since 2018-2019, ECE has partnered with the University of Alberta's Canadian Indigenous Languages and Literacy Development Institute to deliver Indigenous language programs to community members. Approximately 130 participants have been involved in the NWT-sponsored program. Since 2018, ECE has awarded 29 Indigenous language revitalization scholarships, each worth $5,000, to support NWT students registered in an accredited post-secondary program with a focus on language...