Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, to start off I'd like to answer the Member's previous question. So we currently fund 1,956 spaces in the Northwest Territories.

As far as the background on where those spaces come from, I would like to, please, pass to assistant deputy minister BarnettAikman.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, no. I'm looking at the actuals from 20222023 of $139 million to the main estimates of 20242025 which are $136 million $136.6 million. So not a 25 percent reduction in attendance. I'm talking about that particular line item. If the Member would like me to give her information on additional line items, I'd be happy.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the Member might be happy to know I just did meet yesterday with the CEO of Tlicho Investment Corporation. So we have a very close working relationship and are able to work in partnership with one another to find out ways that we can support one another's goals, and we definitely have some shared ones.

In addition to comments around scholarships and such, ECE definitely does support the education funding requirements for students that are entering into trades. Just like we  through a different funding pot but similar to how we support students who...

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 so much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I would need to come back to the Member with that type of specific information about numbers for Tlicho communities. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, for the last two years well, probably longer than that, the department has watched this closely to make sure that they are doing anything that they can within their wheelhouse to ensure that seniors are receiving up to 80 percent of their fuel covered, seniors who qualify and who need that support. It is definitely a well-used subsidy within the Northwest Territories and one that a lot of seniors and elders are reliant on. So for the last two years, because of the increasing cost of fuel, the department has been able to issue onetime topups to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, while the department no longer requires clients of income assistance to partake in productive choices, I do understand the goals of the Member, and I have really appreciated all the Member's statements that he has done on income assistance. It has provided me with the opportunity to learn about what his goals are and what the realities are in the communities that he represents.

With that being said, I want to confirm for the Member that as part of the new income assistance program that there is a performance measurement plan that is intended within that...

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, it is one of those ones where, you know, we look at the way that things operate and sometimes we have ideas how to make them better. Sometimes they work out. Sometimes they don't. This is one that the department is very confident will help us grow our resources for culture and language, specifically especially language revitalization. There's you know and like the Member said, none of us will disagree with that. I think one of the things that's really critical about this as well is we were able to internally fund this position. We did not have to go...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think that we this theme day could not have come at a better time because we are at the beginning of what I see as a very exciting time within the department of education and within income assistance. We are on the verge of entering into this new program. It starts in the month of July. That new program will see increased opportunities for client navigators to be able to work with income assistance clients and to be able to work on those pathways. And part of the information coming out of that will be through this performance management plan...

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Yes, Mr. Chair, it was immediately taken down and an apology was immediately issued to residents of the Northwest Territories. And right away, following that, checks and balances were put in place with staff to ensure that something like that did not happen again, and we were able to use our existing resources to make sure that that was done. Thank you.