Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of ECE also. We're just really hammering her today with the knowledge that she's leaving soon. Sorry, us new Members are still getting used to all these rules.
Mr. Speaker, for our mandate item grow and enhance the northern workforce, what specific problem or problems are we trying to address with this high-level goal? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. Thank you for catching your mistake. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Mr. Speaker, it's very hard for me not to speak for the next 12 and a half minutes about this question, but I won't. I won't.
So, Mr. Speaker, with this high level -- what is meant by this high-level statement, obviously we want to grow our workforce. We want more people involved in our workforce. We want to enhance our workforce. We -- I will slow down, my apologies.
We want the people who are involved in our workforce to have the opportunity to grow their skills and to take advantage of other opportunities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What the Minister shared there was quite vague. What I'm trying to get -- what I'm trying to narrow in on is what problem are we trying to solve. What are the issues in our workforce that we're trying to solve? Is it the fact that, you know, employment at the mines has only reached about 40 percent northern over the years? Like, are there specific issues we're trying to address with this goal; do we even know? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we're trying to ensure that more residents are graduating from high school, more residents are attending post-secondary, more residents are having meaningful employment within the workforces of the NWT. And I think that that's key. I think it's about growing and enhancing our workforce. I understand from the Member, though, that there's an opportunity to constantly improve the documents that we do put out. And that's why I think it's also important to reflect on the fact that our business plans are living documents and, based on the feedback from the Member last year, continue to make improvements, and these are conversations that will continue to shape documents next year.
There are some good measurables in the document as well, though, and have the Member to thank for that, along with his colleagues for some of their feedback. But increasing the number of employed income assistance clients, the number of students accessing our career education advisers, the number of SNAP students, the number of students accessing student financial assistance. There are some great numbers in there that are measurable. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, I guess to get to the point of my statement, why are some of ECE's targets on this item so vague? There are items that are very specific, like the 10 percent one I listed in my statement. But, for example, our post-secondary education goal is simply to maintain or grow. It doesn't say how much, it doesn't say when. Can we get a commitment from the Minister for these items in the growing and enhancing our northern workforce goals in the business plans that we will get achievable, measurable goals, attached to those items in the business plans. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member certainly has my commitment to treat this living document just as such, a living document that continues to grow and continues to get better every year. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.
