Thank you to the Minister for that answer. So if I'm one of the 50 people who is now waiting for the Public Guardian to adjudicate my application, how much longer should I expect to wait?

It's 72 outstanding referrals, actually. The number continues to climb. There is a number of reasons that accessing the applications can take longer than would be desirable. Some of the challenges that we face are actually tracking down some of the individuals who have actually filed the applications. It's a transient territory; people are moving around. We've also had our challenge with the number of assessors, which we are addressing currently. There are individual situations where we have found members that are disputing who should actually be the public guardian or the private guardian. So there are multiple reasons why some of these applications take a long time. We are looking to expedite the process and clear off as much of this backlog as we can, but there are some additional challenges far outside just the number of assessors we have. I can't give a definitive time, because every application is unique and every application will take a different amount of time depending on the challenges faced.

Masi. Oral Questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. As I said in my Member's statement, clearing the backlog will also result in a greater case load for the current Public Guardian staff, which is, as I understand it, one person and one assistant, which is beyond the capacity of the resources currently allocated. So I would like to hear the Minister's plan to not only clear up the backlog but to better staff the Public Guardian's office? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As the Member indicated, there are currently 68 individuals in the Northwest Territories under a public guardianship, and there are about 80 individuals that are under private guardianship that had to go through the full assessment process. The Member is right; the numbers are increasing, with the 72 referrals in front of us that will likely result in some additional individuals requiring either public or private guardianship.

The first step that we're taking, Mr. Speaker, is doing the review of the program to make sure that it's efficient, that it's meeting the needs, what changes we can make with existing resources. From there, we will be able to clearly assess future demand and ongoing demand, which may require some additional investment in this area, additional positions. I won't commit to adding positions at this point in time. We have to finish the assessment to determine what the true workload in that unit is, and whether or not additional positions are required. But, given the demand, it may be necessary to add some positions. We'll know by the end of the calendar year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As you heard from my Member's statement, the Youth Ambassador Program is very important for our youth. As part of the promise I made to the youth, I will have some questions for the Minister for Municipal and Community Affairs. Mr. Speaker, you always hear that youth are important. However, sometimes governments -- local, regional, or territorial -- do not follow up on that action. Can the Minster please tell us what the department is doing to enhance programs like the Youth Ambassador Program? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Youth Ambassador Program is, in my opinion, one of the most important programs that we run within the Government of the Northwest Territories, and I think we will see some long-term benefits of the program. We've retained a consultant to complete an evaluation of the Youth Ambassador Program to provide suggestions on how we can improve this program in future years. The review is actually going to cover all ten years of the program's operations, and once the evaluation has been completed, the department will be in a position to consider program enhancements.

Mahsi cho to the Minister for his answer, and I know the youth will appreciate hearing it, such as I do. Mr. Speaker, part of the Youth Ambassador Program is the promotion and showcasing of traditional games and knowledge. Can the Minister please advise this House how the department is looking at new training events to get more youth involved and preparing them to be able to showcase our traditional games and knowledge in future events, as our older performers -- or as our performers are now getting older?

The department really has some good training programs when they are preparing youth to go off to some of the events that they attend. A training event will be held in March of 2017 to prepare the Youth Ambassador Project at the Canada Summer Games, and discussions are still under way with the Host Society in Winnipeg to gauge our interests related to our Youth Ambassadors, but no decisions have been made on the traditional games component of the -- at the March event. The Aboriginal Sports Circle continues to do some community clinics and hosting the traditional game championships. So my experience has been in the past that we've seen a number of events where our youth have been there, at NWT Days in Ottawa especially I think was a very successful event and it was well-attended and well-received by all the people that attended the event. We continue to train our youth, and we know some of our youth workers are going into communities, promoting traditional games. So it's one that's high on the radar, and we will continue to promote.

I thank the Minister for that answer. The Minister, in his previous answer -- not this one here, but the previous one -- talked about the evaluators and doing a 10-year evaluation of the program. Can the Minister confirm that he will be talking to all candidates that were part of the program, all the alumni, and get their stories and their challenges and how that has had an impact on their life presently?

An evaluation is currently under way and the report will be provided to MLAs, and I can say from personal experience, having the MACA file and dealing with the Youth Ambassador Program since 2008, I've seen first-hand the benefits and a lot of the Youth Ambassador alumni that are actually doing quite well. We actually had some at the NWT Association of Communities AGM that was held a couple of months ago, and the feedback that we got from them, that they were so interested in municipal politics that they may consider a run for municipal politics in the future, or as early as this fall. We're looking forward to that, but I see first-hand the benefits of the Youth Ambassador Program and it's one that's going to be continuously supported by this government.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker and I thank the Minister for his great answer. Yes, some of us who have been involved with this program understand the importance of it. Now, we've talked about the challenges of making this program successful. Can the Minister commit the department will look at increasing funding for this program, or add a coordinator position that will lead to more success for this program, not this year but for the next business plan? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We are always looking at ways that we can increase our funding, especially for the youth. I mean, I can tell this House that we've had five events, I think, in the last year or so and we spent close to $650,000 at these events, and some of this is O and M funding for staff time and such. So it is a program that, you know, we will look at ways to enhance once the evaluation has been completed, and we will work with committee members to see how we can incorporate into our business plans and main estimates going forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Colleagues, I would like to draw your attention to a Member's guest in the gallery. We have a former Member of the Legislative Assembly for Wiilideh, also former Premier and former Minister. Welcome to the Chamber. We also have His Worship, the Mayor of Hay River, Brad Mapes. Welcome. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Marci cho, Mr. Speaker. As per my Member's statement, I'd like to ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment some questions. Will the Minister have the Department of Education, Culture and Employment work with YK Dene First Nation on implementing components of Skills 4 Success? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes. the department will be continuing the work with the Yellowknives Dene First Nation. In the past, we have worked in partnerships with CanNor as well as with the Department of Tourism, Industry and Investment in the development of an Economic Development Strategy, as well as a Labour Force Strategy. Our goal is in the next few months to table an action plan on the Skills 4 Success document in this House, and we want to make sure that YKDFN is part of that and that we listen to their advice, listen to the direction that they want to go, and yes, we will be continuing that work with the Yellowknives Dene First Nation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to thank the Minister for that response. Will the department commit to working in partnership with YKDFN on the development of the skill development in the two communities of Detah and Ndilo?

The department is committed to working with all our partners throughout the Northwest Territories. The Yellowknives Dene First Nations is a key stakeholder; obviously they are involved in a lot of the socio-economic agreements that we have with the mines. We're working with all partners that are involved in adult post-secondary education and skills training to support NWT residents. With the skills knowledge and attitudes for employment success we are committed to continuing working with Yellowknives Dene First Nation in how we can focus on developing the skills as well as the education, post-secondary education needed to get into the labour force or else meet some of our in-demand job needs, not only here in the region but right across the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, I'd like to ask the Minister if his department is able to commit funding to YK Dene First Nation for their skill development program.

Any program funding that the department does have is based on program eligibility, and funding applications must be submitted to the Department of Education, Culture and Employment in order for funding considerations to be explored. Our department is working with partners or interested organizations to help them develop those proposals and applications moving forward. And, like I said, it's based on program eligibility and whether or not they do meet the criteria, but we are interested in receiving applications from the Yellowknives Dene First Nations and moving forward from there.