Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as mentioned in my Member's statements, Trent University's applying to provide a new program of Indigenous environmental studies and sciences at Aurora College starting in the fall of 2023. Can the Minister of ECE explain who's pushing for and leading the efforts to introduce this new program at the college? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And so just to be clear, the program is not being offered at the college. It has nothing to do with Aurora College. This is a program that is a partnership between Trent University and the Yellowknives Dene First Nation. So I would assume that it was the Yellowknives Dene who really initiated this. I know they're working very closely together. And I expect, or I understand that at least the first intake would likely all be Yellowknives Dene members. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with an upcoming territorial election happening very soon, does the Minister believe that the timing of this new environmental-based program is questionable and that it should instead wait to be introduced until after the election? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The start date, I believe it's early in the new year, was what the program wants to -- when they want to begin the program. If we wait until after the election it will delay that, and they will miss their -- I guess their first semester. And so there are some deadlines involved here. Things would have happened earlier had it not been for the evacuations unfortunately. But I see what the Member is saying. You know, we have an environmental studies program. This is another one. You know, there's nothing wrong with a little bit of competition, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, as I have said many times, Fort Smith is the education capital of the NWT. Our community is proud and honoured with this distinction. Therefore, I am sure people can understand Fort Smith's concern with anything that might threaten the ENR technology program at Aurora College Thebacha campus. Can the Minister provide clarity on what exactly this new environmental program will be, which campus will it be offered at, and whether that will in any way undermine or threaten the ENR technology program in Fort Smith? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This program is being offered independently of the college, or it will be. And like the Member's said, the ENRTP is a world-renowned program. Not just one of the jewels of Aurora College, I'd said it's one of the jewels of the Northwest Territories so I can't imagine that the program has anything to worry about. The program that is out for public input right now -- and I encourage everyone, including the Member, to provide that input -- is focused on, you know, really the Yellowknives Dene and it was developed in concert with them. It focuses on Dene ways of knowing, doing, and being. So I think that they are two different programs, and there's room for both of them. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Thebacha.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister provide assurances that the existing and highly regarded ENR technology program is not going to be dissolved or replaced as a result of this new program? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And of course I can't make any assurances on behalf of the board of governors. They are arm's length from the Government of the Northwest Territories and from the Minister of ECE, but I don't think there's any concerns. I'm not at all concerned about the future of the ENRTP program. I think it's very well established and will continue to produce results for many years to come. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of ITI. As I mentioned in my statement, I'm hearing more and more from members of the community that are unable to properly feed themselves, especially people that are on income assistance and may only be taking home $800 a month. So given that there is a lot of money out there in the federal government, I'm also worried that we're not taking the most advantage we could of this area. So can the Minister advise me -- and I understand she has to get back to me -- on how much federal funding that we have received directly to support the growth in our agri-food industry? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Great Slave. Minister responsible for Industry, Tourism and Investment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can say that the -- I mean, we certainly have been receiving funding from the federal government under the sustainable Canadian agricultural partnership. This is a five-year investment by the federal government in the agri-food sector. And for us, we are expecting over $7.6 million over the life of that agreement here to the Northwest Territories which is, I would note, a 25 percent increase on numbers we were getting under the last agreement. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, for once, that's great news to hear in this House. I'm always glad to hear that we're getting more federal money than less. I guess given that we've had these back to back years of quite terrible environmental conditions for our growers who are predominantly in the South Slave, you know, I just want to sort of reiterate that it is becoming quite concerning. So can the Minister or the department -- do they track the amount of, say, community gardens and greenhouses that are present throughout the territory? Like, how is the department supporting that initiative? Under food security, it's a little bit of a different one because each little bit of money could make a huge amount of impact so I'm just curious to know what way is the department kind of keeping track of that impact? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, indeed, this is an area where, while health and social services is the lead for food security generally, ITI certainly plays a significant role, and we are responsible for the agricultural sector as well as for community gardens and providing some funds to them. I certainly know, and I'm confident that the department is working directly with communities, that regional superintendents are working with those communities, and are tracking the amounts of growth in the sector. There, indeed, has been a lot of growth in the community garden sector. And in community gardens, Mr. Speaker, to be clear it's not just individuals going and using a plot only for themselves. I know I can speak, for example in Inuvik, where there's a benefit directly to the community and that what is being grown there does benefit the community. So the agricultural strategy, as I mentioned earlier, does require us to track. We are doing that. And I'd be happy to provide those numbers out into the public sphere. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate the Minister's response. But it did reiterate one of the concerns I raised in my statement, which is that this is an area where it does bounce between departments, or it's split over two, and like the immigration file we see that that does not generally work. You know, and if anyone is listening that will be around in the 20th, I do think there needs to be a Minister responsible for food security. I don't think we can go any longer without having somebody solely responsible for that who has to answer questions for it.

So next, can the Minister advise if there's been any grant programs that are available to residents or communities in those harder areas to grow? So I'm talking more about my colleague, say from Nunakput, or areas where they're not known to be agriculturally-minded in the past. What kind of programs or initiatives are being taken by the department to increase growing food in those areas? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there's not -- under the agricultural strategy, there's not a carve out for one riding or another necessarily. They are done by ways of application. So, therefore, not necessarily reflecting that there might be more challenges to participate in one form of food growth and food -- commercial good growth or food creation because, Mr. Speaker, there's other options. And certainly, in some communities, country food harvesting may well take a greater place and have a greater role in providing for a community than what agriculture, say, might in another. But that's where -- while I -- there are multiple departments involved. This brings yet another department in of ECC. That said, Mr. Speaker, we have one shared briefing note. We have a group that works together across deputies and across officials. And so while I certainly don't speak for other departments, I am able to stand and to give information about all of them because there is the shared messaging and the shared commitment to the issue. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's not often that Cabinet proves my point, so I do appreciate that there is a third department that is now involved in this.

I think, again, it just speaks a little bit to what I was saying before, that there needs to be a sole direction, there needs to be a plan. We really need to be tackling this and especially given the food insecurity that people are facing. And, Mr. Speaker, I'm sure you're not immune to this. I am on a weekly basis hit up by residents of this territory for money to buy groceries for their children. And I know from speaking with my colleagues that I'm not the only one that this happens to. So when I look at this from a standpoint of mental health and getting young people involved and connecting them back to the land and, as well, even just things like food wastage is minimized when you're actually growing your own food. That one tomato I grew this season, I am going to eat that with gusto, I'll tell you, so.

So can the Minister speak a little bit further about sort of the impacts of the last few years on the agri-food industry. I'm glad to hear there's been some growth but the biggest complaint I heard was around heating the greenhouses, fuel costs, those types of problems or issues that are common across all of our industries. So could the Minister speak to that a little bit, given that we now also don't have the heating fuel rebate any longer. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is, indeed, a -- well, again, bringing more expertise to bear from different areas in some ways can tackle what is really a very complex problem. So what we do have here is the teams are coming together. It's led by health and social services, so there is a team lead on it. Obviously from the perspective of commercial food production, commercial food growing, that is where ITI's expertise comes in. But this interdepartmental group involves multiple departments because it brings together, again, as I said, all these different areas and issues. I mean, I certainly can speak at some length about the challenges across sectors from the costs of fuel, from inflation, from supply chain issues, all of which has affected the agricultural sector, not to mention, of course, the wildfire seasons, the flood seasons, which have also in particular affected some of our most critical areas that provide a significant contribution to agriculture. Mr. Speaker, ITI's certainly well aware of it. We are looking to the federal government advocating for our sector with the federal government and for the need for more carve out. All of that work takes time, and all that work is lengthy. So I'll leave it at that today but, Mr. Speaker, to those working in the sector, we are well aware of how important this sector is to supporting food security in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the early days I was involved as a young councillor for YKDFN and impact benefit agreements with our community now, also with resource development agreements in our communities as well. So I've been involved with working with BHP, Diavik, and De Beers, and now we're getting to the point where these mines are going into reclamation. And so having said that, you know, our communities really are really in need of, you know, new mines to come up and to, you know, look for work for our young people in our community. And, you know, I was pleased today to talk about the Live Power, the Canada exploration project in our riding. And so I just got two quick questions to the Minister of ITI.

What steps are the government taking to ensure critical minerals exploration companies have the support they need to help the NWT transition to a critical mineral based economy? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Minister responsible for Industry, Tourism and Investment.