Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when we talk about certifications, it's type 1 firefighters. Those are the firefighters that we certify so that if we have to export them, then it's a standard thing across Canada. So we had, like I said, 136 that were certified that were able to then be exported. We didn't export too many firefighters this year because of the season. But the 324 other ones that were trained, they were EFF, so they're our type 3 firefighters. So they mop up things. You see them out there working just as hard as our type 1 firefighters. So that's where we did. So when people took the training, we still utilize them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I thank the Minister for that. Mr. Speaker, we have heard about retired ECC firefighters coming back to this fire season to help with firefighting efforts, which I know we all appreciate. Will the Minister describe how many retired firefighters returned and what their roles and responsibilities were? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, due to this fire season, we actually brought ten retirees back in. Seven of them were Indigenous people. So most of these people, actually of those ten, were incident commanders. So they were actually the ones that were working on the fires. They were the ones giving the direction, how they were going to fight the fires. So we were able to do that. But I had an opportunity to talk to one in Fort Smith and a couple in Yellowknife and as well as one in Hay River. And I talked to them about the work there. And they appreciated that, you know, that they were able to come in. They saw what the fire situation was going to be, where the weather was, so they came up and they volunteered their time.

I also have to recognize there was one Indigenous contractor who is doing work this summer, and he saw the fires and the impact on the roads. So he actually came to the office in Hay River and volunteered his time. So his business, actually, got put to the side and he started fighting fires as a crew chief. And so he was out there doing that work there. And I know we can't recognize people's names and that, but I have to say thank you to all 11 people. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I guess I know who the Minister is speaking about, and I thank him for his service as well in volunteering.

Mr. Speaker, has the Minister received any feedback or is he expecting or asked for feedback from those retired firefighters on their experiences and observation of this year's fire season and how will that feedback be used? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, we did talk to them. I've actually had, like I said, conversations with five of the -- or sorry, seven of the ten retirees. And the first thing, without even me prompting, you know, I just asked them why, and they said because we knew the season was going to be bad. We had an individual in Fort Smith who was retired and saw the situation and he already, before the evacuation, was getting ready to leave. When the officers -- the regional office superintendent reached out to him and asked he said, yeah, let's get to her. And he said look, it was a severe drought, the weather conditions, he said fires didn't act the way they normally do. And he said that the work that these people put their lives on the line and, unfortunately, we did lose one firefighter and we had a number of people injured, these people were fighting the fire situation that was different. We will be engaging them with our after-action review plan because this was very knowledgeable. They had some of them 40 years of experience, and they've said they could not ever see this situation as bad as it was. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.

Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment on the recent jobs and demand report. As I noted in my statement, there's a large gap between what will be required for new jobs and where our residents stand in terms of educational attainment. So can the Minister tell us whether the department has reviewed this new report and what is the plan to close our educational gaps for jobs in demand? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member will be happy to know that nobody is more excited about this report or nobody uses this report more than the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. It's an essential document. We always talk about having data, making data-informed decisions. Well, this is that data. So I'll go through some of the ways we use it here.

First, it's open to the public. So the public can look at this and they can make a determination of what they might want to do. So as the Member stated, school teachers are in high demand, the most high demand job over the next 20 years. And so, you know, that can drive people's, you know, paths in life.

The report is also used by post-secondary institutes. So the Aurora College's strategic mandate agreement document references labour market information and the need to align its program offerings with the labour market information. So that's actually right in the -- their mandate. The report is also the foundation for our skills for success initiative. And the two priorities in there are increasing skill levels through relevant education and training, and bridging education and employment gaps through targeted support. So it allows the department to tailor its programs based on that report.

In addition, we have our career and education advisors, which I've spoken about many times. These are the people who go out and they work with students, grade 9 to 12, to help them figure out how to get to that next point in life after school or what further school to take. They use this information, Mr. Speaker. And we're renewing the JK to 12 curriculum. That information is also useful in those efforts.

So, Mr. Speaker, that information is being well utilized across the department. Thank you.

Merci, Monsieur le President. The Minister's got me convinced. It's good. This is a good and useful report, and I commend it -- commend it to -- and those that prepared it.

In terms of educational gaps, a number of them come to mind between what our residents have currently achieved and what will be in demand. So can the Minister tell us how this report will influence our post-secondary education planning and work currently underway to close gaps between educational outcomes in regional centres and smaller communities? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And the Member's pointed out that, you know, there is a gap between what the jobs that are going to be in demand that are needed and the education and skills of a number of our residents. And the fact is that has been the case for a long time. We bring a lot of people up from the south because there are a lot of jobs here already that our residents can't fulfill. So, really, this is the land of opportunity. You talk to people who come up here from the south, and they'll tell you oh, I can't believe, you know, the opportunities. If you want to work, if you want to work hard, you can make something of yourself in the North. So -- and sorry, getting back to the Member's actual question here, as I've already mentioned how the college, it is intending to use these -- this report to ensure that its offerings are aligned with the jobs that are in demand. We have other institutes in the territory that are emerging, organizations offering programming. They can look at this when they're designing their programming. And we also have -- you know, maybe I'll leave it at that. I could just go on and on, but I'll let the Member ask his questions. Thank you.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for his enthusiasm and passion. It's clearly evident.

So one of the interesting takeaways of this jobs in demand report is that not many jobs seem to be found or will be created in the resource sector. So can the Minister tell us what, if any, adjustments are being made to teach training programs, such as Skills 4 Success, in light of the jobs in demand report? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the Skills 4 Success isn't a program. It's sort of an overarching framework. And within that framework, we can make adjustments based on things like these jobs in demand reports so we can tailor programs. I will say that a lot of the labour programs that ECE delivers, they're delivered using federal funds, and so there are parameters around those funds. But that being said, those are continuous -- we're continuously working with the federal government to adjust those parameters based on things like the jobs in demand report and what we hear from employers and from employees as well. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Frame Lake.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. Obviously, effectiveness of our Student Financial Assistance Program is a cornerstone of post-secondary success. We say our program's among the best in Canada. But actual graduation or completion numbers tell perhaps a slightly different story when it comes to results. So can the Minister tell us whether the effectiveness of the Student Financial Assistance Program has been reviewed recently and what, if any, further changes might be coming in light of this new jobs in demand report? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department actually recently completed a review. I guess we completed it back in June. It came to this House. We came looking for more money. We found more money internally, and we really enhanced the SFA program. The Member speaks to completion rates of post-secondary students. So one of the things that we've done is we've removed the barriers to completing programs in terms of the financials. So sometimes residents, they might not do very well in a semester. We're not going to punish them for that. We're going to continue to fund them so that they can move forward with their education. Some people need a bit more time. Mr. Speaker, I know all about that. I spent a few more years in post-secondary than maybe I should have but in the end it was all worth it. But, you know, the cost of going to university and going to college, getting post-secondary, it can be prohibitive for people, especially from small communities where, you know, there's maybe not jobs for students to save up to go to school, where the cost of living is very high. So we've also increased those amounts as well. So we have done our best with this last program review that we just finished to reduce those barriers to the greatest extent that we can. And the students going to school this semester are the first to avail themselves of these new rates and this new program. And so I hope that we see some great results. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member's statement earlier, I brought this up again because I wanted to follow up as to what was happening in regards to Kosmos 954. You know, the chief was here earlier, Chief James Marlowe. I had breakfast with him the other morning, and we were talking about it again. And, you know, when this thing happened back in 1978, when it came down, you know, we used to have a vibrant little community in Fort Reliance, and along the corridor into Lutselk'e, Fort Resolution, and the town of Hay River, in that area, the corridor, where the satellite came down. And, you know, a lot of people that were around at that time, you know, are no longer here with us today as a result of the uranium that was in that satellite. I know I talked about this with the Premier, and it was mentioned that the -- you know, the satellite burned, and there was really no evidence that this stuff is around.

But, Mr. Speaker, can the Premier provide us with an update on the response from the Government of Canada to her request for information regarding Kosmos 954 crash and the potential health impacts and clean-up and participants in the local land users? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Madam Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to start by thanking the Member for bringing this issue to my attention. As I stated when he first asked me the questions, I hadn't heard of this incident. So it's always good to learn more. I always say that, you continue learning for the rest of your life. It's important. So I do thank you for bringing that to my attention.

At that time, I made a commitment to the Member. I don't know if it was the first time he asked or the second. But for sure, I made a commitment that I would bring it to the attention of the federal government. I take it to heart when horrible things happen to anyone, especially the residents of the NWT. So I did, took the time, sat down, and penned a letter to the Prime Minister. Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, that was before the evacuation. It's been fairly busy, and I haven't heard back from the Prime Minister's office on this topic to date. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When I was in my community tour in Fort Resolution about two weeks ago, I had a chance to meet with an elder, Angus Beaulieu. And when I was meeting with him and his wife, we were talking about this Kosmos 954, and he talked about, you know, when that satellite came across, there were debris found on his house and in that area as well. But he had a dog that some of this debris fell on, and it wasn't too long that when the dog would start limping and walking and eventually passed as a result of that debris that was found.

Mr. Speaker, has the Premier had any discussions or collaboration between the GNWT and Government of Canada to initiate further research into the effects of Kosmos 954 crash and the subsequent clean-up and suggestions in her letter to the Prime Minister. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Member stated, I did write to the Prime Minister. I did ask him for more research on it or the research that they have. The Member shared his story with me, the story of community members. But I know that there must be some research out there. So I did ask to see it. Again, unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, the last time I met with the Prime Minister -- it's really hard to get meetings with the Prime Minister to start with, but the last meeting I had was in Edmonton and it was during the evacuation. And unfortunately, I focused on the fires and the lack of infrastructure and the needs of the North. So I do assume that before the end of this government, I will meet again with the Prime Minister, and I will follow up to see if there's any research that he can provide us or any work that they're doing to address this issue. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, Premier. 1978, when the satellite came down, it was a year later that another Russian satellite that came down -- I can't remember where it was in -- I think it was in South America, in and around that area. You know, and it happened not just once but twice. And it's -- I think we need to -- you know, the Prime Minister of Canada really needs to take ownership of this and listen to what the people are saying here in the Northwest Territories. Listen to what my constituents are saying here in our riding. And, you know, it's -- the evidence are there. The proof is there.

So can the Premier inform the House, this House, of any measures that the GNWT is considering or has already taken to address concerns about the higher rates of cancer among clean-up participants and local land users in the Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh riding? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.