This is page numbers 5615 - 5640 of the Hansard for the 19th Assembly, 2nd Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was know.

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Macdonald

Thank you, Madam Chair. ECE has also applied to and received funding from the federal Department of Employment and Social Development Canada for what's called Skills 4 Success Funding Program. And this funding has been in turn transferred to Aurora College and in another instance to the literacy council for programs such as what the Member mentioned. So in the case of Aurora College, it's really to develop curriculum and the mechanisms to be able to support apprenticeships. So that's exactly what that is intended to do. Thank you, Madam Chair.

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you. Member for Hay River South.

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Rocky Simpson

Rocky Simpson Hay River South

Thank you, Madam Chair. I know in the past, I guess I'm thinking about DJ, a school in Hay River, where I guess through the shop program they would -- you know, they built small tiny homes or houses. I guess they weren't really small but, you know, they might have been single-bedrooms. But is that something that -- I don't see it happening anymore so is that something that the schools may be looking at or something the department is encouraging schools to look at, you know, in a way to encourage students to take up trades as, you know, way of life I guess? Thank you.

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you. Minister of ECE.

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R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you. So that's a program that a school can run if it wishes to. They have that flexibility. One of the biggest barriers to programs like that are having teachers who also happen to be, say, journey persons. So they are in short demand; you know, skilled labour and skilled labour who are also teachers. It's a rare combination so that really is the biggest barrier. But if a school board has -- you know, they want to do that, they can do it if they can get the teaching resources. Thank you.

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you. Member for Hay River South.

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Rocky Simpson

Rocky Simpson Hay River South

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yeah, I was just looking at, you know -- you know, we got Building Skills 4 Success, we've got Skills Canada, we've got Small Community Employment Workforce Development Agreement. Like, is most -- is all that money being spent and how much is actually going -- or an approximate, I guess, amount actually going to businesses on the ground to support them in training and hiring apprentices, hiring, you know, labour? Thank you.

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you. Minister of ECE.

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R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

I'll hand it to Mr. Saturnino.

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you. Mr. Saturnino.

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Saturnino

Thank you, Madam Chair. As the Member referenced a number of different programs, perhaps I'll just quickly touch on each.

So the Building Skills 4 Success is the initiative that DM MacDonald spoke of, which is the funding for the literacy council and the college. So that's been provided to those organizations.

The Workforce Development Agreement is a funding agreement that we use to fund employers and clients and as well as community organizations. It is in -- for example, if we're looking at 2021-2022, we spent about 90 percent of that budget and we carried over the remainder. So those funds are being provided. And we do have employer programs for wage subsidy and training. As well as small communities, we've expended the majority of those funds as well. So working very closely with our organizations and communities. And I believe we have almost all of our designated community authorities that are administering those funds on behalf of ECE. So a lot of these funds are going toward employers and if they're not, they're going to individual clients. Thank you.

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you. Member for Hay River South.

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Rocky Simpson

Rocky Simpson Hay River South

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to go to career development and training. So can the Minister just, I guess, give me some background on that because, you know, like I've dealt with, I guess, a number of people who have, I guess, worked for me in the past and some of the things that, you know, that I found was that, you know, sometimes it worked out for somebody and sometimes it just wasn't the right place or the right type of job for them. Is that something this career development looks at? Thank you.

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you. Minister of ECE.

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R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you. I'll hand it to Mr. Saturnino.

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Mr. Saturnino.

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Saturnino

Thank you, Madam Chair. So, yes, we do have career development officers that are throughout all of the regions. So they're on the ground working with clients, working with employers, working with community partners and so they do provide those career development services to the general public. And we do have a career development and training line in the budget here, which is $30,000, and that's really intended to be used for projects, career development projects. So in the past, we've used that for projects and programs administered by the Mine Training Society. We've used it for other purposes. But, essentially, it's a little bit of a pot of funding that we can use if we have a project in particular that would support skills development in the NWT. Thank you.

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you. Member for Hay River South.

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Rocky Simpson

Rocky Simpson Hay River South

Thank you, Madam Chair. One thing I find is that, you know, with career development offices and that, they got a lot of paperwork to do, a lot of administration to do, and I know before I used to get them out into the work site and give them an idea of what they were spending money on and what they were approving. Is that something that's being done more so now or encouraged? Thank you.

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you. Minister of ECE.

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R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Yes, absolutely. And as I travel around the territory to the different regions, I speak to the career development officers and they talk about their on-the-ground engagement with industry and with Indigenous governments as well. Thank you.

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you. Anything further? Member for Hay River South.

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Rocky Simpson

Rocky Simpson Hay River South

Well, I'll just sit silent here for the next 27 seconds. That's all.

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Member for Yellowknife North.

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Rylund Johnson

Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North

Thank you, Madam Chair. Can the Minister provide an update on when we anticipate the new board for Aurora College being instated? Thank you.