Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, I think it will be an interesting week next week because we already have some kind of competing mindsets. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

So, Mr. Speaker, the productive choices are still a requirement within the income assistance program. And back in 2020 when changes were starting to happen within the income assistance review, productive choices were switched to what's called a wellness self-care productive choice, which means that there's no requirement of reporting. And the reason for this is when the department went out and did the review and they spoke with Indigenous governments, they spoke with NGOs and current and past clients, they spoke with departments and even the public to get feedback on everything, and there was really a split. But what people decided was that the intended goals of the productive choice were not being met, so at that point it was decided that there would be no reporting requirement and with the changes of the review going forward later this year, we will see no requirement whatsoever for productive choices. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for the response from the Minister. Will the department look at developing training programs where these individuals can enroll and further their education and life skills to be less reliant on the system? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, I listened to the Member's statement today, and I absolutely agree with the Member that all of our residents have great potential and that it is our job as their family, friends, and neighbours to ensure that they have the support to reach that potential if they want it and if they need it. Within the department of education, there are career counsellors, there are employability assessments and resume and cover letter development help if people want it. There's interview skill development, career action planning. There's job search help as well. There's also workforce development training dollars that people can access if they're looking just to do kind of an eight-week program. There's also student financial assistance. And then even within our schools too, before people leave their school system -- or the school system in the community, there are the career education advisers who really take great pride in their job and they go into communities, they go into schools, and they sit down with students and say, what do you want to do and how can I help you get there? And that's just an invaluable resource that our students have access to, and I would love to see them replicate it and grow and there to be more of them. So what I really hope that people hear right now today is there are resources out there and if there is something you want to do, the department of education wants to support you to get there. Thank you.

Thank you for the encouraging words, that's very promising. Providing the recipients with a cheque is not working in respect to the client spending the money on unethical resources. Can the department look at alternatives like working in collaboration with their local outlets where's to set up some sort of an account? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this was something that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment did used to do at one point; however, with the NWT Human Rights Act, issuing payments through a voucher system is seen to be contrary to sections 5 and sections 11 of the NWT Human Rights Act. And so I am open to other suggestions from my colleagues, but I want to ensure that whatever we do is in line with the law and with the Human Rights Act. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe you stated that a review will be conducted sometime in the near future. I will be contacting my resource people and Indigenous leaders. Can you tell me when the review will be conducted? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the review was done in the 19th Assembly, and it was anticipated that the changes would actually come into play for residents of the Northwest Territories before the start of the 20th Assembly, but this project has been held up and delayed due to system requirements on our IT side, and so it is anticipated that these changes will be seen by residents coming in the summer of this year. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions. Member from Frame Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. Not meaning to gang up on her today specifically or deliberately but just happens to be the way it is.

Mr. Speaker, what is the department actively and specifically doing to prepare both our economy and workforce for the 2026 closure of the Diavik Diamond Mine? Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to give the Minister the opportunity to finish her response to my first question since it was so comprehensive. So I'll wait for that before I ask a second question. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And you're very effective at your job. Thank you to the Member.

Mr. Speaker, in addition to creating pathways, there's also promoting program mentorship and support funding related to entrepreneurship. And so I've said before in the previous Assembly that, really, a healthy economy is reflective of our entrepreneurs and our private industry, and so making sure that we are supporting people who want to take advantage of entrepreneurship is very important to me and something that I'd like to see go forward.

Mr. Speaker, in addition to new products, there's also opportunities that are going to open up for some that's going to help some of our labour and workforce development and some of our labour needs, and that includes in the section of trades, administration, aviation, environment, energy, and climate monitoring as well.

And I will -- I'll stop there, but as you can see, Mr. Speaker, I'm very excited about this. I think that although this will be a sad day for Northerners, it's also an opportunity that we can't afford to pass up. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister for that very surprisingly comprehensive answer. I wasn't quite expecting that much but I am very encouraged. I'm getting to it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm sorry.

If I could ask one additional question. I heard a lot about employment, Mr. Speaker, which is an important aspect of this. Another piece of this closure is going to be the impact to the various contractors who are involved. So I'm wondering if the department is considering more than just employment but also all the ancillary services that are provided at the mine and how those companies are going to be affected? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Member for bringing that up. Those sticky dollars are so important to the Northwest Territories and to our economy. And that is exactly the purpose of conversations like we had at Roundup, to be able to find out from industry that is the up and coming mines, the mines that are about to open, the mines that are in the process of opening, what they need from us, how we can connect them with Indigenous governments to ensure that right from the get-go they're doing their projects properly and they're having the right conversations. So ITI is absolutely committed to ensuring that we are supporting industry and that we are supporting the mineral resource sector. And we're also ensuring that we're having these necessary conversations with Canada because our critical mineral strategy feeds into their critical mineral strategy, and they cannot achieve their critical mineral strategy without the Northwest Territories. So these are all important pieces of this. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of ITI. Final supplementary. Member from Frame Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I am sorry for the informal nature with which I was conversing with you just now. I do respect the authority of the Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm very encouraged by those answers from the Minister and really appreciate it. I have no further questions.

Thank you. Before we go into the next Member, don't need to thanking the Ministers if it's your fourth one. There's 29 minutes still and other Members want to talk. So please, let's focus on the questions. Thank you.

Oral questions. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I mentioned earlier that Fort Resolution hamlet is under third party management. On January 9th, 2024, we had a serious house fire in our community, and my question is -- my first question is, will the Minister commit to put in place a volunteer fire department in the community of Fort Resolution as soon as possible? Also, to work with the chief and council, and president Arthur Beck, Fort Resolution Metis Council, on the plan? Mahsi.

Thank you, Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With volunteer fire departments, there's obviously a concern of commitment from community members. Volunteerism is down everywhere, and I know the struggles in Fort Resolution are there. MACA is committed to making sure that the department is fully supported, and they have the resources in order to establish that department and operate it as such. However, again, it is a commitment that community members need to also step up and volunteer, and I hope for the sake of the community that local community members step up and put their name in to help out the community with volunteerism on the fire department. Thank you.

Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.