Thank you so much, Mr. Chair. So just looking at the main estimates for this activity, there -- there doesn't mean to be any -- there doesn't appear to be any substantial growth or reduction. It's staying sort of static. And so with the I would say rather continuous pressing of many members on the desire and need to see more tradespeople in -- being trained in the -- in the NWT, having more opportunities for apprenticeship, etcetera, how does the Minister and this division see itself effectively supporting labour market training and development efforts. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to the Member, Great Slave. To the Minister.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, we have recently signed an agreement with the federal government to increase our funding to this area. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. To the Member Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And apologies if I missed that in -- in previous deliberations of Committee of the Whole. So thank you to the Minister for that. Can she provide more details around that agreement? Thank you.

Thank you, Member, Great Slave. To the Minister.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, we're always happy to get more money from the federal government. So it is an agreement with the federal government. The Member has not missed anything in Committee of the Whole. This is the first I've been asked about it, so the first I've been able to talk about it. Because we don't have the dollars in hand, I am advised that I should be a little bit vague on the number but it would come forward in supplementary appropriation to this House, and I look forward to sharing more details, hopefully sooner than later, with Members of the House and residents of this territory. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. To the Member, Great Slave.

Well gosh, Mr. Chair. I don't have anything further to press. Look forward to that detail. Thank you.

Thank you to the Member. To the Member, Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Can the Minister first just clarify in terms of the loss of two active positions, I guess one in headquarters and one in the North Slave, what were those positions doing -- I am not sure if it's related at all to the possible new federal agreements or what's coming. But maybe you could just explain what those positions were that have been lost or sunsetted. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to the Member, Yellowknife North. To the Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, we had a sunset of an agreement, a federal agreement, that was funding the North Slave regional training partnership position. And then in addition, we have removed a certification administrator position that has been vacant for more than 20 months. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. To the Member Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And so just to clarify, was the North Slave regional training partnership specific to the Giant Mine remediation project? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Member Yellowknife North. To the Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The answer is yes.

Thank you, Minister. Member Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So that brings me to some targets in the business plan specifically around the Giant Mine remediation project and the socio-economic goals or indicators.

You know, this has been there for a number of years and publicly available that the Giant Mine remediation project is targeting 25 to 35 percent Indigenous employment, 36 percent northern employment, 30 percent female employment, and yet we see in the business plan progress to date has been very disappointing. We've had about 11 percent Indigenous employment, only 26 percent northern employment, and 17 percent female employment. And we're also seeing the loss of the regional training partnership, which it seems was not as successful as hoped anyway. And so can the Minister give us any insights on what -- what went wrong there, why this training partnership program was not very successful, and we -- we haven't been able to meet our targets yet? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to the Member Yellowknife North. To the Minister.

Thank you so much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, definitely within this position it was a harder-to-fill position than we had originally anticipated. That said, I have had the opportunity to speak with multiple employers that have worked on the Giant Mine remediation project. And while the procurement numbers for the project have been high, the Member is right, that the northern employment numbers have have not matched that. And in conversation with some of the proponents have learned that -- what I've been told is I will be happier with the more recent numbers that come out because they've really focused on working to see increases in northern employment, northern participation, and not just procurement, and so I am hopeful and looking forward to seeing kind of updated numbers and will continue to work with the proponents that are working on and are successful in bidding on these projects to ensure that we see more and more Northerners working on the Giant Mine remediation. This ultimately is our goal. It's not just within the procurement but within northern employment as well. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. To the Member Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So if we are starting to see more successes, what -- what's changed? I think we just need to try to be able to articulate to ourselves and the public, you know, what -- what is going right when things are going better or going right and then what's going wrong when it's not going well because we seem, over the years, to often sort of -- we set these goals for ourselves, we want Northerners employed, you know, we want jobs, and then it doesn't work out and we go, oh, you know, like, oops, or, you know, who would have known or we just didn't manage it, we don't know why. And if things go well, we need to actually know what's changing or what we're doing better so that we can replicate that or do more of it or put more funding into that. So does the Minister have any more insights into what might be changing if things are starting to turn and for the better? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to the Member. To the Minister.