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Mr. Speaker, March is Rendez-vous de la Francophonie, a nation-wide celebration of French language and culture.

This year, the Government of the Northwest Territories has teamed up with our Francophone partners CDÉTNO, Collège Nordique, and La Fédération
franco-ténoise to deliver a contest and celebrate our vibrant Francophone community, so be sure to visit the Education, Culture and Employment website for more details at the start of March.

Today, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment Caitlin Cleveland issued the following statement for Pink Shirt Day:

“As we mark Pink Shirt Day in the Northwest Territories, nationally and internationally, I ask all residents to promote safe environments for everyone – today and every day.

This March, Income Assistance recipients will receive a one-time additional benefit. The payment is determined based on the Market Basket Measure and is intended to help Northwest Territories residents with higher food costs. The one-time benefit will range from $343 and $717 depending on the community the recipient lives in.

The additional payment will be automatically included for Income Assistance clients in March, meaning recipients will not need to apply.

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Mr. Speaker, in recent years employers have faced challenges in recruiting the employees they need to succeed. The Northwest Territories, and Canada as a whole, are currently experiencing a tight labour market, which means we have more jobs than available workers.

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Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to provide an update on implementing the draft Northwest Territories’ curriculum for Junior Kindergarten to Grade 12 students. As a mother of three school-aged children and one who values innovation and critical and creative thinking, this is an exciting time for our students.

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Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories made a mandate commitment in 2019 to advance universal child care by increasing availability and affordability.

It is my great privilege today to announce that starting April 1st, licensed child care in the Northwest Territories will cost an average of $10-a-day.

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Following portion spoken in Wiilideh Yati

Mr. Speaker, Edàaht’e, Caıtlın Cleveland sı̀yeh. Semǫ Carole wı̀yeh.
Setà Randy wı̀yeh. Sǫǫ̀mbak’è naàhdè eyıts’ǫ jǫ gots’ǫ aht’e. 

[Mr. Speaker, hello, my name is Caitlin Cleveland. My mother is Carole and my father is Randy. I am from and live in Yellowknife.]

The Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) is now accepting nominations for the 2024 Education Hall of Fame.

The Education Hall of Fame provides lasting recognition and gratitude to those who have provided exemplary service or made a significant contribution to the field of education in the Northwest Territories.

Residents are encouraged to nominate an individual, team, or organization.

An independent evaluation of the Child and Youth Counselling (CYC) Initiative has been completed, and a final report published, including recommendations. The Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) has also released its response to the report’s recommendations.

The Canadian version of the General Education Diploma (GED®) program will be discontinued and replaced by the new Canadian Adult Education Credential (CAEC) in the spring of 2024.

The GED was developed in 2002 by the American assessment firm Pearson and has long been used across Canada as the high school equivalency test. However, Pearson has informed Canadian jurisdictions that they can no longer support the test due to outdated technology.